The Apple Store is a system of microservices on a human scale. But instead of loosely coupled servers/APIs, it’s loosely coupled employees - each with their own specific, fine-grained task to complete. I find it makes going into the store more enjoyable - it makes me feel like a researcher observing some natural system.

I went in to pick up an order the other day and here’s how I bounced between all the different microservices humans:

  1. I walked in and spoke to the Greeter (1). I told them I was there for an order pick up, and they directed me to the Order Pickup Table.
  2. At the Order Pickup Table, I spoke with another person (2) who checked me in. They scanned my barcode, and directed me to stand at the end of a different table, so that the Order Processor can find me.
  3. I stand awkwardly at the end of the table until the Order Processor (3) arrives, and they too scan my barcode and verify what they have on their screen is indeed what I ordered.
  4. Once confirmed, the Order Processor sends a request to the back of store to request the order is brought out to them.
  5. The Runner (4) brings the order from the back to the Order Processor.
  6. The Order Processor scans it and then hands it to me, thus completing the transaction.

That’s at least 6 steps/4 people (probably more, who knows how many microservices people are working in the back!) involved in completing my order pick up. It’s microservices on a human scale.

Compare this to the alternative of having a counter and forming a queue in front of it, and interacting with a single person to complete the transaction end to end - aka monolithic architecture. Are the microservices better than standing in a line? Who knows. Maybe Apple’s microservices distributed person architecture can scale better under heavy load like their software counterparts are purported to? I generally avoid going at all when it’s busy so I don’t know.

I think it’s more likely Apple doesn’t want people to see queues of people in their stores, and that distributing people about the store looks more organic and welcoming. Other ideas are available ¯\(ツ)/¯.