so are the new ipods in klcc yet???

Dude, you've got to stay off the Valium. It's affecting your memory....

If you're talking about the AppleCentre (run by Sapura) that was located in the Pernas building beside what was formerly the KL Hilton; there's just no comparison to the retail AppleStores that are available in cities in the US. The ready availability of hardware which is also laid out so the discerning consumer could test it out in-store and wealth of accessories and software in AppleStores greatly outweigh what the AppleCentre that Sapura used to run. Heck, Machines; MacAsia; MacStudio etc. are doing a better job with Apple hardware availability than the Sapura guys ever did.

Point is: in the days of the AppleCentre in the Pernas building: Sapura held the sole distributorship. Now; Apple Malaysia appoints resellers and inventory comes out of Singapore with Apple Malaysia in a administrative but NOT sales role. This is a VERY different situation from having a local Apple-run AppleStore (either retail or online).

I'm sure wei knows this place as well....I remembered he said that those days when the internet wasn't so popular, Mac OS updates are distributed via diskettes by the Apple people....so I guess he does know the existence of this applecenter...(sorry i made u sound old...haha)

As to what macdanife said, apple malaysia is playing an administrative role in malaysia....premium apple resellers like machines and cg computers have done a good job in providing demo and sales in malaysia...not to mention epicenter that is opening next thursday in pavillion....

I have to agree with you by not being biased that macs are best for designs and stuff.....i am sure some of the best designers dont use Macs....

Dude, I'm not saying that any of the stores here (past or present) are like the Apple Stores in the US.

I kinda prefered the business model when AppleCentre was in Pernas. Right now, I can walk into Machines or Macasia, or any of the other shops and with their staffing, it just feels like any other shop (like maybe the motorola boutiques), but a little snazzier. In the days of AppleCentre, at least it felt like I was dealing with a corporate entity like IBM (for example).

Personally, I didn't have any problems getting whatever I needed from AppleCentre - except for maybe the occasional LaCie stackable drive, but then again you can't get a lot of other stuff here presently as well.

I'm not a Sapura/AppleCentre fanboy - don't get me wrong. But all I'm saying is that I prefered that there was a 'command-central' rather than have a smattering of shops everywhere that are not really related to each other.

Regardless of whether AppleCentre = Apple Malaysia in those days, at least it FELT like it was. I could speak to Sheila, for example and know that her counterpart in the US or Singapore will hear of my problem in the next few days. And it was advantageous from where I was, that they had both an administrative as well as a sales role.

p.s. Anyone know of any way that I can replace the HDD in my MBP without voiding the warranty?

Much as the old bunch at Sapura were (and are) good friends; the philosophy then was very much geared toward the corporate (Publishing houses; private schools; universities etc.) client. I groaned as loudly as anyone else when Lingam et. al. took over the running of Apple. With his credentials firmly in the Windows side of the pond he seemed out of depth when it came to Mac evangalism.

You can't deny however that the last 10 years has seen the Mac market in Malaysia grow in leaps and bounds.

Part of this is better product and a more streamlined product line too. And nobody (except perhaps Jobs) would have predicted the runaway success of the iPod. Now Apple products are everywhere. Walk into a Starbucks and you'd probably see a Apple logo shining at you from one of the tables. This was VERY rare 10 years ago.

Can't put all the plaudits at Lingam's feet but at least he didn't screw it up!

Sheila btw. is out of the computers line entirely. Can't think of any of the old gang that are still in Mac retail actually. Except perhaps Sandy over at VR....



This post has been edited by MacDaNife: Sep 17 2007, 12:16 PM

yeah, i think she's the only one ... although a certain CP Tai is still around, but not in Apple retail though

nice facts!!