I finally made it!
Braving the wind and rain Kim, Krishen and myself drove into Tampa to see what the city had to offer. Top on our list was the “International Plaza” – and home of our local Apple Store. And what was it like ? Well, it was a store … but wow … it was a nice store. Guess it is true eh … leave it to Apple to do things right.
Got to play with all the machines – no codes, no salespeople breathing down your neck, and ALL THE MACHINES WORKED. I must say that this is the first time I have managed to sit and play with some of the current product line. Though it was a store thus could not let my self get too carried away – I was only shopping for a shower curtain and a towel after all. Guess I kinda got side-tracked a little 😉
So … what did I like? Well … the iPod was nice. both simpler and smaller than I had actually pictured. The 17″ iMac was great … the proportions are now correct and it does the think look nice. Managed to actually spend some personal time with it – and I can definitely see one sitting in our living room / kitchen area for the family to make use of. Now, the newest member to our family was there … the 12″ Powerbook … this is a little piece of art wrapped into a very functional device. It is SO FREAKIN’ small – but the keyboard was the nicest portable keyboard in quite some time. Screen could use a little size upgrade – where is my 17″ Powerbook ?? – but it was something that could be taken anywhere really easily.
My favorite was the monitor … the 23″ Cinema Display … man this would be a beautiful machine to code on … and with the dual monitor 17″ Display sitting next to it — AHHHH! This goes in my office! Close to 3 complete text documents lined up side to side … on the ONE monitor. The Perfect Coding machine! … and I bet it would play a sweet game of Quake too. … only $1999 … only in about 1999 years 😉
Did you know they even have a kids section ? They have a preschool sized table with iMacs and other toys for the kids to play with. All running some games (educational and “non”-education) and with helpful staff right there to assist the kids. Very nice touch (in my opinion).
Oh … finally a tip … if you wear an Apple logo on your shirt or decided to go with those who do – be prepared to be a target. Thanks to Krishen we got to spend 1/2 the time browsing software, hardware, and tech-gadgets … and the rest of the time playing Apple Store employee or just plain Mac Junky … I feel MacLab flash backs coming on.
All in all it was a good trip … and on the way home I managed to stop in a Target and get a towel, soap, and a shower curtain – so I even came out with the things I needed !!!
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