I went to Palo Alto's Apple Store today. First of all, Palo Alto. What a gorgeous place... they're so wealthy they don't even charge for parking downtown, which is a good thing, 'cause I don't think I could afford it if they did! Driving around in a 2000 Saturn L-Series Wagon, I feel like I might as well be driving a Gremlin. Wowzers.

The Apple Store is great. Absolutely nothing spared. Even their shopping bags are super-cool. You can read about the stores on Apple's site.

It was interesting. EVERYTHING there is related to the Digital Hub strategy. They have all their hardware on display next to MP3 players, digital cameras, DV camcorders (some small, and some big pro ones), and Palms.

And there was nothing that didn't relate to the Digital Hub strategy. Even the accessories and peripherals they have for sale are related.

And all the machines run Mac OS X. I tried out Office v.X. It's damn sweet, except for Messenger which requires a ".NET Passport". They have tons of Mac software for sale, a selection that rivals the Apple Company Store's (at Apple Campus in Cupertino).

It was worth the trip. I picked up Word+Entourage 2001 SE (the crippled version I was complaining about a couple months ago) so I can upgrade to Office v.X for only $149.