Woot has posted an opening letter to customers regarding recent price cuts for Microsoft’s Zune. Selected excerpts:
To all Woot customers:
I have received more than three emails from Zune buyers who are upset about Woot dropping the price of the Zune by $20 one month after it went on sale the first time. After reading every one of these emails, or at least scanning their subject lines, I have some observations and conclusions.
First, I need to make a better effort to hide my email address.
Second, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 30GB Zune from $149.99 to $129.99. This confidence is based on more than the holy doctrine of corporate infallibility… It benefits both Woot and every Zune user (but especially Woot) to drag as many new victims as possible into the Zune “dungeon”. We strongly believe that misery loves company this holiday season.
Third, being in technology for 1+ years, give or take a year, I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always some idiot changing lanes without signaling, and the potholes never seem to get fixed. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product. I mean, why should you? Truth is, you don’t really need any of this junk. We’re afraid you’ll catch on to that fact and overpaid frauds like me will have to go back into fields like telemarketing and burrito construction. Fortunately, most of you continue to languish in a consumerist stupor, wallets spread wide for us to plunder as we please.
Third-and-a-half, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of the Zune, and even though the technology road is, like, this total Deathrace 2000-type scene, we need to do a better job taking care of our early Zune customers, at least until we find a private security firm we can afford. For some reason, our early customers trusted us.
Therefore, we have decided to offer every Woot customer who purchased a Zune from us on August 22, 2007 (or in the last Woot-Off) a $10 Woot credit towards any Woot order of $40 or more, before shipping.
We want to convincingly pretend to do the right thing for our valued Zune customers. We’d apologize for disappointing some of you, but we long ago lost the capacity for sincere remorse. We will continue to do our best to trick you into having high expectations of Woot.
Larry Stalin
Woot CYA Officer
Source: http://www.woot.com/
[UPDATE: 5:58pm EDT: Removed “Take” after further reflection based on feedback from readers.]
@ chris
I may be wrong, but the Zune can’t be used as a hard drive with out a hack
“Peter, that list showing the Zune outselling an iPod…is based on an iPod APPLE DOESN’T SELL ANYMORE.”
Exactly! That’s why it’s weird. Why isn’t the iPod Classic on Amazon’s list of hard drive-based MP3 players (where it would probably be #1 and #2, considering that the full MP3 player list shows the two iPod Classics at #4 and #9).
But that’s the only list where I can spot a Zune at #3, so I assume it’s the list that zune stuff was refering to. But it’s obvious that Amazon screwed up if the iPod Classic isn’t on that list.
Of course, that said, he’d still be right. Assuming that the Classic take positions #1 and #2, the White Zune (currently in #1) would be in position #3. Unless there’s something else in between…
…Yup. The Silver 160GB iPod Classic is at #12. So the White Zune would take position #4. Sorry zune stuff…
…Oops! Missed another one (the new nanos look like iPod Classics!).
The Silver iPod 80GB is at #6.
So Amazon’s hard disk list should look like:
1. iPod Classic 80GB (Black)
2. iPod Classic 80GB (Silver)
3. iPod Classic 160GB (Black)
4. iPod Classic 160GB (Silver)
5. Zune 30GB Digital Media Player (White)
6. iPod 30GB (Black)
7. Zune 30GB Digital Media Player (Black)
8. iPod 80GB (White)
9. iPod 30GB (Black)
10. Creative Zen Vision W 30 GB (Black)
Pushes the top selling Zune down to #5 of hard-disk-based players…
Somewhere, my system had truncated this to:
Woot posts ‘Emergency Open Letter’ after dropping Microsoft Zune…
Prophetic?
LOL that letter is funny stuff. Unfortunately some people have no sense of humor on this message board.
We really need “As The Apple Turns” back. Mac fans are becoming too serious about the whole thing with all this success going to our heads.