NZMac.com - Supporting the New Zealand Mac community

Macguide Issue 12

For the last two years the North Shore, Manukau and Mt Wellington Harvey Norman branches have been selling Macs alongside their other items. MacGuide visited the North Shore Harvey Norman - the flagship electronics store for HN - to catch up with the person in charge of Mac matters, Chris Ewing, and proprietor Anna Johnson.

Chris' father is an architect, so Chris grew up with Macs. After leaving school he started working for Apple Education in a school, looking after the school's Macs, and he has worked for the last three years for Harvey Norman at 10 Croftfields Lane, Wairau Park.

Chris and his sidekick Tim Horspool are proud that they sell a Mac to every two or three PCs sold by the shop - Chris handles most tech problems and refers matters back to Renaissance in the rare instances where they're beyond him. The Mac section stands out with the white theme and the aesthetics of the machines themselves stealing lots of attention - about half of the store's Mac sales go to people specifically looking for Mac products while the other half go to those looking for a general computer but who become entranced by the Apple display area, and with the ease of use Tim and Chris can demonstrate, connecting all sorts of other digital equipment to Macs.

Shortly the shop will be running free monthly Mac workshops showcasing Apple's 'Digital Hub' interconnectivity and other Mac features; these will be available to those who own Macs and to those who are thinking about it.

For a one-stop-shop Harvey Norman is impressive: you can buy an entire set up, with printer, cameras, scanners, hardware, PDA, cellphone and software - all in the same place - and the chain has the added advantage of being able to offer generous interest free and deferred payment terms. The two Mac guys are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic - with access to so many other devices that plug into a Mac, it's sure to be a rewarding experience.

Anna Johnson let slip there are big changes ahead for the Mac section and its display area - hopefully Harvey Norman will let us know and we can drop by and check things out.

© Parkside Media 2003
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