I went to an Apple Store on Halloween and they gave me... a bookmark
Several TUAW readers have tipped us to the fact that many Apple Stores were in the Halloween spirit last night, handing out treats for ghouls, goblins, and Mac nerds who wandered by.However, it sounds like Apple was playing the anonymous homeowner to Charlie Brown, who always got a rock instead of candy in his bag. The Apple Stores were not giving out sugary treats to the tots with their parents in tow, but they did get bookmarks. Yay.
The bookmarks are pretty cool, though. Printed in a beautiful turquoise color, the iPod nano-sized bookmarks have magnets on the inside tips so you can fold them around a page and they'll stick. Apple design savvy strikes again!
Apple fans apparently "ate up" the bookmarks; the post on iPhone Savior mentioned that one store was out of them by 7:30 PM. I'm thinking that we should use Apple's use of a bookmark as a giveaway as a hint about the legendary iTablet / ebook reader...
What do you think Apple should have given out to the costumed crowds last night instead of bookmarks? Leave your comments below.
[via iPhone Savior]
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alexsander Akers said 3:37PM on 11-01-2009
I wish I had known! I don't live near an Apple Store (there aren't any in Brooklyn, NY), but had I known, I would have rushed to the nearest subway and collected as many as I could!
Reply
qwerty said 3:39PM on 11-01-2009
How about a bookmark sized iPod? :-)
Reply
Matthew said 3:41PM on 11-01-2009
Surprising... Apple trying to instill interest in reading to children. Maybe their parents will turn around and buy a mac Book...? Clever play on words... but until i see it on shelves, im not counting on a tablet or ebook reader any time soon.
Reply
Jordan said 3:45PM on 11-01-2009
I think it was more geared towards a hint at the "tablet". We all know it's going to be an over-glorified ebook reader. Bookmarks - ebooks. Yup.
cdogg said 3:46PM on 11-01-2009
Wow, some people can be so ungrateful. You can go buy overpriced candy at any corner store. I'll take limited Apple Swag over a Snicker bar any day.
Reply
macpug said 11:25PM on 11-01-2009
I worked there for several years as well. Re: the shirts, they were easy enough at first, all black with apple logo. Then, biz picked up, seemed like everyone had black shirts on, so they started changing the colors (as someone else noted). There were various colors during the annual back to school promo (blue one year, green, orange, etc), Red at Holidays, different designs for special stuff (like when the iPhone came out, we wore a black shirt with a calendar page flipped to Jun 29 saying "The wait is almost over". I was with the genius staff, so ours were always standard black, except the repair person of the day wore a red shirt with a genius logo and was not to be disturbed under penalty of death or something like that. Anyway...the bottom line is that some folks will be confused by whatever you do!
As for just walking up to anyone and paying, that is already a huge headache in some stores. People don't pay attention, no one knows who is next, and I've seen near cat fights break out over it...so ridiculous! One person gets stuck for 15 min. behind someone having issues while another person has processed 3 or 4 people, and believe me, it gets ugly!!
I'm glad they are allegedly going to wait until after holiday season is over to implement the changes. The closest store to here recently had a "remodel", but except for changing the counter, taking out the cash wrap, and some horrible BOH changes that actually ate up usable space instead of giving them more, you really can't tell that much of anything was done.
I think it could be an issue re: accepting cash...will just depend on how it's handled. Most of my friends who are still there didn't like having the POS counter removed and they sure don't want their cash getting mixed up with the store's, etc. They'll have to count out daily before leaving, have pockets extra checked, etc.
Speaking as someone who has been on both sides of it, I would prefer to have at least a small counter. As someone else noted, it means the transaction is about to be completed. You're finished, done, ready to go home and play with your new toys.
macpug said 11:31PM on 11-01-2009
WTF??? OK, that was crazy!!! It published my last comment to an article b/c that's what 1Password saved...it had saved the comment and republished it when i logged in. Never had that happen before. So, no, haven't totally flipped out and replied to wrong thing. :P
Anyway, on to original reply/comment....Heck yeah!!
Give me Apple swag any day as well.
Back in the day when Jaguar and later Panther came out, we gave out these combo magnet/photo frame things that had words in it that popped out so you could write stuff on your fridge...you guys remember those? They let us divvy up what was left so a bunch of us ended up with dozens of those for gifts to friends that year. I saw them recently on a mac stuff website going for $25 bucks EACH!! Wish I still had a few of those bad boys to sell!
zacheryjensen said 3:55PM on 11-01-2009
Doesn't this actually just validate the idea that Apple would rather innovate in the scheme of paper books than validate the market for electronic ones?
Reply
allthingsea said 3:57PM on 11-01-2009
I GOT ONE =p went to buy a magic mouse and they were handing them out. There was a huge line for them but I just kinda asked for one when I walked out of the store and they were like "here you go!" I
Reply
Stimon said 4:17PM on 11-01-2009
Curse words. I was literally half a block from the Apple Store last night, but I figured since I got to play with the new iMac and Magic Mouse last week there was no point in stopping by. I could really use a bookmark, too, as receipts tear and crumple and floppy disks don't work with paperbacks (yes, you read that right. When I read iWoz earlier this year I realized that a 5.25" floppy works great as a bookmark for a hardcover book).
Reply
Joe said 4:23PM on 11-01-2009
oh wow, I don't even have any floppies anymore. but yea, I usually use receipts or pieces of scratch paper.
Michael said 4:25PM on 11-01-2009
Might as well make use of those old 5.25 disks. Good use for them or you could also use them as coffee table coasters.
Stimon said 4:28PM on 11-01-2009
I didn't have any 5.25" floppies until recently. The Goodwill computer store in Houston had an unopened box of 25 memorex floppies for $1. Who wouldn't jump on that deal? I also have a few 8 inch floppies, which, now that I think about it, would work great for coffee table books...
Tyrannous said 4:28PM on 11-01-2009
for all those ebooks you will be reading with your new Tablet, Apple Slate
Reply
gittenlucky said 4:28PM on 11-01-2009
I usually use a dollar bill for a bookmark. They are usually handy and are more environmentally friendly since you don't have to have a bookmark in the first place.
Reply
bayxsonic said 5:52PM on 11-01-2009
Cheap. In Europe they use €500 bills as bookmarks. Sometimes even two because you never know.
L. Williams said 4:29PM on 11-01-2009
I think this was a clever giveaway. I just wish I'd gone to the local Tampa store yesterday like I'd intended to get one.
Reply
d-man said 4:37PM on 11-01-2009
Sande, your fanboyism annoys me. "Apple design strikes again"? NO! This design is not new and in face is found on a number of existing bookmarks.
Reply
puhsitch said 6:51PM on 11-01-2009
Ah, but Apple was the one who finally perfected it!
d-man said 7:28PM on 11-01-2009
no, they got an existing product custom printed.