I had the pleasure of meeting (and hanging out with) Stephen Hackett of 512Pixels while at Macworld | iWorld earlier this year 1, and he just released his first eBook, Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius. Mind you, he released it a couple of days early, so I suppose one can consider it an Easter egg of sorts…right?
I received an advance copy of the book (due to my being a member of 512Pixels), and began reading it last night. Since it clocked in (on iBooks, at least) at 58 pages, it was something I knew I could read in one sitting.
And I did. In one very entertaining sitting.
You see, I used to work at an Apple-authorized dealer, so a lot of what was in Hackett’s book totally resonated with me. In fact, our stints in our (somewhat) related Apple retail experiences – albeit mine was far inferior since I didn’t work for the mothership – took place around the same time. I was in sales, but since our store was so small and we were the first line of defence for our tech crew, a lot of the stories that Hackett tells in his book were all too familiar to me.
The great thing about this book is that Hackett is able to craft his tales so that if you’ve ever worked in any retail environment, you’ll be able to relate. You’ll also get into the stories if you’re an Apple enthusiast. He’s managed to cross a chasm that can often be very wide between what many consider to be a unique shopping destination (The Apple Store) and any place where customer service takes place. Having worked at Costco, a lot of the types of things that Hackett talks about also occurred during my years at the wholesale giant, even though the products being dealt with were far different. So whether you’re an Apple fan or want to be able to hear different takes on stories you may have experienced yourself in retail, Hackett delivers in excellent fashion.
It’s a short read, which makes it easily digestible for anyone who’s got some time to sit down and read a few stories. I strongly believe that the electronic format of books still works best when the reading material is short. Hackett has trimmed out any excess fat in Bartending, and this serves the work well.
One of the stories that Hackett tells is called “Surprise and Delight”. I won’t ruin the piece for you, but there is a quote at the end of the tale that I’d like to share. Even though it’s out of context in this form, it sums up my thought on the book to a tee:
“It was fantastic, and it really made my day. It was nice to win one”
Hackett has indeed “won one” with Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius. It is available now for $8.99 and you can download it for your Kindle here.
Image credit: Aaron Mahnke
1 I sure did meet a lot of folks there. So glad I went.
$8.99
