I am sure by now everyone has seen the dude over at
MakeMeSwitch whoring for an iMac.
Not to be outdone, I have a novel (and potentially more rewarding) proposal. Buy me a Macbook Pro.
The twist? Anyone who contributes $5 or more is eligible to win my current Powerbook when I reach the Macbook Pro total.
If you contribute more than $5, for every multiple of 5 you will get an additional entry. (To further clarify, if you donate $23 dollars, you will get 4 entries)
About my current powerbook:
- 12" 1.33 Ghz
- 512mb RAM (internal upgrade)
- 60 gb HD
- OS X "Tiger"
Full specs (beyond deviations noted) can be found
here.
Information about the Macbook Pro can be found at
Apples website.
The total for the 2.0Ghz version (and in turn what I am trying to raise), with tax is
$2,648.94
A little about me
My name is Christian, and I am a 26 year old developer working for a small startup company in Johnstown, PA. I suppose this would be the part where I tell my sob story...
The problem is I don't have a "sob story".
Here are the facts:
- I make a decent living that provides me with an OK apartment (which I share with a cow-orker) and food on my table.
- I don't have a car, but I am saving to buy one.
- Given my current bills (from past debt and the like) it is simply out of the question to attempt to buy a Macbook Pro (or any other big ticket "extra") at this time.
- I have applied for Apple credit several times (I would guess about once every 6-8 months) but as of last night I am still not eligible.
- I don't have any credit cards, I have never had any credit cards, and excluding "pre-approved" scams, can't get a credit card.
Why I want the Macbook Pro
There are several reasons.
It almost goes without saying, I want a faster computer. I do game, and as anyone who has played UT2004 on a 1.33Ghz 12" Powerbook can attest, it's not the greatest thing out there.
My company has provided me with a laptop computer for work purposes, but frankly it's a POS (someone watching the bottom line rather than paying attention to developer needs). I often work from home or "telecommute". This means hauling around my laptop, my large (clunky, slow, and crash prone) work laptop, as well as all the documentation, cords, mice and the like that come with it.
If I had a Macbook Pro I could make use of Boot Camp to switch between Windows XP for work (and gaming) and OS X (for everything else). The benefit would be tremendous: I would need to carry only one machine. I could have a fast and powerful machine for work (and play).
How I will determine the "winner"
As I mentioned, I am a software developer. My cow-orkers Joe and Rob have agreed to co-author (with myself) a tool for choosing a random eligible entrant. In the interest of keeping this open and fair, prior to drawing a winner we will release the source code to the tool for community review. Barring any (reasonable) complaints, we will draw five names. The first name will be the winner, and each subsequent name will be a fallback in the event that the winner cannot be contacted.
What happens if you never raise enough money?
This is a very real possibility. Should I not raise enough money in a reasonable time frame, there are a few options:
Option #1
Refund the money. Since this is done using paypal, there would be a lot of money lost in fees, so while possibly, it's not really the best option.
Option #2
Break crap. I have an SGI Indigo2 max impact that I would be more than happy to smash/burn/blow up etc, film and post. There is even a 19" SGI monitor that would probably look really cool being thrown off this one bridge I know....
And then..
Give away other crap. Since I don't want to take peoples money and not hold up my end of the deal, if I raise money, but not enough for the Macbook Pro, I will offer up another item (relative in value to the money raised) to be raffled off. Like an iPod, or something.
Option #2 sounds like the best choice, IMHO.
And just who decides when this has gone on long enough?Me, of course. If donations are just crawling along (or not coming in at all) I will make an announcement (and notify all those eligible for the drawing via email) that I will be ending it and what I will be doing to handle the raffle.
