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Black Friday

I've tried so far to keep tech out of my blog. Despite all of my previous effort, I decided to break with tradition for this entry.

Recently, I bought a MacBook Air which is slick, stylish, lightweight, surprisingly fast and definitely on the pricey side. Actually since it matters for this entry, I have to be a little more precise. I bought the laptop mid November. My old one is almost utterly useless since it gets hot as hell when you 'sleep' deprive it for more than 10 min.
As I tend to do, I payed up at once and forgot about the expense almost just as quick.

Now, for the next part I have to explain something that not everyone may be aware of. Thanksgiving is a much bigger holiday here in North America than it was in Europe. There is turkey dinner and pumpkin carving and costumes and other traditions that Europeans just don't do, even though at least Germany has the holiday ("Erntedankfest") as well. The date when this happens is a different one for the US (usually mid to end November) and for Canada (usually mid October).
Since this happens so close to Christmas in the US, the day after Thanksgiving is named Black Friday. And this day marks the beginning of the season of commerce driven crazes. Black Friday is actually called black because all the retailers' accounts go from red (i.e. negative numbers or loss) to black (i.e. positive numbers or profit).
Since Canada has a different date for Thanksgiving I was surprised that some of the bigger shops actually offer Black Friday sales (corresponding with the US holiday).

And here is where I left of earlier. Since I had only recently bought my laptop and Apple had the Black Friday sale on (even here in Canada), I managed to get roughly 115$ (after tax) back. That was a well invested 30min break from work. At this point I would like to thanks to two colleagues who planted the idea.
I don't know if any of you are actually wow'ed by this, but I have never had the experience that I could buy something and then almost 2 weeks after ask for a promotion to be applied.

Comments

  1. SebastianDecember 1, 2011 at 6:09 AM

    Actually:
    Not Thanksgiving, but Halloween is really getting its foot in the door in Germany. At least in the Saarland where I live. The kids realize it's much easier (and perhaps more fun) to grab a costume (or maybe only a mask) and run from door to door screaming "Süßes oder Saures" than handicrafting a nice lantern and singing at each door at "St. Martins Holiday" which is around the same time like I used to do, when I was a kid.
    By the way: They really only scream "Süßes oder Saures" which once had been "Süßes sonst gibts Saures" according to the American "Trick or Treat". I don't actually think they got the "Trick" part right and the kids just assume "Saures" means like, well sour drops or anything... at least I've never seen anybody or any house getting "Tricked".

    PS: Congrats on your bargain Jan. Are you brave enough to tell us how much you paid?

    ReplyDelete
  2. SebastianDecember 1, 2011 at 6:21 AM

    PPS: Klappt ja mal wieder super mit dem anmelden über Google account... Unknown ist Sebastian - weiß ja nicht wieviele Saarländer du so kennst! Jetzt aber.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jan-F. SchorrDecember 1, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    Hey Basti, you're absolutely right. I noticed the trend of Halloween getting stronger in Germany even before I left. This development certainly has a bigger impact than Thanksgiving. In any case, 'Erntedankfest' really does not compare to the North American version and was probably a misleading comparison hence.
    Anywho, I got my MacBook for the regular price. I bought the three year protection as well and after tax the damage was almost 2.3k CAN$. That is obviously before the promotion was applied.

    ReplyDelete

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