i think, therefore iPad

I did my first ethnography study outside the glistening white Apple store last week and thought id blog a short summary of my experience.

After settling down, and getting used to feeling weird watching people and making notes, I began to notice past the obvious. There were many men that walked past locking eye contact with the inside of the store cranking there necks as they walk past, mimicking a white van driver ogling at girls in short skirts.

In the middle of the store front was an Apple employee with a beaming smile, looking in his mid 20’s, wearing baggy jeans, almost a poster for a typical Apple user. He pottered around occasionally playing with an iPad he clutched in his hands, nodding and engaging people with conversation as they walked in reminding me of a placid holiday rep trying to get you into their bar because it is the place to be. Apple staff are definitely not you average sales team below is a clip from the opening of the Covent Garden store.

A girl who was with her mother in a wheel chair caught my attention. They stopped outside the shop front and stared inside. They did not appear to have a lot of money dressed scruffily with one old Tesco plastic bag hanging off the chair. They waited for a while and then ended up coming over and sitting next to me. The girl positioned her mother facing the store and they both continued occasionally talking and looking in the store. 10 minutes later they walked into a clothing shop but returned to stand outside Apple empty handed. They did this twice. Something kept on bringing them back but not letting them in.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Apple as a brand. I noted that in the hour I watched the store not one person left with a bag and I know for Apple selling stuff in their store isn't what they are aiming to achieve. It’s more about a community, a feeling of belonging and an experience. There have been studies done comparing MRI scans of true Apple fans and of religious people and it’s shown that the same part of the brain is stimulated which I find a bit scary! I have never been shy with my opinion on the iPhone but recently I've been lucky enough to be given an iPad 2 so I too somehow found myself suddenly (all be it slightly reluctantly) drawn to the shiny mecca! Well if you can’t beat them....