Hey, there! Log in / Register
Globe columnist discovers capitalism
By adamg on Sun, 05/18/2008 - 12:25pm
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.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
She also wasn't there...
As Ron Johnson wasn't even remotely dressed like "the mac guy", he was dressed in a very standard business-quasi-casual button-down shirt *with* a collar. There also aren't "eight stores already in the area", unless you count western Massachusetts, other-side-of-128 Burlington, and south shore to be "Boston-area."
macworld.com/article/133476/2008/05/boston_applestore.html
(among others, including the Globe's own coverage.)
I agree, however, that it is pathetic that this was a "civic" event, with the mayor in attendance. You'd think the mayor would have his hands full, especially with Boston's youth shooting and stabbing each other with abandon, and it'll only get worse as temperatures rise (bringing tempers with it) and everyone spends more time out in the evenings as well...
From the article: With
From the article:
LOL
And they say ...
that Microsoft stoked PC users are drinking the kool-aid ...
I guess too much hard cider can make you see stuff, too!
Sure, as long as the individual
...has money in his/her pocket. I got a kick when I read that quote, too.
As a side note, Yvonne Abraham does not impress me at all. I really don't see her point in this piece, and other columns have left me with that "Now, why did she feel compelled to tell me this?" feeling.
full circle
haha, the same reason apple felt compelled to open the store: to get paid. Difference is Apple is helping other people accomplish something at the same time.
What do you want Mumbles to
What do you want Mumbles to do - go out patting down the yout's? In parts of this country, it's part of the local politician's jobs to encourage local business. That would be, in the parts of the country that are actually growing, and not shrinking. See any connection?
I'm sure Yvonne donates her
I'm sure Yvonne donates her Globe salary to charity, and collects berries and grubs from the Arboretum to eat.
My best friend is my mirror
You know, I can think of one or two people who would be great as a Globe columnist ...
Actually, just one.
i think you missed --
i think you missed -- completely -- the point of the article. "Now, I happen to think the designers at Apple are geniuses. If I had gotten my beloved Mac for free, I, too, might have camped out on Boylston Street to show my appreciation. But I figured paying for it was thanks enough." Abrams has nothing wrong with the product or company. just the hordes who now claim mindless allegiance to a BRAND, whose store opening has been transformed in their zombie minds from a corporate PR bonanza into a CIVIC event. Sure, the mayor should boost local business. Last time I checked, Apple isn't based in downtown Boston. Maybe if you hadn't skimmed it ...
No, I read the whole thing
Yeah, she's was crapping on Apple fanboys and girls. Ooh, such a tough, challenging target. And such an important topic - several days after the fact. Easily far more important than the DRM protesters (whom I didn't even know about thanks to drooling coverage in the mass media; so my thanks to, yes, Don Warner Saklad, for noting their presence), if only because writing about DRM would have forced Abraham to actually do research (DRM, huh? What's that?) instead of flinging a bunch of awkward one-liners at people who, for whatever reasons, actually like a company and its products.
But she was also expressing amazement that, as you say, Apple has created this brand that fanboys/girls would kill for. Because that's a unique phenomenon that's never, ever happened before in the history of mankind.
As for the mayor, um, so? If there's a ribbon to cut, he's there. It's what he does. And I for one like a mayor who shows up at Easter Egg hunts and Christmas-tree lightings and just stands there by himself allowing little kids dressed like ducklings to have their pictures taken with him on Mother's Day. Yeah, he should be thinking Deep Thoughts about crime and education and foreclosures and any number of other things. And I bet he does, because life isn't either/or - one can try to deal with the depressing realities of city governance and still find time for the fun stuff. And it's not like Apple just moved into the old copy place - they built something that, for better or worse, represents a fundamental change in the street landscape on Boylston. Why shouldn't the mayor recognize that?