
I was on vacation to the US last week, and a few technology-related things stood out to me. One, the in-flight entertainment things aboard international Delta flights are absolutely terrible. Worst software I've ever used, and many of them were plain broken. iPads/Android tablets please, Delta. Second, there were more employees than customers in the Las Vegas Apple Store. Since there were a reasonable amount of customers, there were
even more employees. It looked ridiculous. Are they all like that? Three, using a Windows Phone 8 device to
mooch off an Apple Store's wifi is strangely satisfying. Four, there are
a lot of technology commercials on US TV, and they are all corny as hell. Two iPads playing piano? Children holding a PowerPoint presentation to convince their parents to switch mobile plans? Seriously? Is this what this industry has come to? Five, it's pretty clear iPads and iPhones are way, way,
way more popular in the US than in The Netherlands. You see them
everywhere, and people display them so openly. It was jarring. In The Netherlands, I always feel as if people are ashamed to take devices out of their pockets in the first place. No wonder US-based writers like Gruber and Arment think Apple dominates everything - if you rarely leave the US, it seems as if they do! Six, and this is not technology related at all but I want to get it off my chest because us Europeans could learn a thing or two from it: Americans are the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I knew this from my existing American friends and from my previous trip to the US (Texas, ten years ago), but it bears repeating. Open, interested, kind, helpful, considerate, and nice. Not exactly qualities I'd ascribe to most of my fellow countrymen. Alright, as you were!
Member since:
2006-06-01
Thank you for saying that we are friendly. It stands to reason that you found a city in the west friendly. I wonder what your response would have been had you been in one of the big eastern cities for a week, but we folks in the middle of the country are very friendly. We take great pride in that fact.
As for the Apple stores, they are pretty much all staffed quite well with lots of salespeople, and the stores are BUSY all the time, from before they actually open, with Genius Bar appointments, to the moment they close. Some people fine the crowds annoying, but I find it quite fun, people are generally cordial and enjoy the atmosphere. I'm sure it drives the Windows afficionados nuts. LOL