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Dell Offers $100 For Old iPods
Mz6 writes "Dell unveiled an offer that grants music player customers a $100 rebate on a
15GB Digital Jukebox when they
send in an Apple iPod music player to be recycled. 'We want to help drive further awareness of the products we have available and...the plusses we have to offer,' said Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn. Thus the iPod offer 'is a way to call out what separates us from the understood leader in this particular market.' Dell is also offering free shipping, free software, and 25 free songs through MusicMatch and brings the overall cost for the DJ down to $99." Helpful tip: If you have a dead iPod, do the rebate offer, and sell the Jukebox on eBay.
Helpful tip: If you have a dead iPod, do the rebate offer, and sell the Jukebox on eBay.
While some may criticize this "editorial" on the Slashdot front page, I completely agree with it. For me, the iPod is a completely natural, easy to use, very functional portable music player. I carry it with me everywhere I go - on the bus to work, on trips, even when hanging out at the lake (just not in the water.)
Keep your iPod - dump the DJ.
If you have an iPod and you want to get rid of it, I'll give you $100 cash. Then you're not tied into the Dell brand.
SIGFEH
When someone usually tries to play off of Apple's magnificent PR machine (i.e. using the "iPod killer" terminology) Jobs either shuggs it off, makes fun of them in the next keynote, or declares an innovation war. Any kowtowing to this ridiculous offer of lesser quality would be ill-advised on apple's part, yet there might be a way to make this a really cool PR event. Possibly a trade in an iPod and get nothing event? (Hey, since we all know nothing is better than a dell!)
Is Dell really paying for the rebate or are they receiving monies from Microsoft? Call me a tin-foil hat wearer, but for some strange reason I have to question Microsoft's $7 billion expenditure on R&D. Me thinks some of that money goes toward their allies to weaken their "enemies." I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft is funneling cash to Dell to pay for these rebates to lure customers away from the iPod and the iTunes Store and toward a Microsoft controlled relabeling of online distribution of Microsoft WMA files. Its like the U.S. (or the former U.S.S.R.) with its client states, only in this scenario, it is a client corporation.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
As was mentioned in this news.com article, Dell is unlikely to get many takers. With a variety of iPods from the mini to the 40GB, with music purchased from iTMS and with all of their songs in iTunes, not many people would probably be willing to put in the effort to transition to the DJ15. Not to mention the size and esthetic differences between the offerings.
I'm kinda curious - I'm guessing that Dell is destroying these to take them off the market.
side note: I used to work at a big music store (headquartered in MN) that would destroy thousands of perfectly good pianos and organs to take them off the market, so they could sell more electronic and upright pianos. Can't find a 25 dollar 'you move it' piano in Minneapolis? Thats why..
Why? I work for a company that manufacturers portable medical diagnostic equipment.
Pretty much every company in this field offers a mail-in rebate (often times as much as the original purchase price) for our devices if you send in any competitors device.
We regularly box up the devices that are sent to us and ship them back to their original manufacturer so that they know to take those devices out of their support database and to kind of "rub it in their faces" that we've had X number of their customers switch to our product (they do the same to us).
Since most companies in this field release a new device every 8 - 16 months, and there are numerous companies in the field, many consumers have got in the habit of buying a kit from company A, using it until all the test strips are gone, then buying a kit from company B and sending in the device from company A for the rebate, which is later used to buy the latest device from company C, and so on.
At one time, the department I was in was doing competetive analysis and had to buy about 30 meters from one of our biggest competitors. At the time they were offering a $50 mail in rebate. We dug up 30 of our meters that were defective (knowing full well we'd get them back in a few months) and used them to submit the rebates, all of which was used for one kick-ass dinner party a few months later.
Since then, many companies (including us) have changed the rules about mail-in rebates, limiting them to one per household per year, etc. to try and establish a bit more brand loyalty.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
I have a 20GB iPod that is dead, because my friend pushed me into the pool while he was drunk/high and I had not emptied my pockets. This still isn't a good deal.
