Apples and oranges. The computer store as rarefied design-temple cum chic-hangout-spot is all-Apple and a real innovation. An innovation that only became possib

Apples and oranges. The computer store as rarefied design-temple cum chic-hangout-spot is all-Apple and a real innovation. An innovation that only became possible this decade, after Apple made computers mainstream and fashionable, with a little help from iPods and iPhones. There's a shift in the interface of computing technology and wider culture underway and it is embodied in a lot of what Apple is doing, and the Store is an important element in that shift.. Another important point of difference was that Apple built its retail experience on such an ambitious scale. But the real innovation was to see it before anyone else and execute so consummately, and execute without any prompting. Apple crossed all the ts and dotted the is -without- any real competition to one up - just because they thought it was the right thing to do. That's why Microsoft looks so weak with their stores. Because they're only doing it to try and look cool, after someone else did it. Whereas Apple simply is cool. Real cool is effortless. This isn't some checklist comparison, this is about the essence of how a corporation thinks and acts.