Free Edge

Apple Store came to Melbourne in June this year, only third in all of Australia and first in Melbourne. For years before then, the only place to get Apple products has been resellers, of which there are very few around.

There is one in particular, My Mac right in the city. It is just opposite Federation Square and across the road from Flinders Street train station. Arguably the best location one could have asked for in Melbourne, only next to where the Parliament now stands.

I had never been to an Apple Store before it came to Melbourne. While Melbourne is an extremely hospitable city and most shops have great service, I was pleasantly surprised by the service at the Apple Store first time went there, and I have visited the shop many times since.

On one of my visits, I told the guy at the Genius Bar about some of the dropped calls I was getting since I bought my iPhone. He connected the phone to a computer, made some tests and about 5 minutes later, handed me a brand new iPhone in replacement for the old one. And I didn't even suggest it!

Cut to the My Mac store. I have been to this store a few times, simply because there were no alternatives. While you can get what you want, the staff are not there to better your experience in the store. They are there to bill you. Every time a customer asks a question, the answer is given, albeit in a tone that makes it clear that the customer has just wasted a few precious moments of the staff.

They might still get away with it, simply because they boast a great location, but what a waste? For years they have had the opportunity to build some great customers with nearly no competition, and unlike the location and the size of the store, this would have been free of cost. And they blew it.

Immunity to Death

This has been the biggest break for me, after putting up my first post on this space. I was nearly ready with a post, and then the Mumbai attacks happened.

There were so many things to be said, but at the same time I didn't want to say a thing. There were so many things being said in the media already. They were proud of our forces at times, and they were outraged at times. Proud of all the men who swarmed into the hotel to save numerous lives putting theirs in line. Outraged that a dozen people could cause so much damage, so easily.

It is my opinion that we Indians have become more immune to death than anybody else. May be because we see so many of them so often. Whether it is a natural disaster or a terrorist attack or a large scale accident, we forget about it the next day and move on with our lives. While it is great that Mumbai can get back to normal so quickly after the train bombs, are we learning anything from them? Or is it just some more lives lost and moving on as soon as possible? After so many terror attacks in the recent times, it is worrying that our Rapid Action Forces took more than 8 hours to reach the terror scenes.

These recent attacks had more at stake because of the targeting of foreign nationals. The Government stand to lose a lot of its revenue from tourism and even some business opportunities. While it is terrible for so many people from US, UK and other countries who had planned their holidays in India, I am hoping these stakes would cause the Indian Government to take strong preventive measures. This is what we have come to, because it seems the lives of the locals don't seem to warrant any.