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Sigh. Remember the days when suing Apple used to be fun? Then people like Queens resident, Dongmei Li, had to go and take all of the joy out it. I mean, I'm all for baking in the excitement of a well-timed frivolous lawsuit, but suing a company for instating price cuts on a phone, even after they issued a written apology and a $100 refund? I mean, the least you could do is include a crazy handwritten note or references to few Tanzanian tribes. At least the foliks suing Google still have the fire.

Instead, Li is claiming, "the price reduction injured early purchasers like herself because they cannot resell the product for the same profit as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut," according to the AP.

If Li wins the suit, it will set an interesting legal precedent, which will no doubt result in gadget manufacturers never lowering the prices on any, ever, for fear of the windfall from the resulting reduction in resale value--a result that would also occur when new technology is introduced.

So really, if all of the electronics manufacturers could just stop reducing prices and introducing new products, the world would surely be a better place. Right?



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Posted by: Paul
October 2, 2007 10:28 AM

Just toss her and her iphone in the east river. She will do more good to the enviroment and the greater cause that way. She is just wasting court time and tax dollars with her pathetic plea to avoid working


Posted by: Lee Woodard
October 2, 2007 1:16 PM

This "me as victim" stuff has reached the point of total idiocy and this is one more example. Deal with it lady! I'm an "early adopter" myself and accept the consequences - e.g., bugs, design flaws, price reductions, improved hardware, etc. If you didn't want to be so "cool" as to have one of the first iPhones... suck it up and deal!!


Posted by: Razz
October 2, 2007 2:04 PM

Oh wait a minute, so in some way she is implying that anytime a price drops on anything, the consumer has the right to take the company to court. With that logic, I could be a millionaire by now. All the clothes, hardware, software, electronic stuff that I have ever bought have dropped their price 10 times over, so I am liable to who knows how much money.
This is ridicules. Who told her to stand in line for hours and buy the phone at that price? That's because she wanted to show off to here friends, that she could afford a ridiculously overpriced phone. She shouldn't get a dime. In fact if I was the owner of Apple I would counter sue her for frivolous lawsuit. This is so stupid. It shouldn't even be in the news.


Posted by: Heather
October 2, 2007 5:22 PM

Wow, she must have suffered some serious emotional damage over this to warrant $1 million in damages. If she's really in this to get her money back, that's all she should get -- what she paid for the phone.
And she should take an important lesson from this that most people with half a brain already know: Companies often drop prices when the demand for their product declines. This is basic marketing strategy. She should have thought that through before sleeping outside the Apple store and dropping an absurd amount of money on a cell phone that she'll be sick of in two years. That ain't Apple's fault.


Posted by: Jason
October 3, 2007 12:36 PM

What is with these lazy people?? I'm all for fighting corporate conglomerates that abuse their power. But in this instance there is absolutely nothing wrong with what Apple has done.
They have the right to adjust prices to suit the market. If she was one of the however many thousands of people the HAD to have the first iPhone among their friends to show off and was willing to pay the exhorbitant amount that was her decision. Anybody with 1 eye and half a brain can realize that it's just a scheme to swindle a payoff.
If I was the judge I would make HER pay Apple for damages and grief over utter nonsense. That would hopefully help discourage this kind of abuse and time wastage on the justice system.


Posted by: Helen
October 3, 2007 4:52 PM

Greedy woman wanted to be the first to own one? Well, she paid a premium....they are within their rights to do that.


Posted by: Mark Miller
October 3, 2007 5:07 PM

One of the things I really don't understand about the whole thing is this:"the price reduction injured early purchasers like herself because they cannot resell the product for the same profit as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut,"
Well, do you buy something to use it, or to resell it and make a few bucks?
This is one greedy person, and obviously the same goes for her attorney,


Posted by: Mike
October 3, 2007 5:15 PM

My $3000 laptop that I bought 7 years ago is now worth $25. I'm suing... And don't get me started on the $10,000 10mb refrigerator size hard drive from the 80s!!!


Posted by: limo-Tony
October 3, 2007 5:28 PM

Early adopter's pay a premium.
Get over it.
I've just bought windows XP Pro because its now affordable.


