“The iPod is everywhere these days, even at a Microsoft developer conference. The exhibit hall at this week’s VSLive, a conference for Visual Studio programmers, is filled with an eclectic bunch, from developer-training companies to hardware makers showing off their latest wares. Even database rival Oracle was there to say that choosing .Net doesn’t mean that you have to use Microsoft’s database software, too,” Ina Fried writes for CNET News.
“One thing that many of the exhibitors had in common was the raffle prize item they used to lure people to their booths: Apple Computer’s iPod. ‘Win an iPod,’ boasts a sign at the Kinitos booth. Ditto at PreEmptive Solutions. Business Objects tried to one-up the others by offering a first prize of an iPod plus $10 worth of iTunes,” Fried writes. “Although the iPod has little connection to Microsoft’s Visual Studio developer tools, there is no question it is hot, hot, hot. And despite the sign at the Kinitos booth, the company actually had to give away an Xbox instead. ‘We intended on getting an iPod,’ said Andrew Radin, Kinitos’ director of customer service. But company staff found the product out of stock when they went to get one.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Kinitos guy: “Boss, I can’t find an iPod anywhere, not even an HP one!” Kinitos boss: “Well, go get an Xbox, then. I see plenty of them all over. But, leave the iPod sign up, we do still want people to visit the booth.” Kintos guy: “Good thinking, boss!” Some of the higher-ups at Microsoft are probably having nightmares featuring 10-foot tall iPods chasing them over cliffs. The rest of the Softies are already falling asleep each night listening to their iPods.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Microsoft management frustrated as 80 percent of MS workers with music players have Apple iPods – February 02, 2005
Ahh, the irony.
The use of the word “monopolizes” in the headline is pure genius.
The X-Box is worth less than most iPods, except the Shuffle models. So the winner of that ruffle got ripped off.
I don’t know. Maybe they should have had an iPod before they offered to give one away.
Good point effwerd. Its an MS developer problem. MaybeMS should have known what they could add to Longhorn before they announced the “new and revolutionary” features. None of which will actually be IN longhorn, when it possibly ships next year.
Its like Apple calling 10.3.3 Tiger, LMFAO
So what would this be called? Vapor-prize?
Vapor-prize? i would called it the “longhorn syndrome”: tendency to promise a lot but coming up short on delivery.
Now, what’s Paul Thurott going to say about this one?
After all he lambasted the account of iPod’s on the Microsoft campus as poor jounalism/reporting.
News at 10!
Legaly that is a typical case of “bait and switch” and they could be proscecuted.
Hey, I use my iPods to fall asleep. It works like a charm -no more sleepless nights for me. Does it work like that for others on this board? Just curious.
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