Yvonne Abraham breaks the news that Apple opened a store on Boylston Street last week and expresses her discomfort on learning that Apple is a for-profit concern and her amazement that, despite that, some people really like its products.

Humble suggestion: This is the sort of thing that would make a more worthy metro column.

Mike the Mad Biologist discovers first hand that that cool, cool minimalism of the new Apple store on Boylston street kinda sucks when it's raining:

... Then there's the elegantly designed minimalist interior which has no carpeting. That means that everyone's umbrella piddles on the floor and leaves puddles everywhere.

So the Apple Store devised a solution: at the door, you have to enclose your umbrella in a plastic bag to prevent umbrella piddling. Of course, this is described as "ensuring your safety." And it's environmentally friendly to boot. So now you're in the store, into which people are tracking dirt and mud--there's no rug to wipe your feet. Minimalist interiors with light gray floors don't look so good with mud (and umbrella piddle). ...

And all that's before you even get to the plastic staircase.

The media were able to tour the new Apple Store on Boylston Street yesterday. Dan Moren with MacUser has some interesting thoughts on what's going to happen to the hollow glass column running down the center of the spiral staircase.

The public grand opening is at 6 PM today. 2,500 limited edition T-shirts are being given away.

The Apple store on Boylston Street is set to open on May 16th at 6 PM. It is reportedly the largest such store in the world.

Or take the T out to Cambridgeside Galleria.

The Globe reports on a meeting of the Back Bay Architectural Commission in which you can almost hear the grinding wheels in members' heads slowing to a halt because Apple has dared to propose replacing a completely non-descript two-story building with a three-story glass building right across from or near some of our city's most treasured architectural icons, such as the World's Largest Milk Carton, the Giant Sun-Blocking-Wall Convention Center and the Darth Vader Building.

Donna Prince, an alternate on the commission, acknowledged that the design was "beautiful," but that it "doesn't have a sense of place."

Ah, sense of place. Maybe Apple needs to come back with a design consisting entirely of red bricks. After all, what says "Boston place" more than bricks? With awnings, since the commissioners seemed particularly concerned about preserving the current copy shop's awnings, because, Lord knows, Boylston Street doesn't have nearly enough awnings.

The Globe has announced that Apple is building a flagship 4 story monster on Boylston in the Back Bay. (goodbye copy-cop) It's just going to make it easier to convert every family member, friend, acquaintance, back-bay-bum to switch. And I won't even have to pay for parking like I do currently at Cambridgeside galleria.