Re: Forget Mice... are you ready for subscription COMPUTERS?

On 04/08/2024 17:13, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 8/4/2024 8:25 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Sat, 3 Aug 2024 17:24:30 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>

On 8/3/2024 10:20 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>
So, this idea has a little more meat to it. Computer manufacturer NZXT
(they make boutique gaming PCs) wants to make PCs with a subscription
(or perhaps rental) fee. Prices range from roughly $50 to $170USD per
month (plus initial shipping costs), depending on what sort of
computer you get. NZXT also promises "seamless upgrades" every two
years and 24/7 support
>
Read about it here: https://nzxt.com/collection/flex

>

Most notably, for what you're paying, you aren't really getting that
good of a machine. Their highest-end option would cost you over $4000
USD, and all you get is an i7-13700 CPU, a GeForce 4070, and 32GB of
RAM. That's not a /bad/ computer at all (it's pretty close to what I'm
using right now) but it's /waaaaaay/ over-priced for what you get.

>

Uh, wait a minute.  You have to _buy_ the computer and THEN pay a
monthly fee to keep it?

>

Why would I go for that when I can just buy the computer for less?

>
No. There is an initial shipping fee (I believe $50USD) followed by a
monthly rental (subscription) fee. In two years, you get a 'free'
upgrade to a better PC.
>
However, at $169 USD per month over 24 months (2 years) that comes to
$4,056. Which is incredibly overpriced for what you're receiving.
>
Of course, you /could/ 'cancel any time', so I guess if all you want
to do is play around with a moderately high-end gaming PC for a month
or two, the cost ($400) might be worth it. Except in the end you have
to return the computer and you're left with nothing. So maybe not.
>
I just don't see the Venn diagram of "people who can't afford a $2000
for a new gaming PC but somehow can still afford to spend $170/month"
being all that large.
>
Although maybe NZXT is betting on 'people who are stupid with their
money, only look at monthly costs and don't calculate how much it will
cost over the course of a year'. There's a lot of those sort around.
>

Enough that stores lower prices by one cent ($5.99 instead of $6.00) because it has been found that doing so DOES increase sales.
 

I've heard that but also it was to prevent cashiers just pocketing the money as they were likely to have to give change.
Saying that, in the UK that seems to have gone more out of fashion with just normal prices and even the advent of strange ones like say £3.64*. Maybe customers have just caught onto it as whether something is £1 or 99p makes no difference to me at least consciously.
*That's possibly because of levels of inflation that haven't been seen for many years meaning that products have to be quite careful in how they are priced or it could be a sneaky trick to make you think the price has been reduced as much as possible.