I was planning to buy a laptop from circuit city for $2000 and now I can go through microsoft and get $60 cash back. $60 is a free money to me. Thanks Microsoft for helping consumers. In days when companies like Apple dictate buy phone from us, service from our partner, songs from us and accessories from us and keep telling that don't give ur dollars to any one else, Microsoft has decided to help consumers by giving them free money.

This is actually a very interesting business play. The generic question is what does a challenger have to do against a market incumbent that is winning with the free business model. In a podcast with Russ Roberts (EconTalk), Wired editor Chris Anderson discussed lots of ways that challengers can take the free model up against pay-for incumbents. This Microsoft gambit seems to be trying one of the tricks. They don't have to get everybody, in fact, they probably don't want everybody right away. They just need to get a large enough audience that they can change the expectation of the game, so entrenched players (Google) have to follow suit. And then they regain first mover advantage.

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Anonymous wrote:
I was planning to buy a laptop from circuit city for $2000 and now I can go through microsoft and get $60 cash back. $60 is a free money to me. Thanks Microsoft for helping consumers. In days when companies like Apple dictate buy phone from us, service from our partner, songs from us and accessories from us and keep telling that don't give ur dollars to any one else, Microsoft has decided to help consumers by giving them free money.

Ummm.... Yeah. Right. If you think this is about helping consumers, you are quite mistaken. This has to do with gaining market share. The fact that it might benefit a consumer in some way is incidental.

It is mildly entertaining that Microsoft is paying customers to use its product, but the tone of this article is way to harsh and fanboy-ish for something that is actually a very interesting and cutting edge idea! I am dissapointed.

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computerbandgeek wrote:
It is mildly entertaining that Microsoft is paying customers to use its product, but the tone of this article is way to harsh and fanboy-ish for something that is actually a very interesting and cutting edge idea! I am dissapointed.

...Which is why you can point that out in the forum.
Love them or hate them, this is an interesting play for MS. Time will tell. I think that "Guest" is a little disillusioned. It isn't free money. Nothing, ever, is free. MS is giving a credit to his account online. He cannot get physical cash in his pocket. So, the credits in the form of dollars, stays online and associated with MS. And now, MS has hooks into your purchasing habits etc. Not sure if I want to tell them what I purchase etc.

BUT, I do think it is an interesting business plan. Time will tell.