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you still are.... when you learn the value of a dollar (or for that matter 1000 or more) you will appreciate it in about 4 years.

oorrr you'll be begging mommy for the new MacBook for college :D

That was my original plan...when I graduate school (in 2011) I plan on upgrading my MacBook to a new MacBook Pro...or whatever Apple has to offer in 2011/2012. But for now, I'm very happy with my MacBook. :D

And no, I won't be begging Mummy for the new MacBook ;) hahaha...I'll definitely have a job by then.
 
The funny thing is that by the time this kid actually has any need for his 17" MBP, it'll be obsolete.
 
I'm surprised at how bad people are at understanding basic tax code...

Assuming he is claimed as a dependent by his parents (which is most likely the case because a) he probably didn't earn at least 50% of his income by himself, and b) a child dependent is worth thousands of dollars after all credits are considered), then the prize winnings will be considered his parents' income, not his. Therefore the prize winnings will be taxed at his parents' top tax backet and they will be responsible for paying the tax.

But yeah, a 13 year old kid from an affluent northeast area with an iPhone probably isn't hurting for a Macbook Pro (he probably already has one). Then again, as has been pointed out, most people who can afford the iPhone and its data plan probably aren't hurting in general.

To people from other countries that claim the entire USA is affluent: there are very large areas of the US that are very economically depressed and could easily be mistaken for 3rd world countries. And unless you've actually been to those areas, no argument. (And yes, I've been to 3rd world countries so I can compare)
 
best part>



Ms. Mulcahey said the phone was ringing when she was bringing groceries inside last week. She hurriedly picked it up and was told her son had won Apple’s Billion App Countdown contest.

“I said, ‘I’m, sorry, I don’t believe you,’ and I hung up,” Ms. Mulcahey said.

The person from Apple tried to call back several times, “but I wouldn’t let Shannon answer it. I figured it was a scam. We’ve become such skeptics,” she said.

But the folks at Apple were persistent, and they sent several e-mail messages to the Mulcahey’s Apple account.


Apple had to reach this kid. It turns out the 1,000,000,001 app downloaded was actually iFart downloaded by a drunk college kid in Iowa.
 
that's pretty stupid to hang up, just listen to what they have to say. Ignorant and lucky.

Good job
 
For everyone saying that $10,000 worth of iTunes gift card is stupid... I have a (*legal*) music collection that if I were to buy through iTunes would probably cost me $8500, and there's hundreds of albums I'd like to add to it. Then there's the movies and TV shows... in five years I could likely burn through $10,000 without even buying anything stupid.
 
Wow, i guess it's fair and everything, but i don't see a 13 year old kid having any use for anything in that package. Oh well!

And after reading what the kid did i think they should've gotten another name. Thats pretty stupid.
 
I remember reading through the rules a while back and there was no doubt i my mind that there was supposed to be a random draw between everyone that had downloaded an app from the start of the contest and until the 1B app was downloaded. But I think I, as many, misread this part:

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.

However, there is some conspiracy going on that apple a long time ago predicted a date and time for the billionth app download - and obviously the app countdown clock is just a marketing tool mirroring those calculations. And with a lot of apps being downloaded every second it would be hard to pick 1 winner - and the rules even says it probably would com down to a random draw...But the question is: was the winner picked as a random draw between all of the guys and girls who downloaded an app just around the time of the 1B download - or was it a random draw between everyone who downloaded an app just around the time they predicted the 1B app download.
 
Kinda hard to spend $10,000 worth of iTunes GiftCard... If it was Apple Store GiftCard then it would be spent in a day :)
 
He's 13 -- he'll clearly be in the lowest tax bracket (10%), and after the standard deduction, the taxes won't be that bad -- under $1000.

nope, prize winnings aren't tied to tax brackets. standard roughly 30% across the board, one time tax payment. same for price is right as it is for powerball.
 
Seeing as he could just sell the Gift card for $9,000 and/or the MBP for $3,000 I think it is unfair to say that winning is going to "cost his parents" a lot of money.



Please..

Who the **** would pay $9,000 for an iTunes giftcard worth $10,000 :confused::confused::confused:
 
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