B. Mann Consulting

I just happened to make it to the Yorkdale Apple Store today -- the first of its kind in Canada. I was wearing my Daring Fireball member's t-shirt, but no one was hip enough (Mac geek enough?) to pick up on it. James got a picture of me taking a picture, so hopefully that turned out for proof.

The store (as you can see from the pictures) was crushingly packed. The line up we waited in was because they only let people in as people left -- and it was still hot and sticky from all the people inside. A ton of people were buying iPods of various shapes and sizes and I was tempted.

James ended up getting a blue iPod Mini for his wife, along with the iPod car charger he actually needed. The atmosphere was incredible -- everyone was so hyped up and there were so many purchases going on, there was a feeling you HAD to buy something. So I ended up with an iSight, which will go on the desktop at home, since it doesn't have a microphone built in.

In an email discussion, Michael Tan sent along a link to more pictures in an EhMac.ca thread. He also said "this reminds me of when Krispe Kreme first opened up in Mississauga" to which Greg responded "I like that Krispy Kreme analogy. AAPL is not a tech company, it's a sugar-as-lifestyle marketing agency.".

Am I a slave to marketing? Don't know, I'm just super comfortable in my Mac ghetto and haven't felt a push for a very long time to leave it. The iPod definitely is a marketing phenomenon...but it also seems to "just work". Anyway, I'm off to experiment with some webcam software for the new iSight.