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| Samsung would later produce this white styled C-book. |
The email reads,
"Since we announced the Chrome Notebook Pilot Program back in December, we’ve been humbled by the amount of interest that we’ve received from users like you. We’re excited about the brand-new Samsung Chromebook that goes on sale on June 15. Fortunately, we’ve managed to get our hands on a few machines a little earlier, and we’d like to make these available to you, our biggest enthusiasts. When you buy your Chromebook, you’ll also be getting a limited edition, custom-fit Chrome sleeve designed by Rickshaw so you can carry your new Chromebook in style.
Our good friends over at Gilt, the premier invitation-only shopping site, have agreed to put these Chromebooks up for sale -- but only for a very limited time."
Well, going through the link provided in the email lead me to Gilt.com, some sort of trendy "invite only" shopping site that was not so impressive and actually left me a little anxious that they were receiving my Google mail credentials. I bit and tried to log in to the site.
The site did not recognize me and stated that the page I was requesting was restricted by the Chrome Team.
I then went to twitter and read all of the other tweets of others (people like me that applied for the CR-48 pilot program and did not get it) and learned that the Chromebook was going on sale for $499.00. At that price I would have had to pass on it. I was thinking $299-$350 would have been a good price point for a browser only notebook.
Update: Minutes later I received a tweet from Gilt stating:
@vagabond9 We promise this was a real sale! There were technical difficulties for a minute but the sale is back up. Take a look!
I have to admit I really scrutinized the Chrome book email and Gilt website- it did look like a scam or phish at first. It seems it all went wrong for Gilt and Chrome today and that is a shame, for the Chromebook.
It sounds (from Gilt's tweet) as if they have it all straightened out now, but if twitter is any indication, it does not sound like there are a lot of (early) buyers at $499. We will have to see if the Chromebook can compete with the Xoom at a $100 more and other "hot" devices on the market in that price range.
Update 2
A day later I am receiving unsolicited emails from something called Jetsetter, the from field states "concierge" and more emails coming in from "Gilt Groupe". Wow, unbelievable. Google & and the Chrome Team should have warned users that by following the "Chromebook" presale link that you would be handing your email over to this website, who are now filling my gmail with a ton of unwanted crap. This is the first time I can recall that this sort of thing has happened with a Google affiliated website. I am pretty dissapointed with the whole deal.
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I agree about the pricing. I was excited to get the pre-sale invitation, but when I saw $499 that changed. Less than $350 and I would have bought immediately. My curiosity isn't such that I feel the need to spend $500. For that much more people would probably want to get an ipad.
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