Apple stores as secular temples

From The Atlantic: "It's often been said that Apple Stores — soaring glass, sweeping stairs, light-flooded spaces echoing with the din of human voices — function, in their way, as secular cathedrals. The stores — though the word "store" doesn't quite feel adequate — celebrate both introspection and communion. They are meant to humble and inspire. "They feel iconic, like an emblem of the personal," the cultural historian Erica Robles-Anderson has put it. Apple's success in translating the religious revivalism of digital retail spaces into physical ones is something other brands (Google, Microsoft, Samsung) have tried to emulate — with, generally, much less success."