03-21-2008, 09:09 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,392
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MTI
Well, that didn't last long . . .
Sony drops its $49 “no crapware” fee
[i]The blogosphere is buzzing today with contempt for Sony, which just outlined its Fresh Start program and immediately ran into a buzzsaw of criticism for its plan to charge $49.99 for the privilege of getting a crapware-free PC.
The echo chamber at Techmeme is working overtime, led by Engadget: “Sony has the nerve to offer a $50 “Fresh Start” option, which “scrubs” the machine clean before shipping it your way.” My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a typical reaction:
To get a craplet-free Vaio TZ2000 I’d have to pay Sony an extra $50 just to remove all the junk software that it installed on the system that I don’t want in the first place?
This morning, I had a previously scheduled interview with Sony’s Mike Abary, Senior Vice President of the VAIO division. In what must be the fastest turnaround in corporate history, Abary told me that the $49.99 charge is dead. “We didn’t intend that to happen,” he said late this morning, blaming the snafu on an internal miscommunication. “We’re removing the $49 charge,” he told me. Beginning this spring and rolling out to all products through the end of the year, there will be no charge to order a custom-configured Sony VAIO computer, and you will be able to opt out of every trialware application, without exceptions.
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however the price will increase by $49.99
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