It's not just the architecture.

The Apple cube store in New York is like a cultural phenomenon.

It's open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Friday nights they lower the lights and bring in DJs to spin music.

There are hundreds of computers for people to use, all connected to super high-speed internet line. Machines range from little Mac Minis up to Mac Pro with 30" cinema display. Use for free as long as you want. Play area for kids with cushions and iMacs with educational software.

Also free wifi for the people who come and sit on the floor with their MacBooks. Download at 10x faster than you'll ever get with Streamyx.

First time I went there I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I did some shoulder surfing and it seems like people from the city have really incorporated the place into their lifestyle. Everyone is in there - students, old people walking with canes, models dressed for the fashion shoot, homeless. On the way across town, they stop in and send a few emails, then go on with the rest of their day. I think it's great marketing for Apple, it really fits their message of digital lifestyle for everyone.

The store has a good strategy for that - no chairs! So you can only survive in there for as long as you can stand on your two legs. Sitting on the floor you'd have to use your own laptop, which they don't mind.

Maybe one day you'll see someone who took the cordless keyboard and mighty mouse and sat on the ground near the 30" cinema display with screen magnification turned on.