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Shaky Out Of The Gate (5/26/99)
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Memorial Day weekend quickly approaches, and many of us in the U.S. are looking forward to a three-day weekend; a whole extra day to kick around the house, maybe defragment the old hard disk, apply a fresh coat of varnish to the garden gnomes, etc. But Apple-watchers have another reason to await this weekend with anticipation: it marks the debut of the iMac in over 800 Sears retail locations nationwide. Considering the recent fiasco at another consumer-oriented nationwide chain, Sears is probably Apple's best chance right now to get iMacs (and, eventually, iBooks) in front of as many consumer eyeballs as possible.
So we're all hoping that Sears doesn't drop the ball on this one. They have a less-than-stellar past when it comes to selling Macs, and the dollar signs that the iMac's success represents is, unfortunately, no guarantee of a change of attitude. (COUGH Best Buy COUGH) Is it any wonder, then, that we're just a little nervous to read over at iMacInTouch that iMacs have already started to appear in certain Sears stores? We don't mind that they're there (unless, of course, they're not supposed to be displayed yet), but a couple of the eyewitness reports are somewhat troubling. For one thing, why are the iMacs in a South Carolina Sears priced at $1299? And why are there iMacs on display in a Massachusetts Sears at all, if there's "no promo material, nor kiosk of any sort"?
Are these isolated start-up glitches, or symptomatic of a bigger problem soon to become painfully apparent? Another retail debacle would be crippling right about now, but we assume Apple knows that, too, and will do everything they can to make sure the Sears iMac-buying experience is a positive one. Right?
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SceneLink (1563)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/26/99 episode: May 26, 1999: Apple's board brings in fresh blood, and it's khaki-colored. Meanwhile, iMacs have already started to surface in Sears, and an IBM executive reveals a sordid past of Microsoft nastiness in preparation for next week's return of "Redmond Justice..."
Other scenes from that episode: 1562: And Then There Were 7 (5/26/99) If you've been thinking that Apple's board of directors has been way too static lately, you're in luck. We're pretty sure that ever since the coup d'etat that revamped the whole board way back in August of 1997, the line-up has remained the same-- until now... 1564: Ugly Threats, Tasty Snacks (5/26/99) With only a few more days until "Redmond Justice" heads back into the courtroom, you can bet that fans of the antitrust melodrama are getting prepared: we expect the country will see a sudden spike in the money spent on snack foods and carbonated beverages as people gear up for justice parties everywhere...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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