Dreaming of an iLobster

Last Monday night, I took the train up to NYC planning to drive with my dad and brother up to Maine the following day. At the house, though, I discovered a problem -- my MacBook's power cord wasn't working. Fortunately, this crazy rumor I'd heard about a 24 hour Apple Store in Manhattan proved true. I was shocked to discover that not only did the store exist, but it was pretty packed with shoppers at 10:30 PM on a Monday.

Conversely, we're up in Maine right now experiencing some car trouble and it proved completely impossible to find a garage in the area that's open on Saturdays even in a pretty touristy part of the state at the very height of tourist season. Just think of the ways Steve Jobs could revolutionize the local economy -- "it'll be like a normal car repair place, except better-designed, open on weekends, and triple prices!"

Comments

I really have no interest in buying my lobsters from a garage.

More generally, buying shellfish from any type of car repair place is a losing proposition.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 10:10 AM

If you made that, "It will be like a normal car repair place, but with triple prices, parts that don't work with the vast majority of cars that people have and want for good reason, much better designed for certain specialty purposes but only, at best, slightly better for day-to-day use even though we are able, through fancy marketing, to convince kids spending their folks' money and fancy hipsters to think otherwise" then I'd think you'd have it about nailed.

Posted by Matt (not the famous one) | August 19, 2007 10:14 AM

I think the iCar would look great, drive pretty well, be only moderately overpriced, and definitely be hip. It's dash would be easily readable and its features would have seamless functionality and simple interfaces. The iCar would have a pretty great service record, and would avoid a lot of the common problems of any car, the minor malfunctions and break downs. It would also have a stellar security record, making it very difficult to steal or sabotage.

At the same time, though, it would be completely impossible to customize, any attempts to repair it yourself would violate warranty, and even if you wanted to, you could only get parts for it from Apple-- no Pep Boys or other third party parts dealers. Once the car hit a certain age, it would just become obsolete, with no real ability to fix it up and make it last. The iCar wouldn't accept gas from many gas stations and would have some features that you just couldn't get, like a towing hitch, say. Also the battery would die after a year and Apple would charge you a third the price of the car to replace it.

Saddest of all, iCar enthusiasts would be world class douche bags when it came to bragging about their vehicle of choice, and would berate anyone who chose an alternative car as a zombie or drone... thus making a person like myself that much less likely to want one.

Posted by Freddie | August 19, 2007 10:48 AM

I'd pay extra to get my ride pimped in an 10-15 yr outdated style providing I can get the same backloaded, mandatory corporate spyware that patrols my spouse's Mac. What's rilly wicked about having one's travels organized with a built-in helpmate -- which is a cooler word than database or spreadsheet -- is that easy access to this information might enhance my creativity and please guys ike the smug, cuter insufferably self-flattering guy in the commercial.

(Those guys are not only rare to begin with but get snapped up FAST!) If that doesn't work, proudly displaying the logos to each other is like a tech version of presenting mating season red-ass or engaging teh precious group-hug validation of playlisting.

I for one, won't settle for alternative music that isn't in high rotation on MTV nor achieved mass popularity via a commercial.

Posted by Ellie | August 19, 2007 11:02 AM

Shorter Matt (not the famous one) and Freddie:

Apple products are better, but since all the cool kids use Apple products, my low self-esteem demands that I use inferior non-Apple products for style reasons.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 11:03 AM

Yeah, Maine would be much better if it were exactly like Manhattan.

Posted by Bloix | August 19, 2007 11:24 AM

What's more amusing is that you understand capitalism when it comes to replacing a power cord, but - when it involves health care - you have a mental block.

How about you ponder a "computer care system" managed by the government that worked like the health care system you want.

How much longer do you figure you would be waiting for that power cord?

Posted by James Robertson | August 19, 2007 11:30 AM

Longer Petey: I have been brainwashed into believing that my personality-surrogate (aka my Mac) is so incredible that anyone who offers any criticisms whatsoever of the mass-produced device that I have deluded into thinking makes me cool must be silenced, even when they have made said criticisms in an even-handed appraisal that points out the significant advantages of the aforementioned "look guys, I'm cool too!" corporate produced object of commodity-worship.

Posted by Freddie | August 19, 2007 12:01 PM

Wrong, Petey- Apple products are better for some purposes, it seems, but not significantly better for most purposes (certainly not for mine) and are much more expensive and harder to use with other's products. Those are real drawbacks. Pretending they are not is a sign of being an idiot or of being fooled by marketing. Most "cool kids" are in the fooled by marketing department. That's so with most things that people over-pay for for status reasons. Why would this be any different? Freddie has it about right, I think, though I'd think he's still a bit too positive.

Posted by Matt (not the famous one) | August 19, 2007 12:02 PM

"Most "cool kids" are in the fooled by marketing department. That's so with most things that people over-pay for for status reasons."

Folks who overpay for status reasons are the "dorky rich kids", not the "cool kids".

