Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Blogs
Zune on Woot for $20 less, Woot offers rebate (and parody)
Gosh, I love Woot.com. Not only are they based in my original hometown (St. Louis, MO, also home of Fried Ravioli and the Bowling Hall of Fame), and not only do they have some great deals on their site (they sell just one item per day, usually at lower-than-normal prices), but they are insightful and funny people. Take, for example, today's item-- it's a Zune (that non-Apple mp3 player that you may have heard of). When Woot offered the Zune a little while ago, not only did they make headlines, but Apple fans really enjoyed it-- it took Microsoft's mp3 player a full 23 hours to completely sell out, even at the low price of $150.And now, as reader Jon points out, Woot is giving Apple fans another chuckle. Not only is today's Zune on sale for $130 ($20 less than before-- and it is sold out as of this writing), but their description text is a pitch-perfect parody of another mp3 seller who's had to announce falling prices on one of his products. And they've even offering a coupon back to their previous Zune customers-- as they say, "we want to convincingly pretend to do the right thing for our valued Zune customers."
It's Jobsian parody worthy of Fake Steve. Very nice job, Woot.
Thanks, Jon!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
garrick said 9:22PM on 9-21-2007
That was great, Mike, but buddy, you gotta come back to St. Louis for a visit. I'll take you down to The Hill and get you some Toasted Ravioli; I'm not sure where in town to get Fried Ravs.
We can go to Imo's for some thin crust (the square beyond compare...) and finish up at Ted Drewe's for a concrete.
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Geoff Pado said 10:01PM on 9-21-2007
garrick beat me to it, but yeah, a true St. Louisan would have known that it's *toasted* ravioli, not fried.
But seriously, what is so bad with STL that all the Mac geeks leave? I've known at least 4 Mac devs that lived in St. Louis and left, and now a major blogger, too? For shame.
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John Laur said 12:50PM on 9-24-2007
I thought woot was in Carrolton, TX (This town is a major warehouse distribution point)..At least that is what the sales tax I pay when I order, their own website, and everything else about them says. It's also the reason they can ship wine. (You can't ship alcohol from MO AFAIK.) I cannot find anything that establishes that more than a couple of folks telecommute from St. Louis.
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Greathouse said 10:46PM on 9-21-2007
Woot in STL? No sure where you got that...
Everything is located and from Carrollton, Texas. They even charge TX state sales tax.
wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woot.com
You can have your ravioli, I'm enjoying my Amighetti's.
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artifex said 10:52PM on 9-21-2007
Woot's wholesale arm and Giant Ken Jennings Head are in St. Louis. The rest is down here.
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Mike said 10:53PM on 9-21-2007
Oh man....I miss Ted Drewe's!!!
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Mike Schramm said 11:20PM on 9-21-2007
Oh man that's embarrassing. It is toasted, you guys are right. I've been living in Chicago for too long. Used to eat it and play bocce at Milo's down on the Hill all the time-- don't know if they're still there any more. Ted Drewe's is amazing also.
And Imos! I miss Cecil Whittaker's half price on Mondays, too. You guys are making me homesick.
And yeah, I know Woot has a big center in TX, but they've got a office somewhere in STL, just another reason I like them so much.
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Bob Lee said 1:17AM on 9-22-2007
You're from the Lou? Me, too! Woot even refers to St. Louis some times. Their Mokey Prize wine tasting video takes place in a South City bar, and the city they refer to as "Bella Villa" in their radar detector schpeel is Belleville.
-Bob http://crazybob.org/
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Ian Scott said 2:28AM on 9-22-2007
I hate to break it to you all, but even though it's called toasted ravioli, it really is fried.
And yep, Woot definitely has some St. Louis presence.
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law said 4:28AM on 9-22-2007
hell yes, st. louis mac users unite!
well, sort of. i mean, i've lived in st. louis for almost ten years now, but i'll actually be moving back to tokyo next april. thank goodness. i mean, i love this town, don't get me wrong. and i love toasted ravioli. but seriously, i gotta get back to my roots.
furthermore, woot is just an amazing site. incredibly well done. kudos
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max Walker said 4:51AM on 9-22-2007
Woot have probably only sold 10 Zunes. This much free advertising for $200 has been a bargin - especially as most owners are too shamefaced to collect.
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Alexandre Strube said 6:37AM on 9-22-2007
Interesting notice that woot links to a site selling fake iphones... http://www.dhgate.com/promotiontemplateshow.do?pageTempletID=1&catalogID=1303&Areacode=bestselling5
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THOR said 10:36AM on 9-22-2007
"Toasted" ravioli, not fried.
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Kyle said 10:14AM on 9-22-2007
Yeah... as others have pointed out, Woot is mostly in Carrolton, TX (just north of Dallas). In a strange twist, I know exactly where it's located on International Pkwy, just south of the Baptodome (known better as Prestonwood Church).
I grew up in St. Louis, admire the people but am depressed by most of the town, and am now going to university in Dallas. So far, the only place I've really liked is Iowa. Weird. :P
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unreal mccoy said 10:29PM on 9-23-2007
Woot is definitely HQ'd in Carrollton. I've seen their new home office and warehouse. Its in the former HQ for the retail chain Gadzooks.
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