'Today at Apple' Expands With Over 50 New Sessions Focused on Skills, Walks, and Labs

Couple things of note - these today at Apple series talks are given in front of the giant monitors, where folks are supposed to sit on the wooden seats and gather in a community - these are not the one-on-one events that you're speaking about. You can see in the picture attached to this article the wooden seats I'm talking about.

My most recent Session was just over a week ago at the Palo Alto Apple Store and I assure you that the one-hour course (Taking Photos with the iPhone) was held at one of the wood tables (approximately 10 feet long) with taller (bar height) stools, so the table would have accommodated maybe 6-7 people (including the instructor) comfortably. The monitor fit on the desk without protruding so I figure it was somewhere between 27-32", nowhere as large as the one pictured in the photo.

The Palo Alto Store does have an area in the back of the store that resembles the photo, but that was not where this particular Session took place.

It was designed for 6-7 people, but since I was the only registered attendee, it ended up becoming a one-on-one session.

It's likely that the Apple Store sessions are held in locations suitable for the number of registered attendees and that some of the courses are better for smaller groups rather than larger ones.

Bigger is not necessarily better.

For education, sometimes a smaller group size is more effective.

For sure, I would not want to take an iPhone photography class in the 400-seat chemistry hall where I attended college. For iPhone instruction, it helps to be able to see the finger gestures since the device is so small.

As for the restrooms, we plunked a grand on an iPhone XS, spending close to 2 hours there (after spending a couple hours the previous day there), getting the iPhone configured and set up, and as we were about to leave, we asked to use the restroom, and they directed us to a Starbucks down the street, where we had to buy something to get access to use the restrooms.

So I think they should either make these apple stores quick stops, or if they're going to make them inviting and want people to come to them, they're going to need restrooms.

See this story:

http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/03/01/dear-apple-store-wheres-your-restroom/

Well, you're quoting a nearly six-year old article.

I assure you that the Palo Alto Apple Store (including the original one at corner of Kipling, a.k.a. "Steve's Store") has restrooms that can be used by customers; I used it before this recent session. I made no purchase that day.

I have used the restroom at both Palo Alto stores several times and I have never been told to go to a nearby coffee shop (there are plenty in Palo Alto).

Again, maybe the Chicago Michigan Avenue Apple Store has different policies based on their clientele.

The Palo Also Apple Store is actually quite small and Palo Alto really doesn't see much in the way of tourist traffic like a store in a large city (New York, Paris, London, etc.) would see.

Have they heard about YouTube yet?

I'm sure they have. After all they included their own YouTube app in early versions of iOS.

Don't you remember? The icon looked like a cathode tube TV in a wood cabinet, not the YouTube logo.

The point is that these Sessions are interactive and conversational. The instructors can tailor the curriculum to the actual attendees' interests. They can also answer specific questions.

That's not something a YouTube video posted three months ago will help you out with.

The Apple Sessions instructors appear to be empowered to go outside of the curriculum if it relevant to the general topic and is helpful to the person asking the question as long as I don't prevent the instructor from getting through the course material for other attendees.

In my two recent Sessions, both times I was the sole attendee and thus both times the instructors were happy to turn these into one-hour one-on-one tutoring sessions. Was I lucky? Perhaps although often it is good to see how other people are using their devices, perhaps in ways that I had not considered.

That is very difficult to do watching a prerecorded video that is following a strict script.