[timmy t]

Maybe RIM should start pushing the idea the people who are going to give their kids Android phone or iPhones should instead give them gift certificates so that they can instead buy what they really want - the new BB10 phones in January or February.
This would allow them to take some of the Christmas gift market without actually doing anything specific. They wouldn't have to issue any BlackBerry specific gift cards or mention any pricing, just encourage people to let their gift recipients make the choice themselves at a BestBuy or whereever.


Of course, the second poll option should be: No, go back to bed

[pantlesspenguin]

Go back to bed . Kids want to unwrap THINGS for Christmas, not glorified IOUs. They want to stick their SIM in and get going with a new device before the wrapping paper has been cleared up. Plus, if the kids are asking for the device, it'll be what they really want. I can see parents bringing in sticky notes that their kids have very specifically scribbled the device names on them.

Then again, I might be the wrong person to ask. I'm asking my parents for money to help cover my asthma medication for Christmas.

[GingerSnapsBack]

Kids are about what's cool or at least they were when I was in school. The cool phones are iPhones and Androids. BB needs to overcome the stigma attached to it before kids will want to carry one. At least here, most kids have iPhones or Androids.

Example

[bambinoitaliano]

I wish RIM like Apple issue ITune gift cards. I know they are less BlackBerry device owner by comparison. I think it's a good idea to sell them. I know enough people with Playbook that I want to give them gift cards this Christmas to purchase apps and games for their devices.

[mikeo007]

I can't think of many kids who would be happy unwrapping an "I.O.U." On Cristmas morning.

[madman0141]

Other than being fantastically funny to see the kids faces on xmas morning opening an I.O.U. a gift from mom and dad it wouldn't work out. Would be funny as h3ll though. Good call OP.

[timmy t]

There are many current BB users who may prefer to wait to get their phone updated if it means being able to keep using their preferred brand of phone.
Instead of them switching because their parents can't buy BB10 phones yet, they can just get a promise of getting one in a month or three.

Would you rather have an iPhone on Christmas morning or the promise of a BB10 phone paid for by your parents/wife/husband/significatn other in Jan/Feb?

[pantlesspenguin]

There are many current BB users who may prefer to wait to get their phone updated if it means being able to keep using their preferred brand of phone.
Instead of them switching because their parents can't buy BB10 phones yet, they can just get a promise of getting one in a month or three.

Would you rather have an iPhone on Christmas morning or the promise of a BB10 phone paid for by your parents/wife/husband/significatn other in Jan/Feb?

You're thinking like an adult though. Your premise was parents getting their kids a gift cert for a new phone down the line. Kids, even high schoolers, don't have that much of a sense of delayed gratification. If someone gave ME a gift cert to T-Mobile saying "This is for a BB10 device when they hit" you bet I'd hang onto it and not use it to, say, pay my bill or buy accessories for my current devices. Then I'd buy the device and thank the giver for my gift. But that's because I'm all growed up.

[GingerSnapsBack]

There are many current BB users who may prefer to wait to get their phone updated if it means being able to keep using their preferred brand of phone.
Instead of them switching because their parents can't buy BB10 phones yet, they can just get a promise of getting one in a month or three.

Would you rather have an iPhone on Christmas morning or the promise of a BB10 phone paid for by your parents/wife/husband/significatn other in Jan/Feb?

If I'm a teenager, give me the iPhone now. If it's a gift, someone else is gonna pay for it, right? So why wait at least three or so months for something when you can have an iPhone or an Android now. To a kid, three months is an eternity and it'll only get worse when school resumes and the child's classmates are showing off their shiny new Androids or iPhones and Junior has to show off his IOU.

Anyone remember these little gems from last year?

[Roo Zilla]

Would you rather have an iPhone on Christmas morning or the promise of a BB10 phone paid for by your parents/wife/husband/significatn other in Jan/Feb?

Giving your SO an IOU for Christmas is the fast track to sleeping on the couch for a month. I can see it now....

"So Julie, what did Roo get you for Christmas...."
"He gave me an IOU for a Blackberry in a couple of months."
"Oh....... that's nice....."
"Yah, he's sleeping on the couch til I get that."

[timmy t]

Giving your SO an IOU for Christmas is the fast track to sleeping on the couch for a month. I can see it now....

"So Julie, what did Roo get you for Christmas...."
"He gave me an IOU for a Blackberry in a couple of months."
"Oh....... that's nice....."
"Yah, he's sleeping on the couch til I get that."

She'd be the one sleeping on the couch.

[Laura Knotek]