I met a friend at the Apple Store at midnight last night. That's because Apple knows it's demographic. New York is the city that never sleeps, so its Apple Store never sleeps.

At midnight, there wasn't the throng of teenagers in a safe, interesting place that I expected. On the other hand, based upon couture, my friend appeared to be the only person coming from an evening at the ballet (or theater or opera). The crowd appeared split 70/30 between serious shoppers and people looking for free web access.

I'd read that the store was designed more as a showcase and to provide advice than to sell products, so I was curious to see how things worked. The space has the sleek, uncluttered feel of an iPod or a Google screen. It's monochromatically white with just a few large, attactive, back-lit photos high on the walls to identify where products are in the room. Functioning products are laid on large, tall tables with plenty of room for people to work. With plenty of appropriately tall stools around the room, there's no sense that anyone's being rushed. (There are also places to sit for people who aren't doing particularly anything. ) Major points for Apple on this front -- it was easy to find and focus on products of interest.

I did find a few challenges next. Since the store is busy and there's no time limit or incentive to move, getting in front of a Mac involves a wait. Once there, we found there were no printed manuals and no special help screens. While I appreciate that the Mac is meant to be intuitive, Iit was challenging for a long-time Windows user. And, we faced the conundrum of having to give up a hard won table spot to find an employee to answer questions, knowing that we wouldn't have a machine to reference. After the fact, I discovered that it's possible to make a reservation for service online, before coming to the store. When we found one, the employee was knowledgeable and friendly. He lost a few points, though, for making some stereotypical assumptions about the technical competency of a pair of pre-GenX women.

Purchasing turned out to be incredibly simple. Our helper pulled up a screen that required my friend to type in her name, select the pc, and about two other choices. The line to pay and pick up looked long but moved very fast: about 5 minutes. By the time she'd completed the charge transaction, the box was ready to go. And, since the elevator was being serviced, our helper carried up the stairs and into a taxi. More customer service points for Apple.

I deduct one point for its "all the cool kids already know" approach to selling, but otherwise the Apple Store is a paragon of customer service.