I could buy a Dell DJ for $200, get the $100 rebate, and sell the DJ on eBay for about $170, so I'd net $70.
Once I subtract that from the cost of my new 20GB iPod, the iPod would be $300 (I get an education discount).
I could also just send the iPod to Apple and get everything fixed for $250 flat fee.
Now, which one do you think I'm going to pick?
The darn dell digital juteboxes as butt ugly!
If they could design it so it looks at least halfway decent, then it'd be a possiblity. It looks so darn cheap with the buttons and all. Am I the only one who thinks this way?!?!?
I fail to see how Apple has a monopoly in the mp3 player market - there are hundreds of other players out there, and any one of those manufacturers is free to go make their own deal with the RIAA.
This is shown by Napster, Rhapsody, buymusic.com, etc. The reason it might *look* like a monopoly is that these other mp3 players and services suck *and* blow.
I don't see Apple leveraging their marketshare to keep others from joining the fun - I believe Steve has said the equivalent of 'Bring it on'. This is not a case of MS keeping other OSes off of the desktop (BeOS and Toshiba), by threatening the OEMS with removal of price breaks....
I'll bite:
not trying to start a flame war here, but the iPod interface is head and shoulders above the rest
No, you FEEL that the iPod interface is head and shoulders above the rest. I've read in places that the Rio Karma UI is better, or equivalent, to the iPod.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
I'd never trade in my iPod. I have never owned any music player that is as good as the iPod. Sure, I paid a bloody fortune for it, but you get what you pay for. It seems that there was so much thought put into the design of it, and when I go to CompUSA or where ever and actually TRY these other products... ugh. I couldn't imagine ever owning one again!
(Then again, I say that about my Mac too, but it's true!)
Mike.
Mmmm......sacrelicious.
Actually this is a game they play. They know rebates can make a product really attractive when the priceing is at least resonable but not neccecarily great in the first place. They also know a large percentage of people will be too lazy or will improperly fill out the rebate requirements like forget to attach the UPC, miss the deadline or something. Then there is that group of people who will simply be too lazy to complete the rebate. I am sure studies have been done to determine the rate of retun on rebates of $X. So the plan is often make money on the margin from increased sales to customers who were inticed by the rebate you don't have to be profitable on cost - rebate offer you only need to be profitably on cost - (rebate * .z) where z is the rate of return on the rebates. So its not that when something has a $100 that the company could sell it for $100 less and still make money it might only be like $25 less and when you do the rebate you are getting something for less then cost and the manufacturer is makeing profit on the suckers who did not do the rebate for whatever reason. Also sometimes companies like Dell do offer a loss leader just to get some of their brand name stuff in your hands that you might like and perhaps then decide to buy some of their other more profitable products.
If you have a dead iPod, maybe you should question the quality of the device, Skipper.
Unless the iPod's death was homicide and not suicide. :)
Like, it got dropped or stepped on or accidentally abused in some other way.
Personally, I have one of the original 5GB iPods laying about that I never use (long since replaced with a newer model) and probably couldn't sell for even $100 at this point, so it's almost tempting. Almost.
Come out with a superior product, and people will automatically aware of the "plusses" they have to offer.
./ seems to harbor In any case, that doesn't mean the rest of the target market will come to the same conclusion.
Historically, this has not been true... VHS/Betamax is a classic example, but any product can fall victim to superior marketing by the competition. Dell is just taking a shot at the marketing angle. MS has done pretty well with similar tactics and the iPod is well entrenched from a marketing viewpoint. Heck, Linux has faced some tough roads due to the marketing of an inferior product.
If a product is well advertised, performs *well enough*, and is priced well, it tends to attract the bulk of the market. Perhaps you saw through the marketing or perhaps you are just playing the anti-Dell sentiments
Regardless of the quality of their device, Dell *must* market it to even have a chance against the iPod. And if they are able to market it well, it's entirely possible that they might displace the iPod. Remember, most people aren't automatically aware of anything...
