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General discussion

Whoa! Apple may already have apps desinged for the iPhone!

Dec 3, 2007 8:58AM PST

When I went to the Apple Store this past weekend, I noticed the new concierge people with the blue shirts. Basically, they of course, tell you where to go to find out what you need. So this concierge person asks me what I'm there for and I told her I had a Genius Bar appointment. She pulled out her iPhone, pressed something, and said, "Okay. You're signed in." I'm not an iPhone owner or user, but correct me if I'm wrong here. I think she used some kind of app to let the Genius Bar guys know I'm there, and I don't think that their currently available apps can do this.

I have a Touch, but that doesn't explain anything since it only works as a Wi-Fi iPod. Talk about hypocritical, Apple. Tell us not to put stuff on our iPhones/Touch-es and yet you already may have some for your employees. But this is all just speculation. I didn't actually see her use anything, and this is probably a poor assumption on my part. I can dream based on facts, can't I? What else has Steve already accomplished behind our backs?

-BMF

Discussion is locked

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You don't think
Dec 3, 2007 10:06AM PST

that she could have been texting a preloaded text message to the Genius Bar?

P

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Well that's why I said it was a poor assumption. But she
Dec 3, 2007 10:20AM PST

only did a few movements or something, so I thought it was worth posting. You're probably right, but then, where do the preloaded texts come in? Surely she wouldn't have to type in each person's name that comes in for the Genius Bar into the preloaded messages, and the Genius Bar guys weren't using iPhones, only MBPs. Plus, the store was very crowded and there were only two or three concierge people. And, they'd have to be emails if this was true. But maybe whoever was running those cool displays running all the Mac facts was using one. I don't know.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised. The concierge was only introduced a handful of days ago, so maybe Steve has decided to make us of his guinea pigs. LOL. I'm guessing here, and hoping. Maybe Steve has put Skype on his employees' phones and is seeing if he should rip off AT&T or not. Happy

-BMF

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No secrets.
Dec 3, 2007 12:20PM PST

The developers kit is coming out RSN.

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Yeah, but then there was that rumor that a special select
Dec 4, 2007 7:41AM PST

few dev teams had some version of it, but I don't know what happened to that story.

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The dev kit is already out at...
Dec 4, 2007 7:44AM PST

Those on the inside. Have a few spare million to join them?

Bob

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If only I could say yes...
Dec 4, 2007 10:35AM PST

but that'd be too easy. Well those on the inside have friends working for them with their goods, possibly. What else are they concocting in Silicon Valley?

And how come Woz won't be joining Steve on that Disney ride? Not fair. Rides should be limited to showing their board directors, cough, cough.

-BMF

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Might've been a web app
Dec 7, 2007 5:37PM PST

The iPhone Zusbun has Safari. The "application" she was using might have been a PHP script on an intranet site run on a server at the back of the shop. That's probably the cheapest way to program such a thing anyway.

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Maybe, but I doubt that some of the employees
Dec 7, 2007 10:19PM PST

could have whipped that up. When I went to pick up my MBP yesterday, the lady who brought it out for me didn't know anything that I was talking about. They didn't fix some of the problems, and now I have to wait another week to have it "fixed".

Just a comment here, but I'm really sick of some of the Apple Store employees. I have met some very, very intelligent people who know exactly what they were doing and were very courteous to customers working there, but that was awhile ago. I have used Macs long enough to know quite a few things about them, I believe, and I've been a loyal Apple customer for about 3 years or more. But when I go to the Apple Store, I get talked down at, as if they think I know nothing about what I am talking about. I probably know a bit more than some of their employees, who don't understand anything I talk about. The thing is, their arrogance seems to have really taken down their customer support. I asked the Genius I talked to yesterday about some upgrades for my MBP. Of course, I'd have to wait for it to come back first to have someone install stuff in it, but I am fed up with waiting, only to get it in pretty much the same condition as it was before. So I asked, in a polite manner, if it would be easier to just swap it for a model with a Santa Rosa board with a 250GB HD. This guy really ticked me off. He looks at me and says in a seemingly nice way, "That's never going to happen." The way he said it to me was almost loaded with a condescending tone and some venom. It was like he was going to explode at me and yell WTH! or something. I'm serious.

So Apple is hiring people who either don't have a clue, have poor customer relations, or people who just don't help. I'm very dissatisfied with this experience, but if the Genius I spoke to a week ago had put down all of the cosmetic and hardware problems I told him about, I wouldn't have had to hear this other guy talk down to me. The only employee that has EVER helped me out was an incredibly nice and helpful Australian guy. He was just the greatest. He explained to me all the good and bad sides to the different laptops in great detail before I bought mine, and when I ran iTunes and etc. on my Windows machines, he helped me fix some problems with the software. And of course, now he doesn't seem to be there anymore. Leave it to Apple to get rid of the best employees.

-BMF