My “Creative” for the day, I was told, would be “Sundown.”
I recently took a test tutorial through Apple’s One to One program. The service, which costs $99 a year, allows anyone from a novice to an experienced techie to sit down with an Apple guru one hour a week for one year.
These eager teachers, dubbed Creatives, patiently unpack secrets to everything from the basics of operating an iPhone to movie making.
It’s all part of the carefully cultivated Apple experience, one of the reasons the company’s customers tend to be loyal.
Stepping into an Apple Store is a cross between attending a seminar led by graduate students and hanging out at Starbucks. In addition to the tech tutors, there are staff manning the “Genius Bar,” Apple’s help-desk-by-appointment that provides assistance when things get stuck.
You can also book an hour with a shopping assistant to help pick out the right machine.
But if you just want to hang out and listen to music on iPods, or check e-mail on the spotless new MacBook laptops and iMac desktops on display, no one will bother you.
“It’s really becoming the Nordstrom of technology,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president and research director for Jupiter Research.
When I arrived for my 10 a.m. appointment, Westfield Valley Fair was nearly empty, except for the gaggle of shoppers waiting to get into the Apple Store. I headed to an iMac with Sundown, whose name is more exotic than his closely cropped appearance, unlike the tattooed-and-pierced look of some Apple employees. Perched on black stools, we were quickly joined by others participating in Apple’s version of study hall. Some brought in their laptops. It’s not unusual for someone to lug in their iMac in a suitcase.
“You are the driver and I’m the navigator,”…