There's a story -- or is that an ad? -- in today's New York Times about Verizon's new "experience store" in Southlake, where customers can download music, play video games, watch football games in high-def and, for all we know, get a happy ending. Sounds like a little bit of paradise nestled in a little bit of paradise: a 5,000-square foot store that "features 24 giant high-definition plasma TVs, 20 flat-screen computers, a video gaming nook and dozens of phones." But, really, does this read like a paragraph that belongs in The Paper of Record or just the gentle strokings of a publicist's deft hand:
"The new store is most busy on weekends and during lunch breaks during the week, the store manager, Travis Dodson, said. People are spending the most time playing with the VCast music feature, which allows them to download music to their cellphones, and with the broadband offerings. It is not uncommon for men to come into the store's TV lounge and watch college sports while their wives are shopping elsewhere, Mr. Dodson said. Children also play online games while their parents shop."
In related news, there's a T-shirt shop in Malibu where you can squeeze your own orange juice. Yes, it's the new New York Times: all the press releases that are fit to print. --Robert Wilonsky
