Retirement to the Apple Store

This column is not about retirement from Apple. It is about retirement to Apple.

San Francisco store: One Stockton Street. The Apple store in San Francisco resembles the store in Southlake, Texas, for about 10 feet. Then you reach the glass staircase. It leads to a top floor with just as much activity as below, plus a theatre. That’s theatre seating (really comfortable plush chairs) around a wall display. Experts on iPhones and iPods and even Adobe Photoshop present one-hour workshops nearly all day long, 7 days a week. (On one trip to the store, the projector wasn’t working so the expert led us to a work station for a hands-on tour of iWeb. We sat on stools and were slightly less comfortable, but learned a lot in that setting, too.)

Who’s retiring. It’s not that young workforce staffing the Genius Bar that I’m writing about today. It’s the gray-haired customers in the San Francisco store. The retired contingent is arriving for training. Whether weekend or weekday, gray haired customers are a noticeable part of the environment. They come for all topics. Some come with note pads. Most come with questions, happy about finding a venue for introductory lessons.

Retirement computing. I am reluctant to make assumptions about age and computing. I know old people who excel at WoW (World of Warcraft) and young people who fumble at a google search. Still, there are some givens that apply: those people in the stage of fluid intelligence can learn new computing strategies in one way… and those people in the stage of crystallized intelligence will learn in another way, probably building on previous knowledge (not necessarily knowledge about computers). People who are retired today were already in the crystallized stage when affordable (home) computing emerged. They were probably very purposeful in selecting hardware and application software, with a desktop CPU and email their primary concerns. Those early choices do not confine them today.

Crystallized and fluid intelligence. The neat thing about crystallized intelligence is that we keep learning after the shift from fluid intelligence in our 20s or 30s. The term crystallized is off-putting to some of my students, especially those residing in fluid intelligence. Fluid: learning is characterized by intuitive leaps, often without much structure. It’s what allows the young (primarily) to produce new theory. Einstein is the classic example, but only just an example. We all experience fluid intelligence and it is what allows us to explore as we learn. Crystallized: learning is characterized by scaffolding of ideas, building on foundational knowledge that we gained earlier. It is no less creative than fluid intelligence. In some fields, it is the preferred state: historians develop slowly and typically peak (academically) in middle and late age. Considering the types of intelligence can help us figure out how best to assist learning about computers. Apple’s theatre seating is a great fit for crystallized thinkers: they like to follow along, they like to see a display first, and maybe they just relate well to being taught in a lecture setting.

Venues for accessing beginner information. Why are the retired (with more boomers on the way, of course) flocking to Apple? For starters, the company’s stores are earning the reputation as the most helpful service sources for computing today. More important, Apple stores provide drop-in learning opportunities. Even the most accommodating community education source demands a commitment to schedule. Learn to surf the web, master Flash, and build your own website—all are available at low cost or free from community centers and colleges. But they are not drop-in. Only Apple keeps the appropriate teaching force—their sales force—on the job every day, ready to receive learners.

Meeting the training expectation. In smart fashion, Apple advertises to the young and then sells to all generations. For training on Apple products, does the San Francisco experience translate to other stores? Comparison to my store back home in Southlake is not encouraging. I’ve visited the Texas venue specifically for free workshops and never found them operating. Does it take a dedicated teaching space like the one in the San Francisco store? Yes, it probably does. At least for the crystallized thinkers, having that organized seating matters. If my Southlake store pulled out a dozen chairs and grouped them around a projector, would that suffice? Yes. It would also be the ideal place to point out to the small masses the concomitant lessons, like demonstrating the use of the DVI connector to the typical data projector. (Yep. That stumps a lot of boomers at professional conferences when they arrive expecting to make presentations from their MacBooks.)

No complaints. Hats off to Apple for recognizing the need for drop-in training venues. Special congratulations to Apple for making the San Francisco store the ultimate in that experience. And as more boomers have more time to partake of the offerings, my guess is that we’ll see growth in this style of customer support.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

iWant

It's Friday, so I get to write about personal technology. Apple promises the iPhone G3 will be twice as fast as and half the cost of the original model that's barely a year old. iWant it. Soon, I'll be walking into the local Apple store for a trade-in.

For baby boomers, the iPhone is sleek and cool and a million miles ahead of the giant "mobile phones" we began carrying around 20 years ago. Back then, we were excited at the thought of ordering pizza from the car, for delivery straight to the park. In a wild advance in technology since then, I recently used my iPhone to access an online rubric to score an Internet course design while joining the evaluation team meeting via an extra cell phone. I could have done it all on the iPhone except that I'm accustomed to computing on two screens and that's essentially what I was mimicking in attending the meeting. Did I mention that I did this from the side of the highway because of traffic that prevented me from getting to the office by the appointed hour? Did I mention that my colleagues chuckled at my technology juggle because they've done the same in airports and train stations? Did I mention that I never go online while actually driving?

I am not represented in Apple's advertising, but I'm a user. iPhone and MacBook Pro at present. But I've been through mini Mac and other previous wonders. And, yes, there's still the video iPod that I insist on maintaining for air travel. I keep several G films on it, for the occasional loan to very young passengers near me. (I'm the sort of traveler who gets asked to sit next to the child flying alone.) If I keep the video iPod, I don't have to share my iPhone.

What I love about the iPhone:

• scrolling action in the calendar
• intuitive symbols for phone features
  
• highly readable SMS text
  
• intelligent keyboard
  

Not everyone likes the intelligent keyboard, which requires touching letters with your finger tip. Until you practice and get your speed up, it's slower than the traditional button keyboard. But that's what I like about it. I like being slowed down and stepping away from my QWERTY habits. (I do wonder who will serve up the first DVORAK option in miniature—ah, I just googled "mobile Dvorak keyboard" and got my answer. It takes some iTapTap and I won't be doing it, but you can check Richard Kasperowski's May 2008 blog for guidance.)

What I worry about:
Will Apple have an idea about what to do with my current unit?
Will my Contacts transfer to the G3 without a hitch? Calendar, too?
Will the G3 sync perfectly with my MacBook Pro?
Will the missing first iPhone confuse the sync?

PC to MAC ratio: Most of my computing is on PCs, which number three at home and are not to be confused with Tom Bold's three. In leaving a university post this year, I will leave a couple there, so my PC to MAC ratio has been pretty steep. I have envied colleagues who have led the MAC life completely. I'm more in the fan category, using MAC products as complements to my work. But I am a serious fan and finding iPhone more than just a complement.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.