"Maybe that means nothing to you"
C'mon now Annie. I never said any such thing. I merely gave the factual context for exactly how much weight it carries. And pointed out that your experience was not mutually exclusive with what the analysts have said, or the collapse of the stock price.
As for the "it speaks volumes to me" ... I can only say, me too Annie! It tells me that Apple continues to be THE most outstanding retailer in the world, and, as far as I'm concerned the best brand in the world too.
And as someone who argued in favor of Apple getting into the retail business even before they did (which you might recall was a very unpopular position back then), it makes me very, very glad Jobs took that gamble. In fact, I think it's the boldest gamble he's taken in the last decade since his return to the company. Had it not worked, the blowback and criticism he would have endured would have been far worse than the Cube the ill-fated education software acquisition or any of the other missteps. So I give him big props for that, and for having recruited Ron Johnson to run the show -- what an incredible hiring that was.
I can't recall ever having had anything but kudos for Apple's bricks and mortar real estate (or their online store).
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