Expert's Guide to the Apple Store Experience
There are about 10,300 retail outlets where you can buy Apple computers, but Steve Jobs really wants you to visit one of the company's 250 stores to receive a superior experience.
Jobs has admitted that he conceived the companies chain of retail stores because authorized resellers weren't presenting his well-designed products with the proper level of flair and customer support. The first store opened in May 2001, and now the chain extends across the U.S. and into seven other countries, including a store in Beijing that opened this past summer.