I Finally Got Air
I have been looking at people’s MAC Air Book computers with great envy. The idea of lightweight traveling really does appeal to me, but I feared the switch from PC. After a few months of using my iPhone, the intuitive nature made me want the MAC Computer.

Store of All Stores
There’s never a day at Ala Moana that the MAC Store is not packed, yet somehow they always seem to have a salesperson (or 10) right there to greet you and answer your questions. I went in there today fully prepared to get the MAC Air Book, and I was prepared to spend $1,700 for the model I have been looking at, and that at least three associates have and swear by. I walked in, handed this young man my credit card and said, “Ring it up”.

Add-On Champ
The first thing he did was suggest the 64 Gig Super Speed model. Well I like top of the line, so I said, “Sure”.
Price: $ 2,598.00 - Sold

Next was the In-case Neoprene Sleeve, in black;
Price: $ 34.95 - Sold

He then asked me how I was going to use it, and suggested the Microsoft - Office software:
Price: $ 149.95 - Sold

Then the Belkin 4-Port USB Swivel Hub;
Price: Only $ 29.95 - Sold

For DVD playing and burning he suggested the MacBook Air SuperDrive;
Price: $ 99.00 - Sold

Then I couldn’t refuse the HP Photosmart All In One printer (that I don’t need).
Price: $ 99.95 with a $100 rebate. - Sold (How do they do that?)

Then he explained that I can get an Apple One to One Membership, giving me an hour of tutoring a week in any Apple Store.
Price: Only $ 99.00 - Sold

Sub-Total $ 3,110.80
Tax@4.712% $ 146.58
Total $ 3,257.38

After ringing this up, he made one more suggestion, the .Mac 5.0 Mobileme system to synch everything with my desk Top PC and iPhone. I gotta have that.
Price with tax: $ 104.66 - Sold

Grand Total: $3,362.04

Someone once said that the easiest person to sell to is a salesperson. I think that’s true, but without the great work done by Aaron Kim at the MAC Store, I would have spent $1,662.04 less, and been without a lot of cool stuff (I think).
He almost doubled this sale, with a broad smile, and it all happened in about 30 minutes.
Now, I just need to figure out how to use it all.

All Day Line to Get Inside the Apple Store

The new iPhone was released today for $200. I would venture to say that those buying one already have some soert of working cell phone, so this could be called a needless luxury. Well, the line-up at Ala Moana’s Apple store started at 4 AM this morning and continued all day long and into the evening. They had three hired muscle men at the door keeping people from sneaking in, and I counted 15 to 20 employees talking with people in the line.
AT&T’s main store ran out at 2 PM (130 iPhones) and all of their stores were sold out by 2:30 PM. They expect to have more in a week. I wonder if this will be front page news tomorrow. I doubt it.

UPDATE! Well, it wasn’t front page, but it did make the news. And there was no mention of people having money, instead, they focused on the problems with activation. That’s the news for you!

The next time you hear stories about high gas prices and the poor economy, just send them a link to this Blog post. “People are always there to buy from people who are there to sell.” I said that!

Only $5 a Pack

This story on NBC News today tells us that ever since the 1960s, cigarette makers have tried to seduce smokers worried about their health with products labeled “light,” “mild” or “low-tar.” They’ve been basing such claims on so called US Government tests that measure tar and nicotine levels.
I still have a vision of my father lying in a hospital bed, dying of lung cancer while smoking hospital provided low nicotine and tar cigarretts. That was almost 30 years ago and he was only 62 years old.
Today, 42 years after the US Government endorsed those tests, the federal government essentially called the test bogus.
Now the Federal Trade Commission wants tobacco companies to remove its stamp of approval for those tests from their ads and packaging.

Uh Oh!
Here come the lawyers!

