So, what does one do on a beautiful summer Friday afternoon in Chicago? Why, stand in line for 1.5 hours to attend the opening of the Apple Computer Michigan Avenue store of course!

You would have thought that Apple was giving away a $5,000 computer to anyone who showed up on opening night, but no, for the member of the “cult of mac,” simply being the first to walk the modernist interiors of Apple’s newest super-store was more than enough motivation. As the line snaked around the equivalent of 5 city blocks, it was fun to watch the reaction of people passing-by, curious to know what was up. A sample exchange:

“What’s going on?”
“Uhh, Apple Computer is opening a new store.”
“But why is there such a huge line?
What are you waiting for?”
“To get in!”
“Huh? You mean just to get into the store?
“Yeah!”
“Wow, that’s really weird.”

Yes, it was really weird, but then, the Mac Faithful have always been just a little weird. If anyone doubts that Apple sells a lifestyle, and not just a computer, they had only to look at the cross-section of people gathered last night. It was an

ethnographer and marketing student’s gold-mine. Once inside, everyone was treated to the sounds of a hip DJ (spinning on dual iPods of course) and live music compliments of OK-Go. And of course, there was the Apple product line, displayed in a stunning layout designed to give everyone a hands-on experience living the iLife. The most popular product by far was the new iSight camera; the industrial design marvels were mounted on just about every PowerBook and Apple Display in the store, and folks were having a blast video-chatting with each other (even if the two callers were standing five feet away from each
other).

And lest you think this was purely a “look, but don’t buy” crowd, the cash registers were busy ringing up new sales. Luckily, I was able to resist the mob effect, and walked out with my wallet intact. At the Genius Bar, and Apple guru did help fix my iPod (which had recently worked itself into some kind of infinite reset loop). And while everyone didn’t receive a free computer, we were given the industry-show-standard free t-shirt.

If that crowd was any indication, I’d say Apple is definitely back to its “in” status of the late ’80s. Now, if it could only up that market share a point or two.

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