I just took a quick look at eBay to confirm what I already knew: any working iPod can be sold for well over $99.
I suspect that Dell was really hoping that nobody would notice this. That way, they could sell the iPods that people sent in for (estimates suggest) $200, while only giving said people a $100 rebate. Though one hopes there's a special circle of Hell reserved for people who fleece the stupid in this manner. Preferably, the same circle where the stupid people go.
I disagree - I have a 5Gb iPod with a dead battery (replacement costs around $98). While I prefer the Apple interface, there are no other special features about the iPod that aren't duplicated in the Dell player. I don't buy music online (RIAA won't get my money, period) so I'm not losing anything there.
This sounds like a win-win situation for me.
To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
You should be able to get something between $80 and $150 for it, depending on its condition. Probably a better bet than using it as a trade in and then trying to sell the Dell (for which you might make a profit of $100 if you're able to find someone who'd be willing to buy it full price on eBay. There are people who are that stupid, I've seen them on eBay, but they're not that numerous.)
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I work in digital video, and companies out there do competitive upgrades all the time.
Avid for your old discreet machine/Apple workstation
Matrox wanted people's old editing cards for a nice $300 (30% off) discount on their new one.
This is a common practice. Although, I don't see this being a blockbuster promotion.
I, for one, will keep my ipod. I don't have any way to play my AAC files on a Dell DJ.
Plus the DJ's interface looks nasty compared to my pod.
That's not necessarily true. The Apple iPod has many advantages over any competing brand, such as its popularity and association with mp3 players, iTunes lock-in, being the first to market, etc. I can easily see the Dell DJ being a better product and not gaining market share.
This comment was thought up very late at night and does not necessarily reflect my views at a more reasonable hour.
As far as I can see the deal mentions nothing requiring the iPod to be functional. In fact it implies it does not need to work 100%: "Is your iPod battery starting to fade? Before you pay for a replacement battery for your same old device, consider upgrading to a brand new Dell 15GB1 DJ." Honestly I doubt they care about the condition, they might try to harvest the hard drive, but the rest is probably garbage.
-matt
$98? Try $30. Dell is just trying to make Apple look bad by using this program to advertise iPod problems, which have been grossly overstated. My 1G 10GB iPod still gives me 6+ hours per charge. I know at least 10 other people with older iPods and none of them have had battery problems.
That is for the Apple replacement. If you are mechanically inclined, or have a freind who is, if can cost you as little as $30. And then if you(or your friend) fries the bugger replaceing it, well the Dell deal is pretty good looking deal. Mac compatability could be an issue, but I'm sure there is some way of hooking it up though USB to the Mac. (This post was by no means an attack on your ability to open an iPod, nor your freinds abaility.)
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
I dunno man, your link only shows us that you're somewhat of an asshole.
"Buyer was an impatient and incompetent aoler."
I will still hold my money for when an MP3 player comes out that supports Linux as a desktop OS. Meaning, that it has a native application for linux.
I could care less for an MP3 player that I need to recompile my kernel, fetch some obscure CLI app, and basically treat it as a USB drive.
Signatures are supposed to be funny?
I know many people complain about this, but my 20GB 3rd gen iPod only gives me practically 6 or 7 hours of battery life (bought it in December of '03...use it quite a lot), which is extremely inconvenient, especially considering how much other players manage. Also, it doesn't have an FM tuner or the ability to play back OGG. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod, but if the 4th gen iPods can give me significantly more battery life, an FM tuner, and (optionally) more file formats, I would drop up to $500 on the highest end model, because 20GB is no longer enough for me.
Otherwise, I might go for an iRiver.
On another note, would having my name engraved on the back of my iPod affect its resale value? I couldn't think of a cool Latin phrase or something geeky enough, so I just put my name down in case it gets stolen at school or something.