According to the article, “Apple Introduces Album Discount” by Nick Wingfield, Apple Inc its giving discount to all of its customers who want purchase the remaining songs from which they’ve already bought single songs on iTunes. The purpose of this new strategy is to motivate people to buy complete albums instead of single songs, since it would be more expensive to buy the complete album as single songs than buying the complete album all at once. One of the reasons Apple is giving discount for customers who want to buy the complete album is because music sales for Apple declined when customers buy single songs from iTunes. It is less expensive to buy single songs from iTunes than to buy an album directly from Apple.
I think that this new offer that Apple is giving to customers might work for some, but might not work for others. Personally, I like more the idea of buying single songs even if its more expensive than buying a complete album. Sometimes I don’t like all the songs from an album, therefore the idea to buy single songs sounds better than buying the complete album. In the other hand, it is a good idea for people who like to buy the complete album because it would save them some money.
If you bought single songs from an album, Apple is giving you 180 days from the day you purchased single songs to buy the reaming or complete album. If you made a purchase before yesterday, you have 90 days to purchase the remaining songs from the album that you’ve already bought songs, so hurry before you lose your chance. (Nick Wingfield)
Source:
Wingfield, N. (2007) Apple Introduces Album Discount. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117517512567653137.html?mod=hps_us_at_glance_mm
Saturday, March 31, 2007
What Rate Are You Paying?
Suppose that your credit card has an APR of 18%, is this the real rate that you are paying? The answer is NO and I will explain why. Credit cards require monthly payments, therefore the 18% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is not the real interest rate that you are paying on your credit card, the real interest that you are paying is higher than the APR. The EAR (Effective Annual Rate) is called the real interest rate. To give you an idea of what I’m saying I will give an example.
Assume that a credit card has an interest rate of 18 percent APR, since monthly payments are required, the real interest that you are paying is 19.56 percent. In order to get 19.56 percent you have to do the following. Since a credit card requires monthly payments, you make 12 payments per year because there are 12 months in a year; therefore you have to divide 18 percent by 12 months to get the monthly percentage. If you divide 18 percent by 12 months you should get .015 or 1.5 percent. What does 1.5 percent means? 1.5 percent means the percentage you are paying on your credit each moth. So, in order to know what is the real rate that you are paying in your credit card you have to do the following: [1 + (.18/12)^12] –1 this should give you 19.56 percent (the real rate that you are paying on your credit card).
To conclude, whenever you receive a credit card offer with a certain APR, don’t assume that is the real rate that you will be paying. Before accepting the offer, find out what is the real rate (EAR) using the following formula: [1 + (r/m)^m] – 1, where “r” stands for rate, and “m” stands for periods in a year. For example, if the percentage is quarterly, then m is equal to 4, if the percentage is semi-annually m is equal to 2 and so on.
Assume that a credit card has an interest rate of 18 percent APR, since monthly payments are required, the real interest that you are paying is 19.56 percent. In order to get 19.56 percent you have to do the following. Since a credit card requires monthly payments, you make 12 payments per year because there are 12 months in a year; therefore you have to divide 18 percent by 12 months to get the monthly percentage. If you divide 18 percent by 12 months you should get .015 or 1.5 percent. What does 1.5 percent means? 1.5 percent means the percentage you are paying on your credit each moth. So, in order to know what is the real rate that you are paying in your credit card you have to do the following: [1 + (.18/12)^12] –1 this should give you 19.56 percent (the real rate that you are paying on your credit card).
To conclude, whenever you receive a credit card offer with a certain APR, don’t assume that is the real rate that you will be paying. Before accepting the offer, find out what is the real rate (EAR) using the following formula: [1 + (r/m)^m] – 1, where “r” stands for rate, and “m” stands for periods in a year. For example, if the percentage is quarterly, then m is equal to 4, if the percentage is semi-annually m is equal to 2 and so on.
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