Jupiter: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Michael Gartenberg posts at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs about a good idea that was poorly executed by Microsoft at its recent PDC. Microsoft offered a limited amount of i-Mate-branded HTC Universals to developers attending the conference at the insanely low price of $149. An extra ten spot got you a bluetooth headset as well.

Problem is Microsoft announced this during a keynote and folks left early just to get their hands on one of the 1,000 or so devices available. Suffice it to say it soon sold out in less than an hour and there was a lot of ill-will among attendees. Gartenberg posits that it could have been handled a lot better if they made the price higher to attract developers and not folks who would flip it on eBay for a profit. He said:

At $149 for this audience, it was an impulse buy. Heck, I have one and would have bought one for $149 if I was eligible. The real lack of planning was not pricing this at $499. That way with a limited supply, only those truly interested (and not looking for a quick ebay flip) would buy, folks would have thought twice and not mobbed and pretty much everyone would have been happy. At that price, it's still a hefty discount, so good value for the folks interested. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. Microsoft did try and do a good thing here for the attendees, it was just some poor judgement on the market for this at the event and the correct pricing model.

Have to agree on this one. When I first heard about it, I was tempted to get down to L.A. to get my hands on one....