quote: People trampled, beaten with a folding chair. A woman urinating on herself. The police called, then themselves calling for backup. All to get a bargain.
Sad..
Yet hilarious also
[ 17 August 2005: Message edited by: ReeferMadness ]
From: Way out there | Registered: Jun 2002
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deBeauxOs
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10099
posted 17 August 2005 12:40 PM
quote:from the article:The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the 4-year-old computers to county residents for $50. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299.
There you go. Yes it is sad, because the people who stampeded the sale were probably desperate to grab these bargains to resell them for a profit. America, land of opportunity.
From: missing in action | Registered: Aug 2005
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
posted 17 August 2005 01:23 PM
I don't know. I'm more visualizing folks like I read about in Nickel and Dimed, who can barely make ends meet, trying to get a computer for their kids on their slave wages.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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deBeauxOs
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10099
posted 17 August 2005 01:33 PM
quote:Originally posted by Michelle: I don't know. I'm more visualizing folks like I read about in Nickel and Dimed, who can barely make ends meet, trying to get a computer for their kids on their slave wages.
If it seems that I was judgemental about the level of neediness involved, I apologize. Regardless of whether someone wants to purchase a bargain laptop for their child or to resell it to supplement their meager income, it is still appalling that such Charles Dickensian conditions exist.
From: missing in action | Registered: Aug 2005
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Aristotleded24
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9327
posted 17 August 2005 01:47 PM
I remember seeing a commercial once where there were 2 people running into a store after the same thing, one person reached it and grabbed it first, and then shoved the other guy hard and did an immature victory dance. Or there's the chocolate bar commercial where a woman gives a bar to a man in an office to hold, then she wants it back. He refuses to hand it back, so they start fighting over it, and the fight looks to outside observers like they're having sex on the desk. It's very disgusting how degrading so many of these commercials are.
From: Winnipeg | Registered: May 2005
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
posted 17 August 2005 01:48 PM
Oh no, I understand where you're coming from. I wasn't criticizing, just saying that wasn't the first impression I got from reading the article.
But you may be right about that too, the idea that maybe they were desperate for money and wanted to flip them.
Gotta wonder just how much those computers would be worth on resale anyhow. Can't be too much if they're 4 years old. Certainly not the "new" price quoted in the article.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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random
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10056
posted 20 August 2005 08:51 PM
Does anyone here disagree that they should have been auctioned off (as in highest bidders win)?
Especially seeing as the proceeds would be going back into the school system. Or do you all like your queueing/lottery system that much better?
posted 20 August 2005 09:22 PM
Notebook computers tend to hold their value much more than desktops...I don't know Macs very well but my guess would be that they'd be worth $300-400 Cdn...so $50 U.S. would have been a pretty good deal depending on what kind of shape they were in.
But if they were selling them that cheap, they probably would have been better off just giving them away to needy students and then setup some kind of application process that would be orderly.
By the sounds of it they're going to be paying out a whole lot more than that in legal fees after this episode. I'm sure there will be lawsuits.
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 17 August 2005 11:08 AM
