Props to Apple

So as I said in a previous post, my wife got me an Ipod Touch for x-mas. While visiting relatives for x-mas dinner I was enlightened to a few more of its growing capabilities. I was particularly impressed with its ability to make voip calls. Not the choppy computer to computer chat of the 90's but real phone calls. To enable this and some other features I wanted to get a few things from the Apple store. So the day after x-mas, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, that's exactly what we did. The mall the store was located in was packed as was the Apple store itself. There were literally people everywhere. Even with all the people and commotion I was able to enter the store and find exactly what I want and even ask questions very easily. What really impressed was when I went to pay for my items. I was approached by an associate who asked if I was wanting to check out and if I was paying by credit. The answer being affirmative to both items he offered to ring me up right there in the middle of the store! He then pulled a small Point of Sale device from his belt, scanned my items, swiped my card, and asked if I wanted my receipt emailed to me. That was it, all done. The experience as a whole goes against what we believe are the established guidelines, it should feel wrong but it doesn't. You start to wonder why you've ever accepted anything less. In any case Kudos to Apple, I have to give credit where credit is due. Apple catches my eye with increasing frequency. I am however a Microsoft .Net Developer by trade so I suppose there are limits to how far the trends can mesh.