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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.
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
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*
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?
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....
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 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.
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!