Forget the Dollars

Businesses don’t seem to understand that grabbing nickels and dimes from their customer’s up front can cost them dollars in the end. There’s an “assumption” (haven’t we all seen that word broken down before?) that when tacking on a few bucks or removing a few inexpensive frills here and there, that the customer will continue to do business with you; not true. Everyone has a breaking point, and once the customer say’s “Enough”, you may never see him or her again and never know why.
I am referring to little things like:

-Surcharges on rental cars
-Added costs to take baggage on the airplane
-Accomodation charges at the hotel for things like parking, and spa usage
-Automatic tips added to the restaurant tab, regardless of the service provided
-Increases in CAM fees for retailers
-The list goes on and on

I think they must go to the Thesaurus to find nice words to articulate grabbing a little more without asking you. They call them “service charges” and “accomodation charges” expecting the customer to just grin and bear it.

I say, “Put a fair price on your product, tell me what I get, and what else might be optional for what amount”. I think there’s a great opportunity out there today for companies to be straight up with their customers and knock the socks off of those who choose to be sneaky greedy in the name of “economic conservation”.

That’s the Multi-Billion $ Question
I really try hard to stay out of politics and political events, and feel that it’s too bad that the war in Iraq is so political. Having a son who was there, and who more recently was in Afghanistan, I was able to see 1st hand the effect it had on his mother. I saw her going to the TV every morning to see the latest news. I felt great relief when I saw President Bush declare “Mission Accomplished” so many years, lives and dollars ago.
The vast majority of American people do not want us to be over there killing and being killed for no good reason. Now I read that the people of Iraq want us out of there as well. That leaves a big question in my mind; “Who wants us there anyway?”
I remember clearly the “Old Days” when a very similar scenario played out in Viet Nam. I now know so many wonderful Vietnamese people living in America, so many great Vietnamese restaurants in Honolulu, and my friends go to Viet Nam on vacation. I can’t help but wonder if my grandchildren will be visiting Iraq on vacation someday and wondering why we spent so much time, money and bloodshed over there in the “Old Days”.

4th of July 2008
What better place than Kaneohe Bay to spend the 4th of July? With the Kaneohe Marine Corp Air Field as a backdrop, and people enjoying the freedom we have here in America.

Captain Doug
Doug Smoyer keeps one of his two boats moored by his home on Kaneohe Bay and we were thrilled with the invitation to come along and just kick back and do whatever we felt like for the afternoon.

Joan Smoyer
As Doug safely piloted us out into the bay, wife Joan was content ro catch some rays.

iPhone Working Everywhere
I was happy to find that my iPhone worked just great on the bay, allowing me to stay in touch while enjoying the trip.

It’s a Japanese Thing
Masae was busy shooting photos of us all.

Sandbar
And the mass of boaters and party goers found the Kaneohe Bay sandbar the ideal place to kick back, eat, drink, swim, and even play volley ball in the water.

Hey Doug and Joan,
Mahalo for a great day, I hope we can do this again soon.

It All Starts at the Top

This latest PBN article credits the monthly Chief Executive Magazine with the opinion that CEO confidence in the American economy took a nose dive in June, and quoted its publisher Edward Kopko as saying, “CEOs are clearly negative on the economy and they expect things to get worse before they get better”.

I know more than one CEO with a better outlook than this, and I would like to see PBN search for some optimistic views to publish. The “chicken little the sky is falling” mentality becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The positive side of that coin is that the opposite is true as well. Decide which side feels better, and give that your thoughts and energy. Thoughts are things!

If there is anyone in the organization that needs to have confidence in the future it’s the boss. When the CEO loses confidence, the company is doomed. Leave that to the naysayers in the media that never ran a business. Someone needs to display a show of strength in tough times and that should be the person at the top. I’m sure you have heard the old saying, “When the going gets tough…” 

It Had To Be
I hate the words, “I told you so”, but… I have been saying for a very long time now, “I could double the sales at Starbucks if they were to let me, but I know they won’t.” If you have ever looked at a line at Starbucks and chose not to wait in it, or even worse waited in it for a while and elected to get out of line and leave due to the wait, you know what I mean.
If you told people 10 years ago that we would wait in line to buy a $3 cup of coffee they would say that you are crazy. I have accepted the $3 part, but will never “do the line”. Starbucks would be better off fixing the sales and service in those stores than closing them up, but apparently they just don’t know how to do that.