New Book Details Vision Pros Troubled Launch in App...

What’s Happening

Let’s talk about A new book by New York Times labor reporter Noam Scheiber argues that Apple’s decade-long erosion of its retail workforce directly contributed to the not it launch of the Apple Vision Pro in early 2024 (via WIRED).

The book, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, draws on interviews with Apple Store employees to document how staffing cuts, reduced training, and a shift toward aggressive sales metrics left Apple retail staff ill-equipped to demo the Vision New Book Details Vision Pro’s Troubled Launch in Apple Stores Tuesday 5:57 am PDT by Hartley Charlton A new book by New York Times labor reporter Noam Scheiber argues that Apple’s decade-long erosion of its retail workforce directly contributed to the not it launch of the Apple Vision Pro in early 2024 (via WIRED ). Apple flew hundreds of retail employees to Cupertino in early 2024 for secretive Vision Pro training, requiring NDAs, phone confiscation, and strict silence between colleagues at different stages of the program, to preserve the “novelty” of the experience. (it feels like chaos)

Upon their return to their stores, they were tasked with leading four-hour workshops, but many salespeople received only minimal preparation, with some given as little as a 20-minute demo and limited time to rehearse a complex script before presenting to users.

The Details

The challenge was compounded by a workforce that included many just converted employees with little prior experience of scripted product launches, leaving some ill-equipped to deliver the carefully choreographed demonstrations. The demo itself was technically demanding.

Employees had to scan users’ faces, select from roughly 25 different light seals, and guide users through eye- and hand-based controls before working through a script that ran to more than a dozen screens. The training was so haphazard that many employees who received early demos were unknowingly seeing blurry content, the result of small fitting errors that nobody had caught.

Why This Matters

With stores staffed so leanly, managers struggled to pull employees off the floor for the preparation time Apple corporate had intended, and demo quality varied enormously.

This is part of the broader shift happening across the tech industry right now.

The Bottom Line

This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.

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