Apple Store's fatal flaw

I must confess I hadn't been into the Sydney Apple store since its official press launch last year.

I'm not a Mac user and to most people's surprise I've never been interested in owning my own iPod. Laziness becomes me at the thought of connecting, searching, downloading, sorting and then finally listening to music. So instead I avoid it.

Fast forward.

Thanks to a competition win I now have an iPod and my only real use for it is its motivational abilities during that dreaded evening walk - in the cold - to the gym.

Since my primary use for it is to accompany my exercise routine I concluded that I had indeed fallen into the Apple trap and needed an accessory or two: I needed an arm band.

It was about time I stopped tucking the iPod into my tights and risking the inevitable embarrassing mishap.

So last Thursday I went to the Apple Store. For some reason I thought it was the best place to go for anything Apple.

But the beaming lights and colossal glass panels tricked me. I assumed I'd be walking into heaven.

A retail store like no other, full of buzzing employees much like those who worked in the Chocolate Factory that Charlie once visited. It was not.

The service was ordinary and prices dear. I walked up and down those stairs a couple of times - the employees at the downstairs counter couldn't answer my question so I had to go upstairs and confirm - whether an FM remote attached to my Nano would fit into the arm band case I was about to purchase.

Finally, the research phase was over and I was ready to pay. There were two people at the counter serving. Both busy. One serving a customer, the other "helping" a disgruntled customer - who after five or so minutes stormed out of the store. I waited, thinking it's my turn to be served. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting.

I now wonder why there is a halo hanging over the Apple Store's head? Next time I'm going to an Apple reseller who will most probably have cheaper off-the-market versions of the accessories I wanted, better service and a lot less stairs.

Have you been fooled by Apple's bright lights too?