APPLE'S FIFTH AVENUE FLAGSHIP attracts a diverse public drawn to what has become something of a legend since its mid-May opening. The prime location, with Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Bergdorf Goodman, and Chanel all within a 2-block radius, guarantees an international crowd. Tourists, students, creative pros, and gawkers converge 24/7, served by a staff of 300 speaking 20 or so languages. Arriving at the 32-foot glass cube set on the GM Building plaza, opposite the Plaza Hotel, the first thing I noticed was: no signs, no merchandising displays, absolutely no clutter. Identified only by a colossal white Apple logo suspended over a frosted glass spiral stairway leading down to the sales floor, the cube and its round glass elevator announce the company's trademark commitment to design quality.

On one visit, CNN Espanol was taping an interview segment while dozens of visitors, carrying cameras of every size and type, recorded the scene. A shopper who had trouble with his first MacBook purchase was testing out another one, seated on a bench with the packaging material piled up all around him. Off to the side, ten or more people with tech problems were being helped by Apple's Genius Team, and several who had purchased new software were learning the ropes courtesy the Creative Pro Team, one on one.

White space, to borrow a graphic design term, is the main principal of the store's design. Rows of MacBooks are lined up on long tables with stools and plenty of space in between. Software and accessories are arranged facing out on shelves for maximum visibility. Merchandising graphics are of two types. Large-scale video displays along two opposite walls announce "The superfast, blogging, podcasting, do-everything-out-of-a-box MacBook" and "1000 Songs. Impossibly small. iPod nano." Next to each product on the tables and counters is a discreet 4-by-6-inch card in a plastic easel with product specs and pricing, in the ultra-clean Apple graphic style.

Ease of use and luxury prevail, reiterating a consistent brand message through every detail. The spacious layout encourages customers to use the products, and, therefore, to want them. I sat down at a spectacularly crisp and bright 30" HD Cinema Display to check my email. Desire clicked in right away, but it might be a while before my home studio can support this item.

On a Friday in late August, we revisited the store around midnight. A DJ was on hand spinning analog records to keep night owls happy and to promote a family of colorful iPods displayed alongside. The crowd, whose ages ranged from a seven-year-old accompanied by his parents to a 40-something cyclist in road gear, seemed more intent on their email than on the cool tunes drifting through the white night.

Apple product design is not good design, it's "insanely great," according to CEO Steve Jobs. It often results in high-tech objects d'art, seamlessly integrated with Apple-designed software. iMacs are so different from PCs that Jobs no longer needs to urge us to "think different." Because the brand has delivered pretty consistently on the promise of its message, he now more quietly - and, it seems, more effectively - asks that we "switch." In this pure Apple space, uncontaminated by competing brands, the choice seems obvious. In fact, the store and website now quietly promote all kinds of services for switchers, from MacMentor blogs and forums to in-store workshops.

Additional reporting by Takahiro Kaneyama