The Lite Side

Apple Announces Unexpected Partnerships

- 2004.01.19

CUPERTINO- Apple Computer announced to the surprise of the computer industry that it plans to partner with a number of other companies to supply products in deals similar to that announced recently between the Company and Hewlett-Packard. Among these new cooperative ventures are:

Apple and Campbell's, maker of the world-famous soup, announced today that consumers will get a free iTunes code with every can of Campbell's soup. Purchasers will need to eat their entire bowl of soup to see the code at the bottom spelled out in Alphabet Soup letters.

Apple and car parts maker CarQuest will begin marketing an iPod upgrade kit that will accompany their Octaphonic 2 MegaWatt QuakeShaker stereo system. A built-in dock includes a vibration dampener, which is needed to isolate the iPod's hard drive from the earth-shattering vibration that can, incidentally, initiate nuclear fusion in soda cups in your SUV's cup-holder.

Apple and online bookseller Amazon.com have announced a deal with authors Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Michael Chrichton, Dave Barry, and John Grisham to provide exclusive audio book content playable only on Apple iPods and available only through Amazon.com. The authors issued a joint press release stating that while they didn't expect to make much money on the deal, they were doing it to keep the maximum "cool factor" they could with their grandchildren.

Apple and the Fox television network have announced that through a promotion this spring, the audio track from its show The Simple Life will be playable only through Apple iPods. The transmission will appear to be silent to all other users, and in appreciation cable ratings for Fox and sales of iPods are both expected to skyrocket, although it is unclear if the majority of iPod sales will be to fans of the show or their housemates.

Apple announced it would include a free iMac with the sale of every new top of the line iPodDeluxe (the model built around a RAID pair of 200 GB 3.5" drives), effectively partnering with itself to increase sales of its desktop computer system. "We think that the success of the iPod will ultimately translate into greater market share for the iMac, and what better way to do it than to directly force purchasers of an iPod to take home an iMac as well," said iCEO Steve Jobs. The new price of the iPod combo, clumsily named the combo Mac with iPodDeluxe, is expected to debut at $1,895 US.

Stay tuned for other partnership announcements as we unearth them.

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