It’s funny when you see the $ in their eyes
Last night it was back to the Apple store for the last in the planned
upgrades we’ve been doing to our equipment this spring.
I walked in (past the devilish birch trees) with my iPad case and walked
over to the software section.
It was not hard to see they did not have what I wanted. So, I walked over
to the iPad accessories to see what they had. They didn’t have much.
“Do you need help with iPad accessories?” a saleswoman asked me.
“No,” I said. “I already have more then the ones you’ve got here.”
“You sound very disappointed about that,” she said. “I can order you
something specific you want.”
“I wanted Photoshop 5 extended and Dreamweaver 5,” I said. “All you’ve got
is the version 4 copies.”
It was funny. I could see the thoughts go through her head.
“He’s not here for a $30 power adaptor, he’s here for $1500 of software and
we don’t have it,” clearly passed across her face. It was like watching the
little $ pop up in cartoons.
“The version 4 runs on a lot more computers,” she said. “You’d have to
have one of the newest most powerful computers to run the version 5.”
“I got one of those last week,” I said, pointing to the new iMacs. “i7
processors, 27” screen, lots of memory and hard drive. The Adobe website
seems to think that’s enough of a computer for it.”
The little $ started to spin.
“I can go check out back,” she said. “I’m sure I’ve seen a copy of version
5 here in the store.”
“I really hate asking sales people to look out back,” I said. “So, don’t
bother.”
“It’s not a bother!” she said and practically ran towards the back room.
She actually did bump into another saleswoman on her way who had a brief
conversation with her, looked at me, then pushed her towards the backroom.
A short time, she came running back.
“We’ve got them in version 5,” she said. “But, only as the web developer
package. Do you want the whole package?”
I had been considering the whole package when I was checking out the
software at home. My wife doesn’t use Illustrator much, but it seemed like
it might be a good idea to get it all together at the same version.
“The whole package is $200 more then the two individually,” I said. “I
know that also includes Illustrator, but what else do I get in the package?”
She went over to the iMac I had pointed at before and called up the Adobe
website.
“In addition to the ones you wanted and Illustrator, it has development
tools for flash web sites,” she said.
“So, it includes tools for software that Apple says is obsolete?” I asked.
The little cartoon playing on her face switched to her beating Steve Jobs
with a $.
“Illustrator sells for $600 on its own, and this way you’d be getting it
for $200,” she said.
“Yeah, that is a good point,” I said. “My wife likes other painter
programs better, but it would be good to have Illustrator.”
“Look,” she said, pointing at the web site. “It does perspective drawings
and they’ve automated things so you don’t have to write as much code. I
bet you’re someone who has to write a lot of code.”
“No, I’m a mechanical engineer,” I said. “No code for me. But, I’ll take
the package.”
“I’ll go get it!” she said and took off across the store again.
She came back out holding a package that was still being held by another
man in an Apple shirt. She towed him across the store by the box. When
she got to me, she twisted it out of his hand and passed it over to me.
“Here it is!” she said. “How do you want to pay for it?”
I looked it over.
“This is the upgrade from version 4,” I said. “I want the whole package as
what I’ve got at home now is too old to qualify for the upgrade.”
“Bring me the whole package,” she said to the man who had been holding the
box. A new level of cartoon violence in looks passed between them. He
took the box back and headed towards the back room.
“He’ll bring the new copy right out,” she said. “So, do you like the new
iMac?”
“Yes, it is very nice,” I said. “Much nicer then the old G5 version I had
been using.”
“Have you considered wall mounting it like a TV?” she asked. “We sell the
kit to do that.”
“No, I think I’ll keep it on my dining room table.”
“But, where will you eat?” she asked.
“I’ll grant you that it is a big screen,” I said. “But, I can still eat on
the other side of the table.”
“Wall mounting is cool!”
“No thanks,” I said.
While I waited she had to grab some game software off of the top shelf for
a kid who then decided he didn’t want it and she had to climb up and put it
back.
The man, slowly, returned across the store with the software package. She
grabbed it and brought it over to me.
“Full seat!” she said, handing it to me. It was. I handed her my AMEX.
She ran it though her hand held unit.
“It didn’t read it! It didn’t read it!” she kept swiping it faster and
faster.
“It’s an old card that has seen a lot of use,” I said. “The strip has seen
better days and sometimes takes a few tries.”
“It took it!” she practically shouted and handed it over for me to sign.
So, I got the software.
This completes the upgrades I’ve been talking about since January. It has
been a good bit of money. But, the last system we bought for this purpose
lasted 6 years and now is going to be handed off to my godkids to get even
more use. So, looking at it the long way, it isn’t too bad.
And, there is stuff I hope to get done with the better tools.