Geek Store
Last week, the big hype in the technology world was the launch of Microsoft Windows 7. Whilst the release of the new operating system was never going to be launch of the century, Microsoft coincided it with the opening of its first ever store. Curiously, it is based in Arizona (known for being trendy rather than techie). As you’d expect, it has the look and feel of an Apple store, it even has an ‘Answers bar’. But there are a few surprises. There’s a repair shop for Xbox consoles and you can buy products from other brands such as Panasonic, LG and Dell (Microsoft partners). But the Video Game printer is the best one. A touchscreen kiosk allows customers to choose and pay for a PC game from a giant selection, which is then printed and packaged on-demand within four minutes even if they don’t physically have it in store. We think this is the model for brick-and-mortars to challenge e-commerce – bring the efficiency of digital distribution to physical product and retail experience.
References: Geek.com
Thanks to Neil Bennett for this story. Neil is from Liverpool. You can tell from his haircut.
