Price drops

I just read a story that flabbergasts me.

The Nook just dropped in price. It was 259 bucks, now it is down to 199 bucks, so many customers who purchased it say…a month ago are pissed and believe they are owed a refund.

This happened with the original iPhone, and many, many, many, other electronic devices including PC's and other peripherals.

What flabbergasts me about this attitude is that…it is the very NATURE of technology. Technology gets better, thus the older technology drops in price, eventually being superseded entirely by more advanced technology.

If you want to buy technology that never drops in price, you will be hard pressed to find it. As of this writing both the Kindle and Nook have recently dropped in price. And, I'll go out on a limb and say that within the next say…6 months, there will be an announcement of a feature upgrade for each of these devices. Why? It is the cycle of these things…

You release a product, give it some time, drop the price some to generate more sales mid-product cycle, release an update at the same time as another price drop and the cycle repeats.

Here is the approach I take to this stuff, and recommend to people:

Figure out if the hardware you are about to purchase is worth the price they are asking. If it is, buy it. If not….don't. This is a personal thing. The kindle isn't worth a thing to me, as I still like to read real books. Call me a technophile if you must, but I like and understand the book interface, and I don't need 2500 books in my pocket wherever I go…I only read one at a time.

At any rate, Kindle at 150 bucks (or whatever it is right now) = not worth it. iPhone 4 at 200 bucks = worth it. For me. Your mileage may vary.

And if they drop the iPhone price to 99 bucks in a few months…it doesn't matter. It was worth the price to me when I bought it. I certainly don't expect a refund. It sure doesn't work the other way right? If Apple raised the price, I wouldn't expect a bill in the mail:

"Dear Valued Apple Customer,
Due to the overwhelming volume of iPhone 4 orders, we've decided to raise the price by 10 bucks in order to make massive amounts of cash and fill a swimming pool with hundred dollar bills and just burn it. I mean, how cool would that be? So enclosed you will find a bill for 10 dollars. If you don't pay this bill, we will shut your phone off and email the nudie pics that you took of your girlfriend that one time to your mom and everybody at your work (she is very hot by the way).

Hugs and Kisses,
Steve Jobs"