| no i'm irked 'slightly' that i'll end up buying something i'll want to turn over in the fall... (i'm assuming with iTunes 5)
by the way, there's a huge difference between a rebate (about 8 weeks processing) and 'giving away' free and clear... makes a world of difference in accounting inventory and cash flow on the books until the new models arrive... rebates, coupons, upc mailers are done for 2 simple reasons... 1.participation/redemption is spotty at best and 2. the time value of money.
They're not giving you the ipod at purchase, they're holding your money for 2 months and the mail-in hoop that 30% of the people will inadvertently miss for whatever reason...
I'm happy they're offering it, but I also see the maneuver to keep the stock price from falling due to excess inventory showing up on wall street's radar...
trust me they'll make a tidy profit on all ends... actually a very shrewd move to push through a slow patch. |