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So what are we thinking....back to school promo today? i hope?!
- Thread starter AllStarCelica
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Ditto on the above - we've hung back for this long so only another 11 days maximum before WWDC isn't going to kill us. If Lion is announced at WWDC hopefully Apple will do their "up-to-date" promotion for computers, purchased after the announcement, to get Lion at a greatly reduced price when released - say between £10 - £20.
+1
But of course there will be an announcement. Anyway, it's less than 2 weeks away now.
Patience is key.
I would bet against it. Do you any inside information leading you to say this? We can all pull guesses out of the air.
They might just do a buy an iMac get a Macbook Pro free deal.
That would be a disappointment.
I guess we have to factor in that Apple may not even do the Back-To-School promo this year (even bigger disappointment).
To be fair to bushman4 he did say "Just a thought" - let's face it MacRumours seems to often "pull guesses out of the air".
Usually guesses that have a correlation to a past event or of information heard; not a guess for the sake of a guess.
I think your wife is cheating on you. Do you agree? I am just taking a guess.
Without getting into the semantics of this I was just pointing out that bushman4 did qualify the statement by saying "just a thought", unlike some posters who state things as though there is some basis for their "rumour".
Anyway, moving on I also cannot see this happening as a replacement to the free iPod offer. However Apple are currently financially buoyant so there is the vaguest possibility they may not run the promotion at all - historically it would suggest otherwise but we mustn't assume it's a given.
Well no, his point was reasonable. A mobileme subscription costs less than an iPod touch, so its entirely plausible as a mobileme subscription doesn't cost the same as a macbook pro.
And a mobileme subscription will in no way attract more buyers than a free ipod giveaway, nor will it give Apple free marketing on campuses...which is why they give out free ipods.
We don't know that and I wasn't promoting the idea, just pointing out how a free mobileme subscription isn't the same as a free macbook pro. The guy you quoted made a perfectly plausible suggestion and you don't really have anything to back up your statement about mobileme's performance as a free gift instead of an iPod. Seeing as a lot of people probably already have iPods or iPhones this could easily be the right time for Apple to take advantage of this offer to promote the revamped mobileme that appears to be coming soon.
Maybe you dont understand business but I do. Apple doesn't give out $250+ free ipods without expecting a bigger return somewhere else down the line. They do it for the free marketing. Do you think they discount iMacs and Macbook Pros because they are trying to promote education in some way???....hell no. They want public locations to be displaying their products. Locations which they can't outright place an ad.
I would bet my net worth that a mobileme subscription giveaway isnt even an option. They would have nothing to gain, so not doing the promotion at all would be more advantageous for them.
Lastly, my sarcastic remark about them giving away a Macbook Pro was just that.... A sarcastic remark to show we can all throw out guesses that dont make sense.
I would bet my net worth that a mobileme subscription giveaway isnt even an option. They would have nothing to gain, so not doing the promotion at all would be more advantageous for them.
Lastly, my sarcastic remark about them giving away a Macbook Pro was just that.... A sarcastic remark to show we can all throw out guesses that dont make sense.
I can see where Ubuntu's coming from on this matter and in some sense this would make perfect sense if Mobileme is to be re-launched but, for obvious reasons i.e. I'm in the market for a new iPod, I sincerely hope this isn't the case. As some have said, this promotion is a way for Apple to offload this generation of iPods before they introduce the next generation in September. They obviously have targets and R&D costs to recoup on each generation of iPods released so it's a good way to keep sales buoyant and avoid a slow down of sales in the last two months or so prior to the next generation being released.
What I think macage fails to appreciate is that the whole point of this forum is to discuss and even hypothesise on all things Apple and thats exactly what bushman4 did but with the opening qualification "just a thought".
Oh well, that's alright then
It seems rather rich shooting other people down who present a thought but then push your views as the only logical scenario. You also do not know the inner workings of Apple's marketing strategies so you are also metaphorically sticking your finger in the air.
Consider this.....and this is purely as hypothetical as are your assertions, and I don't claim to know anymore than the next man:
If MobileMe remains a premium paid for service then giving a years free subscription away is great business as once you've ensnared the consumer i.e. their e-mail, photos, music etc. are all tied to using your service, then the following year they are likely to re-sign up for a fully paid up subscription. Considering that Apple are looking at a cloud based music service then Apple will want to find ways to tie users to their offering rather than losing customers to Amazon or, in the UK, Spotify.
Maybe we should all just get back on topic rather than pursuing this rather pointless discussion?
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Apple does not give away ipods to off load old product. If that were the case, the old iphone wouldnt be $49 right now as old as it is. Are you trying to make an arguement that this generation of ipods has no market value so Apples only recourse is too give them away for free? Yeah...sure guy.
