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Apple Announces Winner of 1 Billion App Contest

autrefois said:
The reason the three of us (and more) got the wrong idea was because Apple's ad was misleading (I would bet intentionally so, to avoid a mad rush of downloads as the 1 billion mark approached).

Here is the story by Macrumors that has a screenshot of Apple's ad. The ad says:

"Download an app and you'll automatically get the chance to win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Just go to the iTunes Store, browse the App Store, and download your best app yet."

The subhead under "We're about to hit a billion" says essentially the same thing as the main copy of the ad, so you are twice given the idea that all you need to do is download an app to win, with no mention that it's specifically the 1 billionth app (or corresponding no-purchase entry) that would win. Tim Cook mentioned in the financial results conference call that they were "just hours away", so I'm sure if the ad were clearer they would have have more people trying to download the past couple days.

I'm not a legal expert to know whether you can imply or leave an important detail out of a contest ad and leave it to the "fine print", but I think it's clearly misleading on Apple's part. They were very clear about it with the iTunes contests they had before, so there is no excuse for them not to do so this time around as well (unless as I'm suggesting, they didn't want the servers to take a hit or go down from all the traffic that would have been generated as the 1 billionth download approached).
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OMG a 13 yo could figure it out...:eek:
 
Pugpuppydude said:
Wait so am I wrong to have thought that one can purchase hardware from the Apple store with an iTunes gift card? :confused:
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I have no idea why anyone would come to the conclusion you could use an iTunes card to buy anything from Apple.com in the first place.

The name of the card gives it away ... iTunes.
 
WeegieMac said:
I have no idea why anyone would come to the conclusion you could use an iTunes card to buy anything from Apple.com in the first place.

The name of the card gives it away ... iTunes.
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Well. . . low IQ i guess :D
Actually i think it is because when i buy stuff off Apple.com it asks for like a coupon code or something. Thought one might be able to use iTunes card code instead. Same company. Guess not though, thanks!
 
tirerim said:
Well, someone's a sore loser. The reason they set the limit is to prevent everyone from just downloading a thousand apps hoping that one of them would be the billionth. The rules were confusing, but fair. And I'm pretty sure most people who were trying for it were downloading free apps.
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hell yeah i'm a sore loser! the point is I didn't even try to be the billionth download. I dowloaded 3 apps in the first couple of days and thought "well, there are my entries". Had I known, I would at least have attempted to download an app near the end.
 
Pugpuppydude said:
Wait so am I wrong to have thought that one can purchase hardware from the Apple store with an iTunes gift card? :confused:
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Nope, only stuff from the iTMS, which is why that part of the prize is rather pointless. Who's honestly going to download 10,000 songs, 5,000 movies, or 10,000 crap-apps?
 
mackensteff said:
The Rules:
Timing. The Promotion shall run from 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10, 2009 and ends with the downloading of the 1 billionth app (“Promotion Period”). For purposes of the Promotion, the downloading of the 1 billionth app is considered to be either the downloading of the 1 billionth app from iTunes or the receipt of the non-purchase entry after the download of the 999,999,999th app, whichever comes first.
This is a legal requirement to tell everybody when the contest is over. Nowhere does it say a drawing or the winner will be picked at random!!!
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and nor does it say it say the winner is the one who downloads the billionth app. it simply states that the contest ends when the billionth app is downloaded.

again...misleading.
 
lifeinhd said:
Nope, only stuff from the iTMS, which is why that part of the prize is rather pointless. Who's honestly going to download 10,000 songs, 5,000 movies, or 10,000 crap-apps?
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Well i know a kid that would like to download 10,000 flash lights and iFarts.

I would simply keep the money for the next generation Mac Pro or sell it. :D
 
x13gamer said:
You don't have to be 18 to win? You don't have to be 18 to have an account?
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Nope:

"Eligibility. The Billion App Countdown Promotion (the “Promotion”) is open only to entrants who are 13 years of age or older at time of entry, and a legal resident of the fifty (50) United States or ...."

pretty convenient that the kid hit the minimum age.
 
I wonder if the kid was at school at that time :rolleyes:

Maybe he wasn't playing attention to class and was playing with his iPod Touch instead.
 
vassillios said:
still don't see it, perhaps you can read it to me.
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Sweepstakes. Sponsor is the sole judging organization whose decisions as to the operation of the Sweepstakes and the selection of the potential winner are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. The prize will be awarded for the entry (either through an app download or through the non-purchase online entry) sent immediately following the download of the 999,999,999th app. The potential winner will be determined by the order of the entries received. In the event that more than one entrant would be a winner based on the simultaneous timing of entries, one entrant will be randomly selected from those entrants as the winner. Each entrant’s chances of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.
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See it yet?
 
russ973 said:
Hope you have $4,000 to pay the taxes Uncle Sam will want on that amount of winnings.

Prize taxes suck. See "Extreme Home Makeover"

Of course otherwise every employer would have a "contest" to pay you. Flip a coin, heads you win $2,000 this paycheck, tales it's $1,999.
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Because he is 13, and has no other income. He probably falls under exempt for federal taxes.
 
I'm sorry but the "discussion" in this thread is pathetic, you're honestly saying the contest was misleading, HONESTLY, and not just because you didn't win, this thread seems to just be filled with a bunch of pissed off brats who are jealous they didn't win.

This contest has been the same as all the others (iTunes song downloads), so I fail to understand the "confusion"...

If you're that bothered, write a blog, because whining on here is going to make no more of an input than pissing into the ocean of blogs. Atleast that way you're not clogging up this page with pathetic cries of woe.

/rant.
 
For all the sore jealous losers, go cry a river. Congrats to the kid.
 
No where in the rules did it say it was EVER a random drawing. It clearly said that the winner was the person who downloaded the billionth app.

Sucks for everyone who mis-read the rules and bought 100 apps thinking that was 100 chances to win.

LOL
 
Pika said:
If i had an iPhone in the 90's, i would have passed all my grades easily by cheating. :D

I was a very big cheater in the past. By using other methods instead of gadgets.
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The iphone is a very cool tool for cheating especially with the web and notes app. ;)
 
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