Apple computer financing

Back in the late 1980s when I was still a reasonably young man, I bought my first Mac with a bank loan. Keep in mind that back then a Mae cost about the same as a downpayment on house. A pretty bad house in a dangerous neighbourhood, but a house nonetheless. Of course, these days an iMac costs about the same as a boozy, fun-filled weekend in the Hamptons.

Problem is, US$1,299 is an awkward price somewhere between 'put it on my Visa,' and 'where can I find a co-signer?' The kind of people who generally want an iMac (students, parents, oldsters) generally don't have much money kicking around, but they also probably have credit with only slight, if any, blemishes.

Down here, Apple is pushing its financing plan for the iMac pretty hard. It's hard to watch anything good on TV without having Jeff Goldblum tell you that if you gave up three pizzas a month (I prefer to think of it as two decent bottles of cabernet), you could own an iMac.

Here's how it works in the U.S.: all the consumer knows is that he or she can go to a participating Apple reseller or log on to the Apple Store and, if their credit passes, they get an iMac for US$29.99 a month with no payment due for 120 days.

In reality, they are paying 67 monthly payments of US$29.74 (balance plus 14.89 per cent interest).

They are charged US$35.44 interest on the "free" 120 days and US$53.14 for the honour of having their application approved. Taxes (which will be a bigger deal up in Canada) and shipping are not included.

My first thought was that the US$29.99 figure must have come directly from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, because who ever heard of a 67-month loan? The second thing was that this is a very good idea. Especially this close to Christmas. Buy one for Junior on Dec. 15 and the first bill comes in around St. Patrick's Day and it's less than a round of Guinness.

It's good for Apple - the big car manufacturers make tons of money off their financial arms - and it's good for resellers because it adds to the iMac hype and because it convinces those few who thought they could never afford a decent computer that now they can. Hope and pray this comes to Canada very soon. Of course it will probably be US$39.99 (is that what three pizzas cost up there?).

But why just the iMac? What about the hotshot that thinks he or she needs a G3 PowerBook? I'm sure that US$79.99 a month is a hell of a lot easier to swallow than US$3499. Extend it to software. Monitors. Printers. Everything.

It's just another sign that the new, aggressive Apple is no longer afraid to be innovative.

Or opportunistic.

Jerry Langton lives in New York City. He is an expatriate Canadian, and a veteran Mac user. We welcome your feedback. Please send your comments and questions to cdnedit@plesman.com or write to the author directly at buckley@webspan.net.