Apple Store: Physical Gift Certificates and Pre-Installed Software

Umm... another easy choice for parents..x'mas gifts for kids teens and all ages!!!

Looks like Apple has been listening to what users want.

Great

Kudos Apple!!

Will we be able to get these at any supermarket or music store, like "Napster" supposedly is? or will it only be avalable through the apple store.


BTW, how is "napster" and the Samsung YPP833726493742394837 doing? i havnt heard any news since the launch date, which is surprising, considering all the press they paid for.

It's about time

I want to see these at the stores that sell iPods, too (BestBuy, CUSA, Target, etc.)

Ah, but they still don't take Apple Retail Store gift cards...

Nice to see Apple listening to what users want. More options when building a Mac is a good thing! Now if only there was a bit more flexibility when it came to the actual components in some of the systems, like the iMac. I realize the iMac is supposed to be an "all-in-one" system, but still, things like different video cards, etc. would kinda be nice.

i dont remember this site being updated so often on the weekends. i like not having to wait till monday.

good info, too. i sent 20$ worth of gift certificates last week. i would feel saver with physical ones. i like this plan.

Very good news!! The gift certificates will sell very well I'm sure, and having some applications as build-to-order is also cool. Thank you Apple!

I like the part about being able to get custom software configurations with your orders now, that's definitely a plus when getting a new system loaded with all the necessary software.

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I like the part about being able to get custom software configurations with your orders now, that's definitely a plus when getting a new system loaded with all the necessary software.

Click to expand...

i very much agree. no hassle at all. will apple price the software competetively or charge msrp? im guessing msrp...

I would feel much better about giving someone a tangible Gift Certicate than one online. It feels kind of cheap sending one online.

Hopefully Apple will make these widely Available in a variety of stores.
Starbucks, Barnes & Noble??

Re: Apple Store: Physical Gift Certificates and Pre-Installed Software

Originally posted by Macrumors
Apple's Online Store also offers a new Build to Order option -- allowing users to now preinstall Apple Software packages such as Final Cut Express and Keynote on their build-to-order machines.

Click to expand...

It looks like Keynote and Final Cut are the only possibilities right now. Both are on the G5 and the eMac, only Final Cut is on the iBook and iMac, and only Keynote is on the Powerbook, if I remember correctly.

I thought at first after reading the first post that you could choose other ones, but it's still definitely still a good thing! I guess they based on it which they thought would be most useful for each computer type.

--EDIT: Mac OS X Server is also available preinstalled for G5s--

I think this goes well with Apple's complete package image.

Having software that you bought installed and ready to go would be really nice for those who aren't too computer literate, or those who ordered 1000 machines and need Keynote on all of them.


Way to go

Originally posted by gwuMACaddict
i very much agree. no hassle at all. will apple price the software competetively or charge msrp? im guessing msrp...

Click to expand...

For Keynote preinstalled, "save $50 instantly." For Final Cut Express, "Save $200 instantly." Not bad at all!

These reductions are also valid at the Education store, which surprised me! Good deal.

--EDIT: for Mac OS X Server preinstalled on G5s, no reduction is offered--

Installed apps: so what?

So Apple wants to pat novice computer users on the fanny by selling them a machine with the non-standard software pre-installed. Think of all the effort it will save end-users, not having to install Keynote!

Are we talking about Macintoshes, or are we talking about Windows? Since when did it become so difficult to install productivity apps? Is this an admission on Apple's part that MacOS X is not as easy to use as it is touted to be?

A few years ago, a user of a cheap Wintel clone bragged to me that the local firm who seld the machine to her promised to troubleshoot her machine for free, any time she needed it. They even offered to install her software for her. But wait: if she had bought a Mac, she could've easily installed her own software, with far less fuss. And that was in the days of MacOS 8.6.

While the iTunes gift certificates news sounds great, it seems strange that people are expressing their praise for something consumers shouldn't really need in the first place.

Does this mean that the image of the installers for the extra BTO software (Keynote, Final Cut Express, whatever) will be incorporated onto the prime software restore disc for the machine itself, or will the software simply accompany the machine, boxed as it would be otherwise? Either way doesn't sound like a good idea anyway.

Look at it this way: If Apple sells you an iBook G4 with Keynote 1.1.1 pre-installed and the boxed version 1.0 ships with the machine, and a user finds that, due to problems, (s)he must do a complete clean install anyway, what has this process gained? The user will have to clean install and then run Software Update. This is a real possibility which should not be dismissed. I just purchased an iMac, which arrived here on Nov. 7. I put in my order for MacOS X Panther a few days later, and it arrived several days after that. I had problems with the Panther install, and found myself having to wipe the iMac's HD clean and start over. I installed Jaguar from the iMac software restore disc, then the Panther update. (The Panther CDs are update-only, no clean install.)