Posted by: Whizzard
October 3, 2007 6:26 PM

I've got to be dreaming... more like a nightmare. Is there no limit to the insanity. I'm curious, who is the lawyer that told this poor Neanderthal that her case makes any sense whatsoever? No sure if he/she is dumb enough to believe it themselves, or just laughing while collecting legal fees...

Lady, hope you get this one way or the other, there is something called "depreciation". Just as a brand new car loses value value as it leaves the showroom, similarly you phone loses value as you powered it on and spit your shit on it. New technology today, makes yesterdays new technology old - get with the program!


Posted by: Millie Vanilli
October 3, 2007 6:29 PM

This is what I call "Pissed Off". Either that or she has free access to an attorney.

In a way I hope she wins the lawsuit. Even if she doesn't, she can still recoup $100 and frame Steve Jobs' apology and put it on her wall. It would make a fine conversation piece. :-)


Posted by: Anup
October 3, 2007 6:48 PM

- Suing car company for selling cars below MSRP --
- Suing airline company for selling "deals" -
- Suing Hotels that are dropping rates for the same room
- Suing any company that has ever dropped prices

Look on this ladies face - Priceless -

Man, does she have time on her hands, seemd like she did not even use her phone


Posted by: Marian Zapasnik
October 3, 2007 7:09 PM

Why Court took the case, in the first place. Secondly, why all this making wavs??
She became a popular person and every body helping her to achieve it. me too I should not write this.


Posted by: Louie Bergsagel
October 3, 2007 9:46 PM

I think we should sue New York for allowing this creature to live in the state. Obviously she is mentally unbalanced and a danger to the rest of the citizens.

What if she kills someone with her iPhone? Is Apple responsible? Is New York responsible?

I think we need to pass a law where a person cannot buy anything unless they are mentally sound.

Maybe also make it illegal to smile if you are unbalanced. That way we could tell who was crazy just by looking at all the grumpy faces.


Posted by: Jeffrey Wrobel
October 3, 2007 10:39 PM

"Everybody's a victim, it seems it's going that way
Everybody's a victim, we're becoming like the U.S.A."

The Proclaimers, a Scottish band wrote that and that is just how the world sees us, after the genocidal, imperialistic uber-power that eclipses everything since The Chimp seized power.

I'm ashamed to be an American today. To be lumped in with the like of this litigious opportunist and others like her is unavoidable as long as we as a society tolerate this behavior. Smoking marijuana is illegal just because the government says so, yet all the reasons to reform tort law and make filing frivolous lawsuits a punishable offense have been rebuffed. This is not "freedom." The freedom TO do something is not as important as the freedom FROM other things, such as religion, religion masquerading as government, oppression, and the fear of being sued for doing business the way you see fit, as long as it doesn't break the law. The freedom from government intrusion into our private lives is a joke, and, as such, lesser offenses against freedom become acceptable because a more egregious offense is tolerated.

All of it is the most un-American mess I've had the displeasure of being witness to. We are all victims and diseased, not responsible for our mistakes, failures, blaming everything on something or someone else. It is truly pathetic. Say a prayer and maybe God will hear it and make it go a away.
Sincerely,
Jeff Wrobel


Posted by: Wolfgaze
October 4, 2007 1:04 AM

Well, If these Companies would put thier new Tech. at a reasonable price to begin with they wouldn't have to do price cuts and then people wouldn't feel cheated by the outragious behavior of getting all the money you can from the richer people then offering the left overs to those less fortunate because that is the only way to sqeeze the last buck out of the product offered before they come out with the next phaze of tech. Personally I don't buy things when they hit the stores a lesson I learned with my Playstation 2 wait till they do the price cut then buy it. I say, maybe this lawsuit will keep all these new technologies from being over priced to begin with?


Posted by: anthony
October 4, 2007 1:30 AM

if paying too much for a phone is all we have to worry about then we're still doing good. I still remember that there are people starving out there that worry about where their next meal comes from.
I'm no volunteer, in fact I bought the iPhone. About a week after its release... Sure I'm pissed about the price cut, but here's something else... I called at&t and asked about the rebate. And they dont cover the first month's buyers. So I'm screwed... But I'm not about to go sue over it. I have much better things to do with my time than fart around asking a company that is just like every other electronics company to pay me money for dropping prices


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