Seriously, pre-order it, get excited, wait on line. But anyone who pays 25x the retail price on the first day deserves perineal herpes.
And parents: wait on line all day to by crap for your kids? Get physically violent with other adults in order to purchase your children’s short-term affection? Why don’t you give your children what they probably deserve, and have sorely needed for years?
A beating with a fucking belt. Don’t hold back, I am sure that spoiled brat needs it.
Whoah… that lst sentence was a bit harsh. I agree with the general gist of your rant, but man… that last sentence was really in need of some anger management I rather think.
Heh, I thought I had high score when I found the one that went for $10,100. That guy got a deal!!!
Seriously Sweetie, have you ever heard of Cabbage Patch Dolls? Anyone over 30 can tell you about the deaths caused by shoppers stampeding through the doors when the shipments came in. This isn’t anything new. And the 360, in one or two ways can offer more entertainment.
Now pit the people that spend millions on a home. A $100k house keeps you as dry and warm as a mansion. But if you have the money, which do you choose? It’s just more proof that despite what some want to say, Americans have more money than they know what to do with. Things aren’t as bad as you may think.
By the way, it’s not my job to make these people give their money to more needy folks rather than spend it on electronics. It’s disgusting where the priorities are for those spending thousands on a system that retails for a few hundred, but if they have the means, have at it.
I remember the insane markups on the CPD’s in a world that never fathomed an e-bay business model. We got through it then, we’ll get through this.
Any parent that’s willing to go through what some are willing to go through to get gifts like these, probably has a horribly spoiled fucking brat. The kind that grow up to be fucking assholes that we all have to deal with in adult life! A good ass kicking might prevent that!
But seriously; did you look at the bid history on that auction. The last 3 bidders had 0 feedback, and 2 of them just joined in the last 48 hours. I’m wondering if the winner will actually pay, or if we can expect the seller to be here with a thread bitching about Ebayers who don’t pay.
On second reading, I think the entire thing was over the top. Consider the age of the average gamer is 30, the price is $300 - $400 and the end cost is well over $1000, I’m guessing these aren’t Christmas presents for a 12 year old. They’re for daddy.
What invalidates the OP is the blatant obliviousness of the real world in admonishing people to pre-order the system.
She should leave e-bay a second and head over to Fox or CNN. Or google. Or Microsoft’s page. Or Best Buy. Or Wal-Mart. Or, uh, we get the point.
Might prevent? Damn, it kept me in line. Seriously, kids are dumb, but they are not that dumb. I only had to be smacked once as a child to realize that rudeness and talking back are not the way a child speaks to an adult.
Hmm, and that was ony the highest one with any bids. There are a few with starting bids/buy it now prices at $50,000 or even $100,000. Optimism, anyone?
I think this phenomenon is more about impatience and bragging rights than it is about luxury. The situations would be a bit more comparable if someone purchased a $1,000,000 home knowing full well that the price would go down to $23,256 in a few weeks.
I was going to respond to the other post, but you seem to have updated your position. I am well aware that my OP is not logically founded, or even lucid for that matter. It was a tirade, nothing more.
I thought I made it clear that my anger was directed at both parents who buy these for their kids and the adults going to absurd lengths for themselves. (Sorry.)
Also, to clear up, I wasn’t reproving people for pre-ordering, I was trying to convey that pre-ordering is the way to go. I still say that, as far as I am concerned, anyone who pays hundreds of times more than the retail price for somehting on the first day of the items release is just a moron. Plain and simple.
In response to your first post:
Yes, I have heard of all of those things. Perhaps I spewed my venom a bit too harshly, but I was attempting to get a laugh or two as well.
People are absolutey free to spend their money stupidly, this has nothing to do with my bleeding heart. But I am also free to say that, beyond my opinion of them being assholes, they are just STUPID.
The house analogy: not quite the same. People who pay $1,000,000 for a house get a $1,000,000 house for their money. These people are getting a $300 system for their (now) $12,000. It’s stupidity, plain and simple. Secondly, I would pit someone for spending that many times the market value for a house, if their sole reason to do so was to have it today as opposed to a month from now.
Also, I wanted to specifically address this:
Money is nice, but does it really make things so great? Especially when we are spiritually and morally bankrupt? I wont derail my own thread with this, if you want to discuss it in more detail maybe I’ll make a thread in GD, where nice debates belong.
Also, I am new here. I though the “Pit” was a place for irrational as well as rational vitriol?
Indeed, think of it as a form of mental tennis where your opponent exchanges places with a limitless number of reserves, every single return shot. The sheer randomness can be thrilling! Or utterly dispiriting. Sometimes, just when you think you’ve hit a killer shot, on runs someone out of left field right up against the net who snuffs your shot with an assassin’s volley.
In that context, err on the side of the lob. At the very least, it buys you time.
I wasn’t really coming down on you for the OP. I was just trying to counter a point or two by mentioning that this is nothing new. I’ll whole-heartedly stand with you on pitting parents that spend thousands to get one for Timmy in often a blatant attempt to make up their shortcomings as parents. It’s the thread title that got me in the defensive mood I guess. I know it’s selfish, but I can’t shake it. I do feel that I’d appreciate the 360 more than a pre-teen.
{Old man mode} The 2600 was good enough for me at that age!{OMM}
I, too, noticed the price jump on e-bay. The $10,100 unit I saw today I was following by hitting the refresh button. The system went from ~$7000 to the selling price in just under 2 minutes.
Here’s a mini-pit included as it ties into the OP.
Dear e-bayer,
I understand you and a dozen of your partners have some of these systems. I understand you’re all making damn sure to “win” every auction at insane prices to justify the inflated price you will acutually get now that you’ve shown the others that those prices are justified.
Care to clarify? You know as well as I it’s a swipe at me, as are most other posts from you in anything involving me. Never do get anything substantive from you, though. Now go beat your children. (Gotta get back to well-reasoned here)
Hah! It just gets better. Proof that some are literally throwing money at something just for the status they have to have it. Even if they don’t understand what they’re paying for. I hope.
(Thanks to Fark for the link)
This is nuts. My very core of consumerist idealism is being shaken to the core. Off-topic, but I’m really pissed at Gates to the point that I’ll actually get serious about learning Linux for home use.
I have a mostly-broke friend that’s in college, and waited in line four hours to get one of those systems, with hopes that he could sell it for a hundred or so more than he paid for it and make a little bit of profit for the holidays. I don’t think he’s expecting anything unreasonable like $10k, he just needs some money.
I wonder how many people reselling these systems are in the same situation as him, no money, and they have the free time to wait around in line that some busy workaholic parents don’t.
Personally I wouldn’t keep an Xbox if you gave one to me. There aren’t any games for the previous system I wanted. We played a demo of the new one at the mall and I was unimpressed. But I’m more the Playstation/Nintendo type. =p
