Who knew you had to wait a whole year to Christmas?

"We have one chance to go out and go for the holiday season," he said to me. "If we don't take that chance, we wait a whole other year."

Who knew you had to wait a whole year to Christmas?
a) Santa Claus
b) Steve Jobs
c) Hallmark Cards
d) Your 5 year old


Scroll down for answer





How Apple's iPhone Ate the New iPods
STEVEN LEVY


After the show, Jobs insisted that the move didn't reflect lagging sales—total figures are creeping up toward a million. (Apple hopes to sell 10 million by the end of 2008.) Instead, he was making a timely gamble. A lot of people are going to be giving phones as holiday presents, and Apple's research, he says, shows that they want to choose an iPhone but believe it costs too much. Bringing the price down means making the sale. "We have one chance to go out and go for the holiday season," he said to me. "If we don't take that chance, we wait a whole other year. We're willing to make less money to get more iPhones out there." What about people who just bought one for $599? "I feel for them," he said. "But, you know, we're not harming anybody."

Plenty of aggrieved iPhone buyers felt differently. And Jobs's in box was so stuffed with their complaints that 24 hours later he decided he owed them more than sympathy. While emphasizing that lower prices just reflect "life in the technology lane," he apologized to disappointed customers and offered all previous iPhone buyers a $100 Apple credit. (I find it ironic that the same Apple fans who in June were lofting their newly acquired iPhones in the air like they'd won the Stanley Cup are now complaining that they paid too much.)