Not being able to tell who the cool kids are is seriously uncool.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 12:16 PM

Shorter Matt (not the famous one) and Freddie:

I know Kraft Singles are pretty disgusting, but I eat them daily because all the cool kids eat "real cheese", and I don't want to be a poseur like them.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 12:22 PM

So your a tourist in Maine and your car breaks down on Saturday night. You limp into Bangor Bobs Midnight Auto Repair. He discovers you need a muffler bearing, the sort of part a tourist from NY City just might get sold in such a place, but sadly the parts store is closed till Monday.

That's a bit unfair since Bangor probably has an Auto Zone open Sunday. But Bob wants to take the weekend off and Bob doesn't trust the high school dropouts to run his bussiness over night and over the weekends. Would you? Auto repair is rarely a corporate enterprise for all sorts of very good reasons, I suppose since I trust markets to a degree and for all practical purposes car repair shops are never corprate enterprises. Only various chains who sell tires etc run garages and while they might do general diagnosis they try to avoid that like the plauge.

Posted by rapier | August 19, 2007 12:53 PM

And FWIW, I fully understand that there are edge cases where it makes more sense to use Windows or Linux.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 1:15 PM

Petey, maybe you can help me out here, since you seem to be the resident Apple expert. There's something I've always been curious about. I'd just like to know...why are Apple fanboys such jackholes?

Posted by Chuchundra | August 19, 2007 1:48 PM

"Petey, maybe you can help me out here, since you seem to be the resident Apple expert. There's something I've always been curious about. I'd just like to know...why are Apple fanboys such jackholes?"

You don't like lobster? I thought everyone liked lobster.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 2:49 PM

I've never understood retail hours. Where I live its not uncommon to have stores open from 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM, Monda to Friday. This is a residential area where most people commute to work.

I understand that small businesses can't be open 24/ 7, but why the need to mimic corporate hours so closely? Why not be open from noon to 10 PM, for example, so people who work outside the area have a bigger window to shop at the business? Why not be open on Sunday but be closed on Monday? It would seem to be better for the business to be open during a period that straddles business hours instead of matching them. Are there really alot of people who patronize small stores at 10 in the morning?

Posted by Ed | August 19, 2007 2:59 PM

Well Petey, Kraft singles are actually better than any other kind of cheese for their one great purpose: grilled cheese sandwiches.

Posted by mad6798j | August 19, 2007 3:39 PM

"Conversely, we're up in Maine right now experiencing some car trouble and it proved completely impossible to find a garage in the area that's open on Saturdays even in a pretty touristy part of the state at the very height of tourist season."

I don't think this is just in Maine. I think this is just about everywhere.

The garage I go to cashed my check for repairs from several months ago in the last few weeks. This is another way of saying they're wildly profitable and don't need to work on weekends.

But the guy who decides to open a nationwide chain of 24 hour repair places (also: is there any good reason UPS and Fed Ex won't deliver on Sundays?) has my blessing.

Posted by Linus | August 19, 2007 4:14 PM

You don't like lobster? I thought everyone liked lobster.

Not everyone likes lobster. I rarely eat it because it's expensive and generally not worth the cost. My wife dislikes almost all seafood and wouldn't eat a giant sea bug on a bet.

Of course, now I expect you to argue that lobster isn't really all that expensive and, even if it is somewhat pricey, the succulent taste of perfectly steamed lobster, lightly dunked in warm, melted butter and popped quickly into the mouth is a feast well worth the price and anyone who doesn't agree is some sort of ignorant rube, or worse, a shill for the beef industry.

Posted by Chuchundra | August 19, 2007 4:19 PM

"Of course, now I expect you to argue that lobster isn't really all that expensive and, even if it is somewhat pricey, the succulent taste of perfectly steamed lobster, lightly dunked in warm, melted butter and popped quickly into the mouth is a feast well worth the price and anyone who doesn't agree is some sort of ignorant rube, or worse, a shill for the beef industry."

Of course there are edge cases, Chuchundra. I had a friend with a shellfish allergy, and I wouldn't recommend lobster for her.

But much like Macs, lobsters really are yummy food that's fun to cook and eat, and are worth the minor extra money (really not all that much) for those who enjoy yummy food that's fun to cook and eat.

Your wife is a clear edge case for whatever reasons. You're either pussy-whipped or undereducated on the topic, which makes you a less defensible edge case.

Most products can never get 100% market share. Even in the portable digital music player market, Apple only has 80% penetration. The only 20% of conumbers are broke or stupid, with a few edge cases having legitimate reasons to buy a different company's product. Same situation as lobster.

Posted by Petey | August 19, 2007 5:29 PM

The iCar would be great except for having to buy a new one when the old battery goes bad. And voiding the warranty when you changed the oil yourself. That would be bad.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | August 19, 2007 6:48 PM

"is there any good reason UPS and Fed Ex won't deliver on Sundays?"

