Joe Caiati, on Concierge — Apple’s new Genius Bar appointment system:

This initiative seems like a bandaid to the issue of overcrowding at the Bar and I can already imagine the influx of people showing up saying that they were in an area with no service or that they never received the message which will cause the Apple employee to try to squeeze that person in sooner and would then put the Genius Bar wait time behind even further.

Genius Bars are already overcrowded, and it’s going to take a lot more than a new appointment system to help improve the situation (especially if Apple’s proposed solution could introduce new headaches). I don’t claim to have the definitive answer, but I’d probably start by giving Apple Store managers more hours to staff the store. Improving the customer to employee ratio could go a long way towards making a trip to the Apple Store more enjoyable, whether your visiting the Genius Bar or simply buying some new headphones.