OT: Mac and PC Dealers

[Evan Leibovitch]

phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org wrote:

>As we welcome MacHeads to the world o' Linux, we can expect some crossing
>of that great cultural divide. To help with this, I offer the following
>comparison of  local dealers for the Mac and generic PC. Perhaps Tlugers
>can refine and add to this list.
>  
>
After three weeks of training, my son (www.braden.ca) starts a permanent 
part-time gig at the Yorkdale Apple store next week.

>Mac Dealers
>   Sales people in suits or other fashionable outfits
>  
>
FWIW: Nobody in the Mac Store wears a suit. In fact, grunge is 
practically encouraged; maybe that's what you mean by 'fashionable'. 
Braden customarily wears cargo pants and jeans as part of the store 
'uniform'. Baseball caps are allowed as long as they have either no logo 
or the Apple logo (a rarity, the Apple baseball hats are only available 
at the company store in Silicon Valley and not sold online).

OTOH, he will have his own business cards...

>PC Dealers
>  
>
Now, let's be fair. Somebody wanting track lighting and 
reasonably-groomed PC salespeople doesn't need to look hard. Best Buy, 
Future Shop, The Sony Store, the Source, department stores, and the 
growing number of Dell mall kiosks offer all the slick a PC buyer might 
want.

The point you're making is that the PC buyer has the _option_ of the 
grunge stores whereas the Mac buyer (or, for that matter, the Sun or 
Playstation buyer) generally does not. Indeed, the PC buyer has 
alternatives that are neither slick _nor_ grunge, such as Costco or Staples.

>* At Canada Computes I was purchasing a PC laptop and had the model number. I asked the sales guy if I could see the unit. The answer: No. No explanation. Just: 'No'. That encapsulates the PC dealership experience.
>  
>
Come on. Most people don't get their PCs from Canada Computes; Dells, 
HPs and Lenovos aren't sold that way. Those people who take the path of 
the "College&Spadina" stores (which is more mindset than location) are 
generally enthusiasts who know what they want. Non-enthusiasts who buy 
whiteboxes generally get them from others who know what they're doing -- 
an enthusiast friend/relative or VARs (who often turn to wholesale 
whitebox-builders such as Supercom or ECS). From the perspective here, 
the big advantage of whitebox builders is that they can easily give you 
a box without forcing you to buy a Windows license.

One interesting retail hybrid is CompuSmart. The location I know (Mavis 
just south of Britannia in Mississauga) has tasteful grey carpeting and 
a nice selection of name-brand pre-builts -- but it also has an 
enthusiasts'/components section along one wall where you can hand-pick 
the ultimate games box (complete with case cutouts and neon insides) or 
a cute Shuttle cube; you can just get the parts cash-and-carry or for a 
few bucks they'll assemble it all for ya.

- Evan

PS: Personally, I've had extremely good service at the Canada Computer 
location on Yonge north of Finch. The person was very helpful _and_ "let 
me look at the unit".


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