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"Tim Cook isn't the kind of guy you imagine casually throwing around drug references, not even to prescription drugs. The Apple CEO's schedule involves rising at 4am; he's a quiet, perfectly calm and steely manager who gets his kicks from road biking; his dress code is the nearest thing Silicon Valley has to button-down. \nWhich is why it was odd to hear Cook make this claim at a Goldman Sachs conference Tuesday morning: \"If I ever feel like I am dropping down from an excited level, I go into an Apple store and it instantly changes. It\u2019s like Prozac. It\u2019s an unbelievable feeling \u2014 like no other.\"\nCook could be forgiven a little hyperbole. After all, part of his mission at Goldman was to deflect questions about Apple's vast unused cash hoard \u2014 $137 billion and counting \u2014 and the only answer he could offer to that question was the fact that Apple is building 30 more stores around the world, for a total of 400. He's also trying to draw a line under the disastrous tenure of John Browett, retail store manager from last January to last October.\nStill, it's an interesting analogy that reveals a lot about Apple's internal dialogue (and why Browett, who cut his teeth running a not particularly inspiring chain of electronics stores in the UK, didn't get it). It also helps explain why the stores are the first thing mentioned in nearly every Apple keynote.\nApple stores were indeed designed with the creation of positive mood in mind. The first ones were built (by Ron Johnson and his team) to exacting specifications from Steve Jobs, who was always intent on using beautiful design and simplicity to evoke emotions. \nJobs micromanaged everything from the color of the wood to the opacity of the glass to the size of the tables at the first two stores, launched in May 2001. Everything was neutral except the products, the stars of the show, and the soothing blue shirts of the Geniuses and their attendant helpers. Every subsequent store has shuffled the deck, but the basic design principles are all the same. \nIn other words, the Apple Store is supposed to be a kind of minimalist, easily franchised, technological Disneyland. Just like that theme park, it's designed to keep you moving \u2014 note the lack of chairs except the stools right at the end by the Genius Bar \u2014 rather than camping out. But each table has half a dozen entry points to thrilling high-tech rides, where you can linger and sample the full unlocked joys of iOS and Mac OS X.\nAnd it works. Boy, does it work. Each store gets on average a million visitors a year. Dollar for dollar, an Apple store does more business than any other retail space on the planet. They're incredibly attractive compared to the rest of the retail environment. When the kids are screaming for your smartphone, when you're rushed off your feet, when you want a few minutes of peace and some good wifi, are you going to go to Macy's? We didn't think so. \nIndeed, it was telling that Cook's other comment about the Apple stores at the Goldman conference was this: they're getting too popular. The company needs to expand them. Most retailers would be happy to see crowds, but for Apple, it's a no-no. They want you to see the stores as oases of calm, almost like a modern church. \nSEE ALSO Tim Cook: Apple Will Never Make a Crappy Product\nSo are Apple stores like Prozac? No, not really. The product line itself is Prozac, boosting your serotonin every time you use it, and there's always a reason to refill your prescription \u2014 a new Lightning connector here, a bumper case there, maybe a magic trackpad or a new router in a few weeks. \nThe store is the place that essentially pushes the pieces of this addictive tech lifestyle. As such, it has to be beyond reproach, and appeal to a different part of the brain. It has to elicit an almost religious sense of calm and awe. \nBut that's one analogy Cook really couldn't invoke. After all, Apple is too frequently compared to a cult (or more accurately, given its millions of wealthy adherents, a religion) already. And for good reason: if you're a fan, seeing the logo activates the same part of your brain.\nImage via iStockphoto, EdStock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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