| by Joe Leo, Columnist | November 24, 2006 |
FEATURE: (11.24.06)-- What are consumers looking for / hoping to get this holiday season from the realm of Mac? A brand new iMac, a new iPod (or another one), maybe a MacBook to replace their old iBook? Like Apple's tagline for their one-day sale today, "Ready. Set. Shop."
The holiday shopping rush officially begins today as retailers all across the nation from different sectors--clothing, toys, electronics, etc.--try to cash in on the infamous "After Thanksgiving Day Sale," by offering customers deep discounts on products. Apple has joined in on the fray in recent years since the opening of their retail stores.
And thankfully, you don't have to wait in line before the store opens to cash in on the big sale.
Apple is offering certain items today at discounted prices, both from the Mac-maker and while others from outside the company, and these items are being offered at the retail store and online. So if you go to the store today, you'll most likely face a line to buy your product, but if you want to avoid that, just turn on your Mac and head online.
The funny thing in all of this is in order to cash in on these sales, you're really cashing out by spending your money. Sometimes, you end up buying things you don't need, and then your cash flow really starts to drain. "Joy to the Wallet" (Apple's other tagline for today) then sort of becomes an oxymoron.
(Now who's the oxy-... ?).
The only person whose wallet is getting any joy is the retailer, whether it's Apple or someone else because they're the ones cashing in. But, we can all agree that any money saved means more left in your pocket, or wallet, and when you're in the market for a new Mac, a $101 savings is a lot. (You can get a "free" iPod with that money!).
So, what are people looking for, a new notebook or desktop? What's the Apple of everyone's "i" (eye) this holiday season? Are people buying for others or for themselves? And just how well did Apple do today in terms of sales, and does this one-day only sale tactic really bring in the bucks?
We're out to get the 411 in order to give you a 101 on the topic/subject as we head over to our local Apple Store later this evening to go "shopping" for answers.
"Ready, Set, Stop?" (7:00p PST)-- the Apple Store online seems to be down for the count, most likely due to high traffic (unconfirmed) or for some other reason. We first noticed it at 4:51p and thought that the URL was typed in wrong. Refreshing the page a minute later gave us the infamous "We'll Be Back Soon" graphic and is still currently "offline."
"Ready, Set, Shop 'til You Drop?" (12:55a PST, 11.25.06)-- we were going to note that the link to the Apple Store online which was originally provided above would no longer direct you to the "Ready. Set. Shop." page since the one-day sale was to expire at midnight local time (we're not sure if that meant for each time zone, or if people on the East Coast were able to cash in on savings until 3:00a EST). Apparently, it's still online!**
UPDATE: 3:45a PST (11.25.06)-- **the Apple Store online no longer reflects their one-day sale and the link provided in the article is officially expired and now takes you to a holiday gift guide page (as of this writing). [Note that we do not actually know when the sale page expired in between the 12:55a and 3:45a updates]
Note: this story is part one of a two-part story... part two can be found by clicking HERE. When this story was written, it was intended to be completed the same day, but plans changed. (This page was updated on Monday, 11/27. The original unedited page can be found at this LINK
).
SIDE STORY: Apple Store Online Goes Offline / One-Day Sale Extended
