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I totally agree with MDN's take.

Dec 14, 07 - 09:43 am Comment from: Ampar

From the slideshow:
"All told, the XBOX's quirks cost Microsoft $1.15 billion, by the company's own accounting."

Or as Steve Ballmer likes to call it, "One stupid, f$%^ing mortgage payment. Oh well, let's make another useless version of Vista to cover it."

Yup. Apple looked good, and because it's a store credit, that $100- only cost $70 and resulted in free publicity. More or less a win-win.

sometimes we forget that all that happened was Apple valued its customer more than its own plan
In retrospect we may like the idea of steve planned it all along, but I think what was more impressive is that a company saw that the had a miss-step and corrected it.
Most companies would not have done that

my 2 cents

Steve J. better not cry wolf again.

Dec 14, 07 - 09:56 am Comment from: silverhawk

"Or maybe it was planned all along."
Which would take his genius level above A+!

Another brilliant move by Steve.

I'm not gay or anything but if somebody forced me to sleep with a dude, it would either be Steve Jobs or Mario Lopez.

Dec 14, 07 - 10:17 am Comment from: wannabe

macbones, $70 is about the maximum possible cost. I personally picked up iWork '08... the DVD and box probably cost Apple about a dollar.

It probably was planned all along, but it still wasn't the smartest thing in the world to hose his best customers. I still will definitely think twice in the future before I ever buy another Apple product again at the time it's released. But oh well, I got a copy of Leopard for $16 out of the deal anyway.

MDN absolutely nailed this one.
Problem remains that only a few actually know what was going on with this stroke of masterful marketing. The grin on Steve over this will never fade.

The iPhone ACTUALLY costs you near $1400 when you factor in the carrier kickbacks to Apple.

It has been calculated the actual cost to make a iPhone is around $300.

Yes you are!

My credit card company, AMEX, threw in a "good customer" credit of $100, as well, so I made out even better.

Pete, calculated by who? The same people who reckoned that OS X costs apple $6 per machine sold and who never factor in any other costs other than raw materials?

Dec 14, 07 - 10:42 am Comment from: Spark

@Pete-- That is money you would be paying for any service plan with any phone. The cost is to AT&T;, not the iPhone owner.

Dec 14, 07 - 11:16 am Comment from: Darkness

Yup, having the credit out there caused me to shop at the Apple Store this Christmas instead of MacMall or OWC. And it wasn't a trivial purchase either -- I'm sure my niece is going to love her new iMac.

@R2
We all are. Some admit it, some deny it. Some engage under constrained circumstances (gunpoint, prison), others engage more freely. As Truman Capote said, "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Dec 14, 07 - 11:35 am Comment from: Cubert

Steve-O: "I love it when a plan comes together."
Mr. T: "Yeah, I pity the fool who buys a Crackberry."

@R2

what about also sleeping with Zune Tang?

Dec 14, 07 - 11:42 am Comment from: Ampar

"what about also sleeping with Zune Tang?"

I think the joke goes like this:

"Have you been sleeping with Zune Tang?"

"Not a wink."

Dec 14, 07 - 11:45 am Comment from: Cubert

davecc,
I've slept with Zune Tang's sister - Pune Tang - if that counts for anything.

Forbes must be grading on a curve. C- for Sony's rootkit disaster!!!!!

And what's with Forbes thinking that I can't turn the pages myself. Apparently their website is for speed-readers only. (Yes, I know you can slow it down.)

I forgot to mention the staggering amount of bad press Shepherd Jobs took, showed how blind the sheep are to his evilness.

Don't knock the Zune Tang. he preaches the truth.

Apple is Microsoft - in sheep's clothing.

Dec 14, 07 - 01:45 pm Comment from: ken1w

> Apple is Microsoft - in sheep's clothing.

Microsoft is no longer "Microsoft - in sheep's clothing." Microsoft is now the "sheep" (prey) to Apple.

Dec 14, 07 - 01:49 pm Comment from: Big Al

The troll to fan-boy ratio here is going up daily.

Nothing here but trolls and fan-boys. Trolls, you are wasting your talents. Go preach to the uncommitted.

May I suggest CNET. Lots of wavering Mac users there.

I agree Big Al. Too many trolls here. Lot's of sheep, too.

Dec 14, 07 - 02:17 pm Comment from: UltraVisitor

@ R2

When I see a random person I don't know on an internet message board, I often wonder who that person would sleep with if they were gay, but I'm usually too embarrassed to ask. Thanks for volunteering that information.

Dec 14, 07 - 03:16 pm Comment from: misanthrope

HAaaahhhh! Razor-sharp, Cubert! I'll be laughing at that one all day!

Dec 14, 07 - 04:11 pm Comment from: Ampar

Cubert: Does she know Frank Herbert's sister, Dune Tang?

> ken1w wrote: Microsoft is now the "sheep" (prey) to Apple.

Nope... sheep are blind loyalists... like you...

Dec 14, 07 - 05:56 pm Comment from: Kit-N

"Or maybe it was planned all along."

Of course it was planned. However, it can only work for an established company with a huge, loyal following.

Coke did it in the 80's when they introduced New Coke, "a sweeter, like Pepsi" version.

It was a huge gamble that worked beautifully. Coke's market share was faltering at that time, and when they brought back "Coke Classic" the value soared and they haven't looked back since.

Of course they deny to this day that it was part of a marketing scheme, but…

I hope it wasn't planned all along. That would have been very rude.

There's also Zune Tang's slutty sister, Pu Tang.

Mus Tang