Apple bans MySpace in retail stores
When Apple has to go and ban a social networking site from being accessed by Macs in its retail locations, something is very very wrong. It seems that people have a habit of wandering into an Apple store (which provides an internet connection on all their display computers) and using iSight cameras to upload their picture to a MySpace page.
Apple says this was especially a problem in high volume stores such as those located in New York and London. After uploading their picture and taking care of other “business” these people would stay at the same machine for hours on end according to WebWare.
That’s called loitering people and most shops in the US have a “no loitering” sign. It’s also a given fact that loitering is for the most part, illegal in the US. I’ve never heard of anyone arrested for loitering but the law is the law, it’s just the police have better things to do. Not to mention the fact, a manager can ask you to leave the store, refusing to do so may result in police action, I know, I’ve seen it happen.
So if you’re going to wander into an Apple store to take care of your personal business that you could say, do AT HOME or AT THE LIBRARY, take note, if I were manager of one of these stores and I saw the same person standing at the same machine for more than an hour, I’d have that person arrested, if I could get the police to come, that is.
Or just steal someone’s WiFi connection, oh wait, that is illegal here in the US too and people have been arrested for that.
For now the ban is on MySpace only and only in select locations but I have no doubt this will become a company wide ban and will probably be extended to other social networking sites as well.
Related Posts:
May 25th, 2007
In fact, full access to the Internet is a founding philosophy of the Apple retail initiative, intended to attract visitors to the stores and create a sense of community. The debate has been on-going about congestion and the ability of potential buyers to test-drive a computer. As for loitering within a retail store, few companies would object to any type of visitor unless they’re destructive in some way. In Apple’s case, there is absolutely no objection to spending time within their stores.
May 26th, 2007
Gary,
That’s not true at all; when there are a limited number of machines to showcase, having them occupied by uninterested users for personal reasons is very bad for business. If you’ve actually visited a Mac store, you will find that the activity on said machines are closely monitored, and if there is not sufficient “testing” being done, they will ask you to leave the machines so other users can try them.
May 28th, 2007
Thank god. I went in with some relatives to buy a new iMac a few months back, and naturally they wanted to try it out in-store. The only two 17-inch iMacs were occupied for 15 minutes by MySpacers, as we wait behind them. The store was packed, so we got no staff assistance.
These 14 year olds have no intention of buying an iMac– Their parents might, but not them. The full internet thing was intended for people who might normally pay money for T-Mobile Hotspot access to instead stop by the Apple Store to do a 5 minute email check, thereby planting the seeds of Apple goodness.
January 31st, 2008
Hello