Being interested in all things geek, I am of course a big fan of Best Buy's Escape store in Chicago that caters to the early adopter and the rest of us who can be considered technically hip. If you haven't been following Best Buy's moves of late, then you can learn more about the Escape store here.

On a recent visit, I got to talking about the Slingbox and how cool the whole place-shifting experience was. The guys in the store had certainly heard of Sling's new hotness but had yet to get one in the store. Turns out that despite being a member of the Best Buy family, they have their own supplier arrangements that was creating a delay in their Slingbox shipments.

At the time, I found this peculiar and unacceptable. After all, this was a gadget store that catered to the very folks that would not only "get it" but, when seeing the Slingbox sitting in a neat pile on the shelf, would likely "get it". I knew something had to be done to remedy this situation.

On my next trip, I brought along my own Slingbox and helped the guys wire it up. The AV connections were a breeze but the in-store network was locked down and required the help of the IT folks to get that final piece in place.

Here's my buddy R.P. trying to decide which of the many A/V components to connect - so many to choose from!





And here is the final perch:





Once the connections were done, we decided to load and run the Sling Player software on the biggest display we could find. This Samsung pedestal TV worked out well as we sat back and enjoyed the 'Box.





The good news is that Escape did eventually receive their shipment and are having a blast showing off this impressive piece of gear to all their curious customers. I have my Slingbox back home for now but I think I may have discovered a great way to grow the Slingbox community. Yes, I will travel the countryside with a Slingbox under my arm, planting the seeds of intrigue, installing AV wonder, and spreading demo cheer to all.

Just call me Johnny AppleSling!