"Everything feels a bit different," reads an entry in the Daily Download, the new internal publication for Apple (AAPL) retail employees that fell into the hands of 9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub Thursday night. "Switching to RetailMe on iPad is like switching from a PC to a Mac."
But from the topics covered in Issue No. 1, the changes scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, May 22, when Apple is expected to unveil what the trade press is calling Apple Store 2.0, will be less disruptive for the 71 million customers who visit the stores every quarter than for the 30,200 full-time equivalent employees who work there.
Among the burning questions answered in the Daily Download:
• Where is my Visual Merchandising Index?
• Where's my Technology Index?
• Where's my Carrier Index?
"Make it a priority," urges the voice of the new Apple retail. "By focusing in the Red Zone, we help make sure the ownership experience our customers have is an encounter of the finest time."
Weintraub also reposts a tipster's email suggesting that Apple will also be using the occasion of the Apple Store's 10th anniversary to "launch" OS X Lion, the next iteration of Apple's flagship operating system. But that seems like the kind of thing Steve Jobs is likely to save for a more suitable venue -- like the Worldwide Developers Conference scheduled to begin three weeks later in San Francisco.
