Black Friday/Holiday Shopping 2013

I'm weird.  I like to shop.  I like to compare deals and I like a real bargain.  I also like to share fake bargains, in order to help other people from making mistakes because fraud is illegal but being sleazy is not and stores who are merely sleazy need to be smacked.

Here are some guidelines:

• For devices with displays, ask for the resolution 800x480 (1024x600?  It depends on the price.) is not reasonable for a 7 inch display but 1280x800 should be the minimum.
• Dual-core processors can mean almost anything.  Intel Pentium Dual-Core, Celeron Dual-Core and AMD E- processors are the low end.  Look for Intel Core i3 or AMD A- processors at minimum.
• Computer monitors with IPS displays will look better than most.  What good is a monitor that doesn't display the scene correctly?
• Don't buy tablet bundles from HSN, QVC, or ShopNBC/ShopHQ.  You can do better by getting the accessories yourself, and you'll save money.
• Research what you want because you may find better deals in your town than the deals online.  You never know where to look unless you're prepared.  Micro Center, Big Lots, and Tuesday Morning often have good deals.  Ross, Marshalls,  and TJ Maxx sometimes have good deals, but use cash, not a card because they have all had problems with hackers.

When I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I could visit 4 different malls along the Blue Route/I-476, on Black Friday.  Sometime, I got great deals, and other times, I just got pizza and a drink.  There are times when it's better to window shop.

These days, I rarely go outside on Black Friday because it's so cold here and people are so crazy for deals that they'll trample or beat each other.  It's too important to be good to each other.  Stuff is just stuff.  You can't replace people.

Due to my water heater problems, I didn't go out on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.  (It's difficult to clean up properly without at least warm water.)  The plumber who was taking care of the water heater told me that he and his daughter went to the local Walmart last night (Thanksgiving Day) and they had many police officers there, and he spoke to one who said that it had been crazy.  I'm all for good deals, but seriously, are they that important?  I expect the news tonight will be full of tramplings and fights to get that cheap item.

I saw HSN and one of the other shopping channels charging an extra $300 for iPad Air and accessories in a bundle.   One of them was also attempting to sell a 4th generation iPod touch bundle.  That would be 2 generations from the current iPod touch models.  You can do better, especially by getting a refurbished product on the Apple Store web site.

News outlets keep reminding us that 30% is the magic discount where retailers can still make money.  That said, prices may reflect a bigger discount but that's because the retail price will shift to suit the circumstances on occasion (H.H. Gregg) or be set higher at the beginning (Best Buy).  You have to check a lot for deals.  Kohl's will present cardholders with a 30% coupon, so you end up with a virtual 70% discount, but they obviously can't afford to do that unless their prices are high enough to account for such a discount.  The doorbusters are the only products where any company is willing to lose money, to get you to buy other things.

Apple retail is unfriendly, almost hostile now

I saw this article on MacRumors: http://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/28/apple-retails-emphasis-on-profits-continues-tied-to-operational-perspective-of-cook-and-browett/

The last time I visited an Apple store in a mall, it felt uncomfortable.  It was tremendously crowded and the employees seemed to force smiles.  Software availability was at a minimum, and there were so many iDevices that there wasn't much room for traditional computers.

The first time I visited an Apple store was just after September 11, 2001.  Apple opened a retail store in Tampa's International Plaza near the airport.  A couple of friends lived northwest of there and I drove from the Orlando area to get them and go to the store together.  When we started to walk toward the mall, we stopped for a moment and realized the silence.  It was eerie.  There wasn't much activity other than people going to the new mall but all air travel had been suspended, and next to an airport, you'd expect to hear planes occasionally.

Finding the Apple store, there was a queue/line to enter.  I felt like one of the fanatics being there early enough to see the store open for the first time.  (I have a love-hate relationship with Apple, so it was strange.  I love their hardware designs, especially internally, but I'm always frustrated with their operating systems and lack of fixes.)  Being with friends, one of whom sold Apple equipment, I was interested to see how they would react.

As the store opened, the staff were cheering, and handing out t-shirts in tubes.  I was immediately reminded of The Gap clothing store, where I never shopped.  (Mind you, I've shopped at Old Navy and Banana Republic.)  The equipment was out on (fake) wood tables lining the walls, while there were two huge rows of software centrally located.  Given that Mac-related software was almost impossible to find at the time, this was as close to heaven as it came for a Mac user.  Of course, everything was at full retail pricing, even though you could occasionally find software elsewhere at a discount.

The store was pleasant and Apple made sure that employees kept you comfortable.  I remember mentioning that they should serve cappuccino and biscuits.  It had that kind of a feel.

I'll jump forward to 2006, to a store in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.  The previous year, I bought a PowerBook, and the company was making the transition to Intel processors when I was there at the store.  I was looking at a MacBook and its unusual keyboard.  (If you ever saw an iBook with most of its keys missing, you'll understand why they changed the keyboard.) A staffer started talking to me, and asked how I was, and if I was interested, and as soon as I got through the name "PowerBook", he turned and walked away.  How rude!  Considering the article, this was far earlier than 2009, when they were revising the store and its policies.

In 2007, as the iPhone became the holy grail and fandom, I became less and less settled with the fanatics.  I noticed that Apple were feeling similarly, banning some Mac-related website authors from their media events.  Having been at the Genius Bar in one of the Orlando area stores, I was practically assaulted by an iPhone owner who put the phone within 6 inches of my face, telling me how beautiful it was.  He could hardly catch his breath, he was so excited.

it seems with every new iDevice release, Apple has become a distant relative, even though I had a second generation iPod touch and now have an iPhone 4S to replace it.  My current computer is a mid-2009 MacBook on 10.6.8.  I'd like to update it, but they'll put that !@#$ Mountain Lion on it and it's not what I want.

In any case, I don't look forward to visits to the Apple store, especially if I have problems with the iPhone.  I did this once already.  (Seriously, Apple, if the phone's operating system can't clean up after itself, why should I do it manually?  This stinks like Multi-Finder and setting memory allocations.)  The probably is finding Apple equipment otherwise, although some Best Buy and fewer Target stores have Apple equipment available.  However, you don't have to deal with the fanatics and in Best Buy, you'll probably find more software available, since Apple has pushed everything (but Adobe software) to their online store.

It's just not fun or interesting now, and maybe Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer will see that and realize that profit > customer is not the correct relationship.