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Apple store's glass facade proves fatal to Chicago birds

Design flaws at a Chicago store mirror issues with Apple's flashy new Silicon Valley headquarters.

David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
David Katzmaier
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The Apple Store's Michigan Avenue location has a lot of windows and steps.

Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET

Smacking headlong into glass walls is a problem for visitors to Apple properties, both human and avian.

The fancy new Apple Store location on Michigan Avenue in Chicago has a huge, impressive-looking glass facade that offers striking vistas of the river. Unfortunately the view is a killer in more ways than one.

"Birds flying near the river soon became a problem as they crashed into the Apple store's soaring all-glass facade and plunged to their deaths," according to a report in the Chicago Business Journal.

The report echos earlier news of Apple's own workers at its new Silicon Valley headquarters walking into glass walls as they stare into their iPhones. 

Watch this: Apple unveils its latest flagship store: Apple Michigan Avenue

The Chicago store has been lauded by architecture critics for its innovative design, but issues have emerged since it opened last September. Other complaints mentioned in the report include cracks appearing prematurely in the glass facade and a "huge number of steps" between street level and the sales floor, posing a potential falling hazard to customers.

Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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