The View from Inside the Glass Cube

Note to Self

WNYC Studios

Self-improvement, Tech, Note, Npr, Education, Public, Wnyc, Manoush, York, To, New, Self, Radio, Business, Technology, Relationships, City, Society & Culture, Zomorodi, Newtechcity

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2014

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Intimate, exhausting, stressful, and satisfying... working in the Apple Store is far from an ordinary retail job. Especially this week. With Apple-mania sweeping the tech world following the announcement of the new iPhone 6 and a slick new Apple Watch, New Tech City is looking past the hot gadgets and straight at the people sweating away in the glass cube: Apple Store employees. "We don't have to sell anything... We could put up a vending machine and it would sell itself." Despite a strict Apple policy against talking to media, even after quitting, four former "specialists" tell us what they think of all the hype and of the people lining up for weeks outside the doors. We've got horror stories, confessions of Apple love, and tips for navigating a product release from the experts. Hint: you don't need to wait in line. Quotes from this episode:

On the emotional toll: "I found myself counseling or consoling people twice my age in a way I never thought I would." On how to be good at the job: “When someone comes to you in tears, you just have to be a human.” On getting the job: "I had to do four interviews. By the 4th one I was ready to tell them to stick it." On how customers treat them: "If you go to an Apple store, just be nice. Please. That’s it." On the joys: "We couldn’t wait to help people… the most rewarding part of our job was getting to work one to one with people." On the culture: "When you start working at Apple you are just immediately indoctrinated to Apple culture."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friend, this is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New Text City.
0:07.0	Same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.
0:15.0	We don't have to sell anything, and by that I mean it's, you know, the stuff sells itself.
0:19.0	We could put up a vending machine and people would still buy it.
0:21.0	Peter Harmland worked at an Apple store on Manhattan's Upper West Side for three years.
0:26.0	It was like no other job he's ever had before, of course.
0:30.0	It was an exercise in an empathy. There's a little bit of psychology to it.
0:35.0	And I found myself counseling or consoling people twice my age in ways I never thought I would.
0:42.0	And I learned a great deal doing that in the moment when someone comes to you and tears and it's like,
0:48.0	well I just, you just have to be a human.
0:53.0	This week's episode, Tales from Inside the Glass Cube. Apple store employees tell it like it is.
1:04.0	This is New Text City, the podcast about how people are being changed by technology.
1:09.0	I'm your host, Manouche Zamorodi. And every year or so, Apple has a big announcement.
1:15.0	Apple Watch is the most personal device we've ever created.
1:21.0	They introduce a new product after shrouding it in secrecy and whipping techies into a frenzy of gadget Mania.
1:28.0	Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
1:32.0	Hordes of Apple addicts line up for days or even weeks outside stores across the country to be the first to get their hands on something, whatever Apple is selling.
1:42.0	I mean, and just waiting here is like, it's like cool. Like who does this? So I mean it's different.
1:49.0	Why? Why are you here?
1:51.0	For the iPhone, for the iPhone 6, we're just Apple fanatics.
1:55.0	Yikes. And there are nice guys and gals in those blue shirts who have to deal with this madness, this hype, these astronomical expectations.
2:06.0	How do they feel about it? How do they feel about me when I come in the store?
	...

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