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Bye-Bye Best Buy? (2/18/99)
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Meanwhile, for those of you now fired up about Tangerine, this is just a reminder that you can't buy a Tangerine iMac at Best Buy. In fact, it's becoming increasingly the case that you can't buy an iMac there at all. Reports from all over the country indicate that iMacs are quietly disappearing from Best Buy stores, and in their place is nary an Apple sign to be seen. In addition, MacNN notes that the iMac has also disappeared from Best Buy's web site. Could this be the end of Apple's second ill-fated alliance with the consumer-oriented superstore?
Well, nothing official's been announced, but if the fat lady hasn't yet sung, it sure looks to us like she's warming up with breathing exercises. First, we saw Best Buy's first weekend selling iMacs get sabotaged by CompUSA's excellent bundle deals. Then there were constant reports of terrible salesmanship and product display by Best Buy, who just didn't seem to "get" the Macintosh way of doing things. Since iMacs weren't flying off the shelves as quickly as they wanted, Best Buy then lowered their iMac price to a panicked $999 in December, before being talked down off the ledge and raising it back to the typical $1299 area. And now Best Buy has yet to get any fruit-flavored iMacs in stock, and many stores don't even have Bondi Blue ones any more. This could well be the end.
If you prefer a more optimistic view, it's worth noting that both companies are reportedly trying to work out their differences. Apple was trying to get Best Buy back in the iMac business by requiring mandatory training of all sales personnel who would be selling iMacs. Unfortunately, Best Buy's management didn't take too kindly to that suggestion, so who knows where the relationship will go from here? Personally, we doubt that Best Buy will remain on board much longer, and that's a problem, because the best-selling consumer computer really should be available from the biggest seller of computers to consumers. While we hope that both parties can patch things up, we're definitely not putting any money on it...
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 2/18/99 episode: February 18, 1999: Reports of the keynote's disaster factor appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Meanwhile, Tangerine still plays the red-headed stepchild of the iMac flavor clan, and Best Buy seems to be making for the door...
Other scenes from that episode: 1350: Morbid Fascination (2/18/99) Are you the type of person who slows down to gaze at car wrecks, in the morbid hope of seeing twisted metal and general mayhem? Hey, who isn't? That's why, despite all the lurid reports of the phenomenal disaster known as the Macworld Expo Tokyo 1999 keynote, we would just love to have gotten to see it ourselves... 1351: Tangerine's A-Peel (2/18/99) Alas, poor Tangerine. We've seen it, Horatio; a color of infinite scorn, of most excellent orangeosity. Yup, there's little question left that Tangerine is by far the least popular iMac color when it comes to sales; people just generally don't buy things that are orange, if they're also available in blue, green, purple, or red...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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