Retail

Considering the ephemeral nature of technological gadgets it seems incredible to me that anyone would spend 10, 50 or even up to 100 times more than the price of an iPhone to sheath theirs, but there must be demand for such things even in this mean economy, because the following 3 products are still on the market.

1. For the price of a house in many parts, the status crazy can blow $108,880 on the Golden Delicious from Germany’s GnG. This case consists of a 1mm subshell inlaid with sturdy carbon fiber. The outer frame is coated in 140 grams of 18k gold and features a regal logo sporting, count them, 400 diamonds. Of course, like most status symbols this one is customizable. By all means, have the logo read whatever you like and choose the number of diamonds in it.

2. For those in the market for gaudy status, who may not quite have the budget for the Golden Delicious, fear not. You too can have gold and diamonds studding your iPhone. For the bargain price of $20,000 Case-Mate will… more...

You know, with all the requisite surety the internet can provide, that WalMart is going to start selling the iPhone. What remains unknown is if AT&T is behind the move, if the move will hurt the perception of the iPhone’s exclusivity or if anyone will actually care.

Well, that people care is a known, it’s news after all. The other questions are known unknowns. Of course there are also unknown unknowns but since we don’t know what those are we can skip them. What we need are some known knowns, those are much easier to work with. If only there was case where Apple started selling some high profile product at WalMart. That would be awesome because you could compare what happened when WalMart began selling some high profile Apple.

So what high profile, consumer electronic like product did Apple start selling at WalMart after initial success without WalMart? Well, it isn’t going to be the AppleTV, that’s for sure. How about the iPod. The picture is… more...

You remember the rumor (which made into this week’s NewsWeek): Wal Mart will start selling the iPhone for $99 starting on December 28. Engadget got the scoop and it isn’t $99 but a two buck discount from the prices you expect ($197 instead of $199 for 8 GBs, $297 instead of $299 for 16GB).

Which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has ever shopped at Wal Mart for an Apple iPod. Wal Mart may love low prices but they’re not crazy. In case you’re one of the few who hasn’t shopped Wal Mart for iPods here is the current, uh, discounts compared to the Apple Store:
ipod shuffle:45.00 (-4.00)
iPod nano: 138.54 (-10.46)
iPod Classic: 247.88 (-1.12)
iPod Touch: 227.88 (-1.12)

Not exactly eye popping discounts. On the bright side, more iPods at more places, right?