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Happy Endings Todd Stauffer
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Will Apple's Online Store Thrive?
Well, word on the street (okay, on the Web) is that Apple is planning to go into the Web-based mail order business and sell systems directly to consumers. (By now you'll probably have official confirmation one way or another, but, for me, a deadline is a deadline.) While many speculate that the model forged by Gateway, Dell and even Power Computing is a good one for Apple to try, others of us who are familiar with how Apple does things are a little worried.
Not that I think it's a bad idea, mind you. It's just that Apple's track record shows an ability to easily turn any Web site into a bad idea. Apple is not a small, hungry company ready to splash big and loud on the Web with a unique approach to customer experience. (Apple is hungry, but unweildy and corporate.) And Apple has a tendency to roll out great, exciting new services, then leave the prices too high, update too infrequently and basically let all the interesting sales shuffle back to MacConnection.
Take, for instance, the Apple Club.
We Paid for This?
I can still remember the day I fumbled for a credit card to sign onto the Apple Club service. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be worth it, but I promised away the $19.95 dues anyway. They were supposed to have fast servers, special access to the Tech Info Library and tons of deals too good to mention.
It hasn't happened.
The News portion of the site has been updated exactly twice since this summer. Once, on 8/25, they announced the refurbished Mac deals that they also splashed all over the Apple home page. You can get a 5300c/100 for $1599 or a Performa 6400/180 for $925, among a few other deals. On 10/2, they announced a contest winner.
Apple didn't exactly take the Club dues, put together a crack team of developer relations folks and head out to ink great deals on peripherals and software. Nor haa Apple offered any recent software releases at a discount through the club. I'd like to see Mac OS 8, ClarisWorks 5.0 upgrades, PageMill or Home Page, Microsoft Office deals, and maybe even some good prices on Quark, Connectix and Adobe products. Toss is a game or two from a featured developer for the holidays.
Instead, there are exactly four pieces of software available at an Apple Club discount: Claris Impact, Symantec ACT! 2.5, Norton DiskLock 4.0 and Claris Draw. They've been there for months. CompUSA had more titles than this before the Apple boutique deal. How about a making the Club a repository for all the great educational and home office software out there that's tough to find in stores?
Like any Web site, the Apple Club should have some professional producers, writers and artists to make it compelling. In order to harbor some sort of good will in exchange for the $19.95, Apple Club should have seen more participation by Apple employees -- maybe additional hints, discussions of upcoming products or on online Apple rep or two to take priority questions. (Right now, clicking the Tech Info link take you out of the Apple Club and over to the main Tech Info Library site. Wow.)
In fact, Apple should still do something with the Apple Club. The mere idea made some of the Mac faithful signup as a show of faith and appreciation. Now, make it worth a little something. At least make it worth as much as you said it would be.
Not Related?
Given the experience Apple has with offering exclusive, concierge service over the Internet to the faithful who are actually willing to pay a membership fee for the privilege, Apple's online store could be problematic. Apple's Web folks needs to offer a level of excitement, interest and a compelling reason to return that you simply don't find on any of Apple's Web sites, including the Club.
Apple has a fine rope to walk with its online store. How does Apple keep prices competitive while not cutting its retail outlets off at the knees or overcharging and making a mockery of the process? Will it offer enough peripherals and software to make it interesting to stop by, or is this a one-trick hardware-selling pony? Will the opportunity to custom configure a machine be so compelling that it will attract people who enjoy real online experiences like Cyberian Outpost and ClubMac?
Maybe Apple's online store efforts will be completely different from the wasteland that is the Apple Club. Perhaps Apple finally gets it and is ready to roll out an exciting, visual, quick-moving and entertaining site that will add serious value to the Macintosh buying experience. Maybe the big splash won't be followed by a lackluster slide into quiet that characterized the Apple Club and many other aspects of the Apple Web site.
Are you feeling a bit skeptical? Join the Club.