Also, giving away product does not boost sales. It lowers on hand inventory with no increase in revenue. No advantage to Apple other than free consumer marketing.
Really, you should try not to be so confrontational and arrogant in your views. Unless you work for Apple your perspective is just that...yours. I'm not disagreeing with you and not saying I'm correct in any way but at least I'm a little more circumspect in my views. Another consideration is that many users taking advantage of this offer actually upgrade to the higher spec iPod and use the rebate to offset the cost. Myself I'm intending to get the 64GB iPod Touch - a purchase I would not have made unless I could offset it's cost with the rebate.
Probably best if we all now go and have a nice cup of tea and get this thread back on topic
I just got me this free iPod Wow I saved 200 bucks . Apple is so cool I am going to buy me some tunes. This is why they give it away to young kids going to school. They also offer credit in the usa to college students. Lots of kids will take them up on the offer. They buy a laptop and get a free ipod. By the time they pay off all the gear and buy a few hundred songs apple has made plenty on the deal. Also as a secondary reason they clear out stock to start the new model in Oct.
My view entirely - Apple is nowadays more about nurturing new continuing revenue streams and what better way than dishing out free iPods or, for that matter (and this is purely hypothetical, I'm not saying it's going to happen) a free 1 year subscription to MobileMe . A good point in case is that Nokia are still, by a long way, the number 1 mobile phone manufacturer in the World so why are they officially in trouble? Answer is they stuck with the model of selling devices not music, apps, movies etc which provide Apple with repeat business (what is it nowadays, 30cents per App sold goes to Apple?)
Getting this thread back on topic - I would say it's looking likely to be next Tuesday for the Back-To-School promotion to be launched (or sometime next week). I can't see Apple launching the promotion during the week of WWDC as hopefully they'll have other news to announce (Lion? Revamped MobileMe?).
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I contacted an Apple customer rep today and he told me that if I buy and iMac and the "Back to school - free iPod Touch" starts within the 14 days after I receive my iMac (buying a customized iMac online), I could still qualify and get the free iPod Touch.
Has anyone done this in the past ?
This is what excerpt of the conversation and how he told me that it can be done ...
--------------
Hi, my name is Chad . Welcome to Apple!
How's it going?
What is the status of the "Back to School - free iPod Touch" this year ?
I wish I knew! However I don't have any information available to me regarding future or unannounced promotions. So I won't be able to speculate.
Based on last year ... were you able to buy an iMac online instead of the Apple store and still receive the free iPod Touch offer ?
Yes you were able to do that via the iPod Touch rebate
Ok... I am ready to purchase a iMac online but am waiting until I hear if Apple will offer the "Back to School - iPod Touch" offer. My luck would have it is the if I purchase the iMac now ... I will miss out on this perk if Apple offers it next week.
Not true at all
?
Just call customer service to initiate a fake return and to add this to your
order. You can either do that via customer service or through the retail store
That would probably only work if it was in the 14 day window assuming I could get an Apple sale rep at store to go along with this ...
Right, but that 14 days starts when the computer arrives, rather than when you order it.
So your telling me if I order the iMac now and Apple starts the free iTouch program within the 14 days after I receive the iMac I will still be able to circumvent the system by having an Apple rep return the iMac and repurchase it again adding the iPod Touch?
yep
That's about the size of it
Interesting
Has anyone done this in the past ?
This is what excerpt of the conversation and how he told me that it can be done ...
--------------
Hi, my name is Chad . Welcome to Apple!
How's it going?
What is the status of the "Back to School - free iPod Touch" this year ?
I wish I knew! However I don't have any information available to me regarding future or unannounced promotions. So I won't be able to speculate.
Based on last year ... were you able to buy an iMac online instead of the Apple store and still receive the free iPod Touch offer ?
Yes you were able to do that via the iPod Touch rebate
Ok... I am ready to purchase a iMac online but am waiting until I hear if Apple will offer the "Back to School - iPod Touch" offer. My luck would have it is the if I purchase the iMac now ... I will miss out on this perk if Apple offers it next week.
Not true at all
?
Just call customer service to initiate a fake return and to add this to your
order. You can either do that via customer service or through the retail store
That would probably only work if it was in the 14 day window assuming I could get an Apple sale rep at store to go along with this ...
Right, but that 14 days starts when the computer arrives, rather than when you order it.
So your telling me if I order the iMac now and Apple starts the free iTouch program within the 14 days after I receive the iMac I will still be able to circumvent the system by having an Apple rep return the iMac and repurchase it again adding the iPod Touch?
yep
That's about the size of it
Interesting
Im really thinking about ordering today... I wonder how hard it would be to get the free ipod offer within that 14 day deal if it was to happen,I dont want to talk to a million people to finally get the deal :-/