Apple cancels 30-day free Mac mini test drive promo

I thought this was a really good idea. It gets Macs in people's homes, and then, hopefully, they won't want to send them back!

So who's idea was this at Apple and how PO'd was Uncle Steve when he heard about it?

I doubt Steve could not know . . ..

Perhaps the accountants or lawyers got to it . . . .

(i.e. calculated some hidden costs, or found that "free trial" would include shipping . . . something like that.)

yeah they have even more power than ole stevie-boy, alas...

C'mon Apple, its stunts like these that keep you looking like a small time player, even when, for the moment, the iPod makes you look like you've finally entered the big league.

I am SURE the Steve knew about this plan. Nothing that significant would get out the door without him knowing about it. The question is, why'd they pull it back? Two guesses. First guess: Steve planned to make a bigger splash with it (e.g. advertising and an announcement from Steve himself) and the timing of the post is off (like the early posting of the specs for the G5 back when). Second guess: they underestimated demand, or overestimated supply. Maybe the response, right away, was so overwhelming, they were not prepared to meet the orders. Or, after making the plan, making the announcement, they discovered (or were told by Freescale) that chip supply was going to be limited. Apple has done a fairly decent job over the past few years of not making promises it could not keep (remember the TiBook delays, the PB delays and the G5 delays of a few years ago).

C'mon Apple, its stunts like these that keep you looking like a small time player, even when, for the moment, the iPod makes you look like you've finally entered the big league.

I am SURE the Steve knew about this plan. Nothing that significant would get out the door without him knowing about it. The question is, why'd they pull it back? Two guesses. First guess: Steve planned to make a bigger splash with it (e.g. advertising and an announcement from Steve himself) and the timing of the post is off (like the early posting of the specs for the G5 back when). Second guess: they underestimated demand, or overestimated supply. Maybe the response, right away, was so overwhelming, they were not prepared to meet the orders. Or, after making the plan, making the announcement, they discovered (or were told by Freescale) that chip supply was going to be limited. Apple has done a fairly decent job over the past few years of not making promises it could not keep (remember the TiBook delays, the PB delays and the G5 delays of a few years ago).

Lawyers? You're blaming this on lawyers?

Was your mother scared by a lawyer while pregnant with you?

Sheesh.

off topic, but yes, lawyers do suck. There are so many of them now, they invent reasons for people to need them.

And doctors. I spent 9 months in the ICU. Not all doctors are equal. There are some really stupid doctors (in the ICU of all places) and there are some really smart doctors. But it is wrong to think of one as better than another. Lucky to be alive because of the smart doctors and lucky to be alive inspite of the stupid doctors. Too bad they seem to rotate and alternate between shifts. My survival was yo yo depending on who was on shift that day and what order they came in on.

Not all doctors are good. Not all lawyers are good. But it is taboo to single them out. We must all put all of them on pedestals and worship them equally.

Yeah, and there are really stupid posts too. "lawyers do suck" then later: "It is taboo to single them all out"

Not taboo, just asinine. Stereotypes are mindless.

I think this came down to expected return costs. I'd buy a returned Mini at a discount in a heartbeat. I want one, but it just gets to be way too expensive when you add up the monitor and mini cost.