I love PCs and build them/program/use them the most now, but I also have continuously had Apple products since I commandeered my then still-future mother-in-law's Apple II in 1977; and since my first Mac in 1984 when I borrowed money to get it. I am not a "fanboi" but have watched and studied and even programmed Apple products for years. (I have other Apple connections too.)
After you get used to working well on Windows, the Mac interface and dumbed-down functionality (and worsening, just like Windows too is being more toasterized!) (including on "i" products) just drive you BATS! You can customize Mac a lot to compensate for the default Apple interface problems, but that's one more thing to maintain, and when you are doing that on multiple computers it becomes impractical. And iOS (iPhone, iPad) is great for the grandbabies but its dumbed-down-ness is baked in.
Anyway, despite the above I overall LIKE both Apple products, and Windows powered products (even fully updated Vista 64 which is actually a great OS). And I want an Apple Store closer than 100 miles!
SO, more to the point...
I do not think that enough Radio Shack locations are very good any more, so I do not think the idea of using their stores is great. (Personal observation as a real devotee to Radio Shack since the 1960's, though they too dumbed themselves down into oblivion.)
However, the initial point you were responding to was by SamAdams76, that Apple does not have enough stores. Especially in smaller cities. I agree with SamAdams76, and wish they had more stores.
But Apple gets more stores, I do not think they all need to be as big as their present average size which you cite.
I live fairly centrally within a 400,000 population center of about 4+ cities and many burbs, and towns, but I have to drive about 100 miles north or south to get to the nearest Apple Store.
We have a little Apple table in our relatively little Best Buy (and I think the Samsung people mess with it from time to time). We have the usual few Apple things at places like Target. And we have some Apple stuff in the bookstore of our major and well known university if you are in the mood to venture there and get your car ticketed. That's it.
You can't even buy "AppleCare" on a new iPhone (if you delay much after buying it) without taking it 100 miles to be inspected in person at an Apple Store!
A lot can still be done over the phone in handling issues, but Apple misses out on really endearing themselves to their customers by only being in the really big cities.
No surprise, then, that Apple leans toward "blue," a company whose products seem disproportionately favored by liberals (and others with fascist tendencies): their stores are mainly in the "blue" zones where liberals live!
But Apple does need more stores in my opinion, and those stores in the smaller cities could be SMALLER in size than the giant size you quote, if there were more of them.
The main problem, of course, is not just location and space, but the cost of maintaining trained people to work when they are so spread out. They might have to hire more orthodox Americans, too! Maybe that's the problem?
No doubt hyper-successful Apple has already considered everything being suggested here, and have their own studied reasons for not doing just what I want! Dang it!
You said, “No surprise, then, that Apple leans toward “blue,” a company whose products seem disproportionately favored by liberals (and others with fascist tendencies): their stores are mainly in the “blue” zones where liberals live!”
I think you’re seeing a “purpose” that does not really exist in Apple’s corporate policy. You make it sound like someone at Apple, in charge of the Apple Stores, is saying something like ... “Let’s look for where the Liberals mostly congregate, and then build stores there, because we favor liberals in doing our business!”
What is going on ... actually ... is that Apple is looking for the most concentrated population areas, first, in order to get “more bang for their buck” for that store. I mean, if you’re doing a “study” to see where to place your business, you want a high volume traffic area with a high population, because it’s going to provide more business for your startup company (if you’re a retail establishment).
The fact that these stores are in “Liberal areas” (mostly) results from the fact that high population areas and high retail traffic areas are already Liberal areas, not that Apple is “looking for liberal areas”.
It’s like the telecommunications companies, when they roll out a newer high speed data service for their mobile devices. WHERE EXACTLY are those companies going to place their first implementation of those new data services. They are ALWAYS going to pick the LIBERAL AREAS! Why are they going to pick the Liberal areas, first?! Is it because these companies are trying to favor the Liberal element of our populations? NO, it’s because that is where the most concentrated populations are, and that means MORE CUSTOMERS for a certain amount of cost for rolling out the new data service. The fact that there are a bunch of liberals there is INCIDENTAL!
The trouble with being highly concerned about Liberals, is that this kind of concern has the tendency to produce the idea that there is the devil under every rock and behind every tree. In real life, this is not the case, overall, in everything that goes on in society.
It’s not the case that Apple is looking to place their stores in “Liberal areas” in order to favor the liberals. They are “doing business” and this is what produces a lot of business ... being located in high population areas.
In my experience, Apple stores do seem to do extraordinarily well on their hiring.
Their folks look completely random. Until you engage them and lay out a problem. At that point, you realize you're not in a Best Buy nor a Radio Shack of recent decades. It would be interesting to know how much of the advantage is employee selection vs training and coaching.
But Apple gets more stores, I do not think they all need to be as big as their present average size which you cite.
I live fairly centrally within a 400,000 population center of about 4+ cities and many burbs, and towns, but I have to drive about 100 miles north or south to get to the nearest Apple Store.
Out in the boonies, the square footage would not be the expense that it is in the population centers where Apple sites their stores. But, of course, it wouldn't be zero, nor would the cost of staff. It probably comes down to their estimate of total traffic and ensuing business.
Apple just discontinued their mini Apple store concept. They found that the small stores quickly got overwhelmed with customers and became too crowded to work. The small Apple stores were only about 1/4 the size of normal stores. They closed the last one a couple of weeks ago in favor of a full size store in the same mall.