This is the 86th weekly issue of Tabletops and the fourth that’s had the miserable luck of being published immediately before an Apple keynote. If someone were to ask for my advice on a publishing schedule for their Apple-focused newsletter, I can now confidently say, “not Monday!”
Today, though, maybe it’s for the best, because the quiet before tomorrow’s event has given me time to chew on a topic that otherwise might’ve slowly faded from memory.
From 2018 through the end of 2019, stores with video walls offered Apple Event livestreams in collaboration with Today at Apple. The earliest were unannounced sessions hosted at high profile stores like Apple Union Square, but Apple later began promoting the livestreams with scheduled events in markets with stores open during the keynote.
It wasn’t the first time Apple experimented with retail streaming. As I noted in September’s bonus article, some classic WWDC keynotes were broadcast in early Apple Store Theaters.
For the Apple community, these events were a great idea. Most people will never have the opportunity to attend a keynote at Steve Jobs Theater, but visiting a spectacular location like Apple Michigan Avenue with some like-minded friends to watch the announcements on the huge video wall is way more fun than sitting at home. And even if you can’t attend, it feels good to know that the option is always waiting. That feeling is worth a lot. It’s how community is built.
Like so many things, the livestreams ended during the pandemic and never returned. And like so many things, it’s felt like something is missing ever since. Apple Stores, absent an event stream and filled with tables of freshly outdated products, are now some of the least ideal places for Apple fans to be during a keynote.
The streams were a great use of the video walls stores already have. They’re educational — customers are learning about new products with the exact messaging Apple wants. And that messaging is more appealing than ever to casual customers visiting a store thanks to the pre-recorded, tightly edited format of recent events. The events are also “free” in the sense that Apple is going to produce the same video content no matter if stores stream it or not.
Based on my observations, livestream attendance was typically low in malls but reasonable in high profile stores — enough people to make hosting the event worthwhile but not enough to disrupt normal store operations. For the sake of the community, I’d like to see the tradition restored and promoted once again. There’s only one challenge: sitting on a Forum cube for two full hours is extremely difficult.
Temporary Closures
Apple Barton Creek (From September 6)
Apple Bay Street (From September 11)
Featured image
Apple 丸の内
Photo via @aonom315.
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