Along with some new iPad - centric décor and an updated Apple Store app , Apple is introducing another new component as part of its elbow grease to revamp its 10 - year - old retail efforts . Customers at the Apple Store can now take the purchasing summons one whole tone further and have an employee help them set up their new Mac , iPod , iPad , iPhone , or Apple TV , thanks to the caller ’s expandedPersonal Setup program .
I was favourable enough to receive my very own Personal Setup demo on Monday afternoon at Apple ’s flagship store in San Francisco . Here are some initial impressions .
In the designated Personal Setup section , Apple retail employees help customers determine up their raw devices .
In the designated Personal Setup section, Apple retail employees help customers set up their new devices.
The conception behind a Personal Setup is pretty much ego - explanatory in name alone : An Apple employee will personally walk you through the bedrock of determine up your gimmick and start out it initially customized to your liking . It ’s not the first time the company has used the nickname — Apple also label the information transference lineament of its $ 99One to One membership(available for purchase with any new Mac ) with the name .
For my Personal Setup , we eschewed anything overly complicated and go with one of the company ’s more - vulgar in - store purchase : an iPod mite . The Specialist first asked me a few questions , to determine my competence storey in regard to iOS devices — a plus , as that way we managed to gloss over most of the BASIC . ( Really , the more often you’re able to skip the “ It ’s not about how intemperately you smash your finger into the screen , it’swhereyou place it ” speech , the better . )
The Specialist first aid me unravel the secret of the iPod tinge packaging ( last time I opened an iPod boxwood , the twist was settle in a carbonite - like charge plate holster ; now it ’s more of a sticky - tape labyrinth ) , walked me through the substance of the box seat , then helped me hook the equipment up to an available MacBook Air to activate it . Once activate , we went through some simple starter steps : adding e - chain mail accounts , connect my iTunes Store Apple ID , downloading some apps , and — as the iPod mite has no cellular connection — a fuzee on find available Wi - Fi in the smashing metropolitan sphere ( a tough effort , to be sure ) .
After these stair , my iPod trace was pretty much ready to go save for some music , and that was an easy enough fix : I just hop over to the iTunes app and downloaded a song or two for the road . In just 15 minutes , we ’d transubstantiate the iPod touch from exanimate engineering - in - a - box to useable medicine - rocking , game - playing , Wi - Fi - finding sensation .
While I was n’t able to see this first - hand in my own setup session , as part of the new Personal Setup , new gadget proprietor will get “ one more thing ” from Apple upon leverage — a customized e - mail message . Depending on what you bought , the company will tailor the e - ring armor to recommend workshops that might suit your needs , number some right tips and trick , and — if you purchased an iOS twist — evoke some honest introductory apps to load onto your gimmick . You ’ll also get a brief overview regarding Apple ’s Express Lane tech support and easygoing access to AppleCare ’s earpiece number .
I ’ll admit that as a former One to One flight simulator , it ’s hard not to be a teensy fleck colored in favor of these plan : For almost two years , I got to see on a casual basis how they transmute the way of life people used Apple ’s products . While Personal Setup does n’t have the deepness of a One to One school term or a shop , it still give you an porta into that human beings , where engineering science does n’t just need to sit in a box or on a shelf . And , when you arrive right down to it , that ’s what continue to makeApple ’s coming to retail special : What other storage carry valuable timeafterthe sales agreement to continue help you ?
[ Serenity Caldwell is a stave editor at Macworld . ]