I can imagine a similar scenario with this new BTO w/ extra software initiative. It just seems to me that Apple has the technological prowess in MacOS X to make software easy to install, so ** pre-installation should be unnecessary.** That would seem much more logical.


----------------------------------

For a real hoot, check out the iMac review at WashingtonPost.com:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technology/graphics/computers/frame_main.html

Re: Installed apps: so what?

It's not just the fact that it is preinstalled. It is the fact that, if you were going to buy a machine and Final Cut Express, you could save 200.00 having them preinstall it. Seems like a darn good deal to me. I don't know about you, but the less money it costs, the happier I am.

About the iTunes gift Certificates: I know many people would rather have a hard copy gift certificate than a soft copy. It is good that you can give an ITMS gift certificate in a package instead of in an email....

Re: Installed apps: so what?

Originally posted by wingman
I can imagine a similar scenario with this new BTO w/ extra software initiative. It just seems to me that Apple has the technological prowess in MacOS X to make software easy to install, so ** pre-installation should be unnecessary.** That would seem much more logical.

Sorry about your problems after getting your iMac. It must have been frustrating since you had problems with your computer right after you got it. If you had the full version instead of the upgrade version of Panther, you wouldn't have had to re-install Jaguar first. That's one of the disadvantages of the upgrade version that I don't like.

About the pre-installation situation: besides the fact that they're offering special offers ($50 and $200 off), after people first get their computer they don't want to spend time installing things, they want to use them right away. I think most people will appreciate the option--you aren't forced to have it pre-installed, but the option is there.

You do raise a good issue about whether they will be included on the Software Restore disk or on separate disks. Does anyone know?

Click to expand...

Gift Certificate Question

Ok, so here's a question about gift certificates, I can't seem to get an answer on Apple's site and I don't feel like calling Apple right now.

I'd like to purchase several gift certificates for different people but I want them mailed to ME so that I can give them personally to the recipient. (Sending gifts via the mail just doesn't seem personal enough.)

Anyone know if it's going to present a problem if I have the gift certificate mailed to me but in someone else's name? I really don't want my name and address on their gift certificate but I want them to come through me.

Thanks! ;

Re: Re: Installed apps: so what?

Originally posted by Capt Underpants
It's not just the fact that it is preinstalled. It is the fact that, if you were going to buy a machine and Final Cut Express, you could save 200.00 having them preinstall it. Seems like a darn good deal to me. I don't know about you, but the less money it costs, the happier I am.

Click to expand...

FCE was already available for $99 with a system purchase...

Re: Gift Certificate Question

Originally posted by KLFloyd
Ok, so here's a question about gift certificates, I can't seem to get an answer on Apple's site and I don't feel like calling Apple right now.

I'd like to purchase several gift certificates for different people but I want them mailed to ME so that I can give them personally to the recipient. (Sending gifts via the mail just doesn't seem personal enough.)

Anyone know if it's going to present a problem if I have the gift certificate mailed to me but in someone else's name? I really don't want my name and address on their gift certificate but I want them to come through me.

Thanks! ;

Click to expand...

I think it should be fine, but the wording is certainly not clear at all and Apple will hopefully fix that.

You fill in the "To" for whatever person you're buying it for, for example "To: Steve Jobs" and then fill in your own information (address, etc.) for the rest.

When you click continue though, on the order it says "Recipient" with your name on it and not the person you're buying it for, which is confusing.

I think that "Recipient" just means the person who will receive it in the mail, which is you in this case. If that's true, they should use "Addressee" or something similar so people won't think the certificate will say their own name as the receiver of the gift.

The certificate itself should correctly indicate "To: Steve Jobs." That's my guess.

This is neat! Anyone going to the Apple Store Arden Fair on the 28th?

I might.

Hmm I wonder how many folks will be sending Steve Jobs an iTunes Gift Certificate?

Most folks and I'm talking about 98% of the users out there want all the options they can get when ording a computer of any type or brand. This is a good thing for Apple as it must be anticipating more switchers in near future.

As for Napster I have friends that work in both CompUSA and BestBuys and they both said it hasn't sold worth a damn and the Dell they have maybe sold 2 or 3 last week. The iPod on the other hand is flying off the shelves and right now they are having problems keeping the 10GB iPod even in stock now. The iPod has too much pop culture behind it now something which no-one else has right now.

Re: Re: Re: Installed apps: so what?

Originally posted by QCassidy352
FCE was already available for $99 with a system purchase...

Click to expand...

You still save 200.00 off MSRP, right????