Freemesser's an Apple fan, so I am not going to paint them all with a wide brush but JESUS CHRIST. Look at this shit.
If a PCjr store was in development right next door to me, I think the most passion I could muster would be the two seconds I spent fantasizing about sucker-punching the obligatory Charlie Chaplin impersonator.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple's new store in San Francisco's swanky Union Square shopping district won't open for another couple of weeks, but it has already had problems with break-ins.
Several people have tried to sneak onto the unfinished store's construction site, security guards report. Not to steal anything, mind you, but to get a sneak peek at the interior.
Story Tools
Story Images
Click thumbnails for full-size image:
See also
Litigants Take Bite Out of Apple
GarageBand Kicks Out the Jams
Create a Hoax, Earn Damnation
The 20 Macs That Mattered Most
Join the Cult of Mac
Today's Top 5 Stories
Apple Fans Sneak Peek at Store
Rover Is Ready for His Close-Up
The Computer Ate My Vote
Share That Photo: Hit Save
Warning: Microsoft 'Monoculture'
Tech Jobs Partner
never settle. "I had to roust some people a couple of days ago," said one security guard, who declined to give his name. "They wanted pictures, but that's not allowed. No way. Besides, (they had) no hard hats."
Like Apple's other major stores, the new San Francisco store promises to be a house of Apple worship made of brushed steel, glass and light.
The two-story store, clad in stone and silver steel panels, will have a grand, central skylight and a sparkling glass staircase for the ascent to Mac heaven.
"I'm dreading it," said a San Francisco graphic designer. "It's going to bankrupt me."
When it opens at 10 a.m. on Feb. 28, the store will showcase Apple's brand and cool. With an Internet café and two floors of Apple products, the store will likely draw a crowd on opening day.
Gary Allen, an online publisher who lives in nearby Berkeley whose hobby is attending Apple store grand openings, is planning to be first through the door.
He and his 16-year-old son will arrive at least a day early to ensure their places at the head of the line.
"My son definitely wants to be the first in the store and is talking about camping out Thursday night as well," Allen said. "I'm trying to discourage him. The night streets of San Francisco are pretty edgy. I don't want him staying there too many nights."
Allen added, "We're trying to think of it as not a competition, but a social event."
Allen will be broadcasting reports all night using his PowerBook and iSight camera, and posting them to his website. He will also videoconference with curiosity seekers through iChatAV and the store's wireless connection. He said during previous campouts people have tuned in from around the world.
"I don't know if anything can rival Ginza," Allen said, referring to the Tokyo store opening that attracted several thousand people. "That was really crazy. But I think there's going to be a big crowd to open it up."
Apple declined to estimate the potential turnout, but given that the company is based in nearby Cupertino, and San Francisco is full of Mac heads, it likely won't be disappointing. "We expect an enthusiastic turnout," said spokeswoman Jane Rauckhorst.
The opening of Apple's store in Chicago drew a crowd of several thousand that stretched three or four blocks, according to an attendee report.
The new San Francisco store joins 75 other U.S. Apple stores, including locations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. And it won't be the last new store: Apple announced plans last week to open a 20,000-square-foot venue on London's Regents Street.
Security is tight at the construction site, which is fenced off from the throngs of tourists and shoppers milling about the busy intersection. Two guards are posted around the clock.
All the workers have Apple badges, and no one is allowed onsite without one. A security guard said he'd already kicked out several people who'd sneaked onto the site to take pictures.
"There's loyalty among Mac users that borders on the bizarre," he said. "I don't know what they're going to take pictures of. There's nothing much in there yet."
The guard said he'd even had to stop construction workers from taking pictures of their own work for their portfolios. He said one got quite upset.
"I told him 'I know it's absurd, but that's Apple's mentality, not mine,'" he said. "Apple acts like it's the Pentagon."