Never going to another Apple event

[gekko]

I just got back from Apple's retail store launch dealy for Jaguar. 100 minutes of Jaguar, special savings, free gifts, etc. Whatever. How about 100 minutes of utter hell.

I arrive at 9:30 (speeding, yes, I made exceptional time). I was going to the Mall of America one. Well the line went down half of the mall. Damn, probably close to 400 people there. Well I stood in line until 11:15, and then I finally stepped foot inside the store. 100 minutes of Jaguar presentations were great, except I missed most of it standing in line outside the store and missed the rest standing in line waiting to checkout. I never could hear a word the guy said until it was over. Oh ya, I didn't actually check out until 12:30.

I had plans to show up, watch some of the demos, play around with the new PowerMac G4s, and head home. I ended up being there passed the time when it was about to close, and there was still a huge line outside the store. Those people won't get out of there until at least 3:00.

I did get a chance to play with a new PowerMac, and thankfully Apple did stock plenty of copies of Jaguar for all the people. Rough estimate, around 1,000 people showed. It was the longest, most boring day of my life. All because I thought Apple would be slow shipping these things online, and they happened to actually get people their copies earlier today.

I am tired as hell, feet in pain, and I will never attend another Apple event. And in case anyone's wondering, everyone who entered the store got a Jaguar mouse pad. Round, fur on it, Apple logo in the center. If you bought Jaguar you got a free t-shirt with the furry X on the back, small black Apple logo on the front. Savings were buy Jaguar and get 10% off any other items you purchase or buy a new computer and get 10% off whatever you purchase with it. Drawing for a Mac was corporate, meaning I'll be mixed with the other 34 Apple stores for even less of a chance at winning.