Apple drops the Mac mini money-back guarantee

In a quick turnaround, Apple pulled the plug on the Mac Mini test-drive. Apple was offering customers the chance the try the Mac mini risk free for 30 days. If a customer decided that they didn't want to keep it, they could have returned the Mini within 30 days.

I would speculuate that Steve Jobs didn't approve the promotion prior to its initiation. Perhaps the promotion was so popular that Apple would have run out of Minis in a short period of time. Note that Apple would not have been able to sell any returned Mini's as new, Apple would have to sell them as refurbished systems. Perhaps this is something that Apple didn't want to do as it would eventully eat into profits and margains. Either way, it looks bad for Apple to offer such a promotion and then cancel it in very short order.

I thought that the Mac mini test drive promotion was an excellent way to open the door to more switchers. I encourage Apple to do whatever it takes to get more people to switch. The world must learn from Apple itself why a Mac and OS X make sense. Apple needs to design a strong marketing campaign to push sales of Macs and OS X. I think that a Mac advertisement is LONG overdue. I'd like to see Apple place advertisements on television, not just Mac based magazines or the occasional newspaper article. Apple should inform consumers that Macs and OS X are the best platform for one's Digital Lifestyle. If Apple markets the safety, stability, and security, of OS X given today's cyberthreats, Mac sales would likely increase and more people will "Switch To a Mac"

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