Apple stores have long outgrown their condition, becoming places of "pilgrimage" for fans of Apple products. The Apple store in Fifth Avenue New York is open 24 hours a day and according to an American analyst it is one of the top 4 tourist attractions from New York. In the image above, we present the main locations where tourists take pictures, and circle 1 represents the Apple store on Fifth Avenue. The information in the image above is based on the geolocations of several million photos uploaded to Flickr by users, so they are more than accurate. However, the Apple store is almost as popular as the other 3 locations shown in the picture: Rockefeller Center, Columbus Circle or Times Square.
Fischer also used the date and time of the photos to categorize the photos as being shot by locals or tourists. He then plotted the locations to create a heat map that reveals patterns of photographic interest. He performed the same photo analysis for several other cities, showing that tourists and locals have a very different eye for what is interesting. In other cities with high-profile Apple stores, the stores' heat is less obvious because they're surrounded by other attractions.
Probably the unique form of the store's entrance is the main reason why tourists go there and take so many pictures or maybe take a picture before buying a product, no one knows. In other cities, tourists are not as interested in Apple stores and it is somewhat normal considering that the store in New York has a distinct design.