I was just saying the same thing the other day. the post office, too.

Posted by future man | August 19, 2007 7:18 PM

Independent auto repair used to reside mostly at what were called Service Stations. You youngsters probably don't remember That would be gas stations with service bays and mechanics. Those were independently owned proprietorships for the most part. That whole thing died starting in the 70's as the major oil companies began taking over ownership of gas stations and regional chains began to buy up stations and putting in C stores. Even independent station owners attached to the major oil companies were practically forced to abandon their repair business in favor of C stores.

Auto repair is a dirty but high skilled job fraught with uncertainty. Luckily cars are so much better than in the past that major repairs are far less likely than even 20 years ago. On the minus side cars are far more complex and more difficult to fix. Major repair is mostly in the hands of dealers now. A competent independent shop has no need to be open all hours to be profitable. Being a small propriotorship means it's competence and success depends upon the owner and a small force of mechanics. He has to be there most of the time or things will go to hell.

Corporate ownership of such shops, in a chain for instance, isn't done because it can't be done. I say that because it hasn't been done. If there was money to be made there the suits would have figured it out long ago.

As a generalization you would end up hiring a dying breed, young gear heads who may or may not have finished high school. Whose skills are not fully developed and who sure as hell are not going to knock themselves out for a customer or some distant corporation. Competent managers will get their own damn shops. The barrier to entry is quite low in this business after all.

Posted by rapier | August 19, 2007 7:39 PM

is there any good reason UPS and Fed Ex won't deliver on Sundays?

Econ 101: Not enough demand for the service.

Seriously, Fedex and UPS don't make ends meet unless there's enough volume. A whole lot of their traffic cannot be delivered on Sunday, as the recipient offices aren't open. This and other factors means that Sunday delivery packages would have to be handled separately from the rest, and there would have to be enough of them to make it worthwhile.

Also, because of the nature of the overnight delivery business, there's no point in Sunday dleiveries unless the packages are being picked up on Saturday. A lot of business aren't open and so don't generate package traffic on Saturdays. This means that in addition to fewer candidate recipients, there are fewer candidate shippers. And the volume of packages sent needs to be high enough to justify not just the pickup and delivery trucks (for which it's easy to run fewer on Sundays) but also the flights, which may be less scalable.

There may also be both labor and maintenance advantages of having a day off every week; the latter could permit the shipping companies to lease fewer airplances and own fewer trucks.

I guess I could imagine city-specific Sunday services (like Yglesias's Manhattan Apple Store), but even there I suspect the market may either be so small or so local that courier services already meet it.

Posted by Warren Terra | August 19, 2007 8:02 PM

I've been in that store at 11:30 PM on a Saturday when they have a D.J.

And yes, some of the customers dance.

Posted by res ipsa loquitur | August 20, 2007 9:42 AM

"I guess I could imagine city-specific Sunday services (like Yglesias's Manhattan Apple Store), but even there I suspect the market may either be so small or so local that courier services already meet it."

A part of me thinks your explanation of the status quo is totally rational. A part of me thinks your explanation of the status quo is more of a defense grounded in cultural and political biases - perhaps a nostalgia for a time when little work was done in America after 5pm or on weekends, perhaps a desire for a more European culture (where little work is done after 5pm or on weekends or the entire month of August).

I live in a rural county in California without a 24 hour Apple store but like an increasing number of Americans I work in a sector that operates 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I wrote that last post from work; it was Sunday. I don't have the numbers in front of me but the growth of internet commerce alone should be reason enough for UPS and Fed Ex to deliver on Sundays. Hell, Netflix alone should be reason enough for them to deliver on Sundays.

Posted by Linus | August 20, 2007 11:25 AM

Linus, I agree with you in principle, but I note that Netflix's warehouses (their receiving and shipping) don't work on Saturdays, when the postal service does, so it isn't a great example.

Posted by Warren Terra | August 20, 2007 12:17 PM

"Linus, I agree with you in principle, but I note that Netflix's warehouses (their receiving and shipping) don't work on Saturdays, when the postal service does, so it isn't a great example."

Okay, eBay, Amazon.

In the early days of Netflix they did - physically - process orders on Saturday. Did their policy change because of lack of consumer demand or lack of competition? My guess is it had more to do with the latter. They also have awful online customer service (try finding an email address for the company). This also has had to do with a lack of competition (until recently).

Companies - especially large, established ones - don't always do what is in their self-interest when it means significantly restructuring the way they do business. In a more rational world the record companies would have started offering affordable and legal pathways to access their catalogs online years ago. The studios and broadcasting companies would be doing the same right now.

The demand for nationwide Sunday delivery may not quite be there yet, or it may be. The smart money is that it will be around the corner if it isn't already today. Senior management at Fed Ex and UPS should be planning accordingly but that doesn't mean they are.

Posted by Linus | August 20, 2007 1:14 PM