Mat sent me a link to an article at Business Week Online, by Alex Salkever, which outlines a letter to Steve Jobs outlining his six-step plan for Apple to increase its success.
I think the author outlines a couple of great ideas here. The first three ideas have been said before, but the fourth and fifth are great ideas, and I hope Apple wakes up and does something like this in the future.
Alex says the following:
"Offer a $200 bounty on a PC exchanged for a new iMac or iBook. Buyers get the $200 discount only if they bring a PC that's two years old or less. And they must have a valid receipt.
…
Think of the news coverage such an offer might generate. You can't pay for that kind of buzz."
Excellent point. Although… $200 is not very much for "trading-in" a recent PC. If some user has spent US$1500 on their PC two years ago, they'll probably be disinclined to trade it in for US$200 for a new Mac, even if it is a new Mac. A higher figure, depending on the PC and what it was being traded in for, would be a bit better, although this might take a bigger bite out of Apple's cash.
His fifth suggestion is offering a "try and buy" system where people can take the machine home for a couple of days to test it out. This would be a great idea, as it lets people experience the Mac hardware and software… The logistics of it could be an issue (preventing theft, etc), but it is a very good idea, nevertheless.
Let's hope someone at Apple is listening…
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