[jballanc]

When I, and Ron Johnson, still worked for Apple, he told a story that has stuck with me. As he told it, he was talking with the CEO of Williams Sonoma who was complaining about the difficulty of getting people to make return visits. "If you need a pot, you come in to the Williams Sonoma, buy a pot and leave. You don't come back unless you need another pot or something else for the kitchen...and how often is that?"

Johnson's replied that the key to return visits is to make each visit an experience. "Put on cooking demonstrations, teach classes, provide samples. Then people will go to the mall just to visit the Williams Sonoma."

Sure enough, every time I'm near a Williams Sonoma, I make sure to stop inside.

Of course, it's easy to follow the MBA handbook and talk to investors about "changing compensation schemes" and "reducing cost, improving product mix, blah, blah, blah". To get ahead, you have to be daring...a little crazy even.

For example, the "Apple Creative" program was one of Johnson's ideas: hire top-notch trainers, and charge people $99/yr for weekly lessons.

What?!? That's positively INSANE! Have you ever looked at what it costs to take lessons with a certified Final Cut Pro trainer? And yet every Apple Creative was certified in at least one of the pro products. How on earth could such a plan make any money?

How on earth could such a plan result in a $100 billion bank balance?

How indeed...

[prodigal_erik]

It didn't, though. Apple was circling the drain for many years until the iPod and iPhone saved them. At this point they've even taken "computer" out of their name.

[bradleyland]

You're making an argument that the parent isn't. No one in their right mind would claim that the iPod and iPhone aren't major contributors to Apple's current condition, but are the two mutually exclusive? Are you claiming that the Apple retail strategy hasn't contributed to Apple's success? That seems just as silly.

I don't believe that there are many of Apple's decisions you can cherry pick and still arrive at the same Apple you have today. The "experience" at the Apple store is definitely one of the decisions that are inextricable from Apple's overall success.