Mac users 'ecstatic' about new Apple Store

After up to 12 hours of waiting, the Tulsa Apple Store's first customers swarmed through its gates at Woodland Hills Mall on Friday evening.

The 6 p.m. store opening coincided with the unveiling of Apple's iPhone nationwide.

While many were in line to purchase the new phone, other local Apple fans were there to revel in the uniqueness of the new store.

Rachelle Murphy, a member of the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society from Broken Arrow, said it was an exciting day for Apple and Macintosh lovers in the area. She said she was once jealous of Oklahoma City's Apple Store and had waited for Tulsa's to open since 7 a.m. Friday.

"It's fun because you get to meet other Mac users and others who are not now but will be by the end of the day with the new store opening," Murphy said. "Mac users are kind of like a cult -- well, not a cult, but a club.

"The experience we have with Macs is a completely different beast. They're much more secure. There's so many different creative things you can do with the machine."

The Apple Store's employees greeted the estimated 400 people in line when the store opened. Scott Woodliff, the store's general manager, said it was a great day for Tulsa.

"We obviously want to thank you all for coming," Woodliff told the cheering crowd. "It's an exciting moment for Apple, but also the Tulsa community."

The first Apple Store customers had arrived outside the business when the mall opened its doors about 6 a.m. Friday. Connor Sokolosky, 14, of Tulsa and his 9-year-old brother, Chandler, were there solely for the iPhone.

"The phone's better than anything that's been created, and I like the features," Connor said. "Plus, it's fun to say you waited in line for 12 hours."

Matthew Swaggart, another of the first customers in line, ran straight for the register to buy an iPhone when the mall gate lifted, allowing shoppers into the store.

"I'm a big Mac fan because the software just works for me," said Swaggart, a Tulsa photographer. "I'm completely ecstatic. I use Apple software, so being able to get support at the store will be good."

What will the Apple Store mean for surrounding businesses? Ronda Adams, assistant manager of The Sharper Image in the mall, said she is excited about the opening.

"I think it's going to be really good," she said. "I think it's more of a cooperation. We have a lot of things they don't have . . . a lot of Sharper Image iPod accessories."

I received a note from Althea Peterson about my estimate for the number of people waiting in line for the grand opening of the Tulsa Apple Store. I had said that by looking at the crowd and guessing what the number was by seeing how many groups of tens there were, I thought there was about 3,000 people. However, my estimate seems to be wrong, since Althea Peterson says she did an actual person-by-person count. So, what can I say? I don't know, but it sure seemed like a large crowd to me, and I thought I was doing that right.

It was a very nice note and part of what she wrote was --

However, I would debate you saying that there were "closer to 3,000" there for the Apple Store opening. Let me assure you by the hours I stood there (as early as 10 a.m.) that the number of people I estimated in line throughout the day is quite accurate. I counted each person standing in line (along with empty chairs of people I saw throughout the day coming and going for food and bathroom runs) up through 5:30 p.m., when I counted 370. There were also exactly 50 people on the upper level looking down at the Apple Store when it opened.

I was one of those on the upper level. I had arrived just prior to the opening of the store and took some pictures up there, and then went down below and took more pictures. I walked clear around the entire crowd, as it went all the way back to the Macy's store at the far end of the mall.

Well, a thanks to Althea Peterson for providing some good coverage for the grand opening of the Tulsa Apple Store and having her story prominently displayed in the Tulsa World.

Regards,
Star Traveler

Apple-bashers have a strange fascination with battery life for some reason.

Yes, they do! I can just imagine them, sitting there with all sorts of instruments and gauges and wires and charts -- and making the pronouncement -- "Apple batteries produce 0.25% less power than the top 2% of batteries on the market! Apple is going out of business next week!"

LOL! What a bunch of nuts.... (and they call Apple people crazy for buying good products... what a deal...).

Regards,
Star Traveler

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