Geek speak- pre-sale means nothing!
We geeks have our own vocabulary that is confusing at times and downright meaningless at others. Take one term that I’m starting to see more and more on the web- pre-sale. This term is often used to get geeks all worked up by pointing out that a lust-worthy device may actually even be sold soon. It has most recently been used in by the leaked information that T-Mobile will start offering the first Google Android phone for "pre-sale in September". Take a look at that phrase for a moment. It means absolutely nothing. T-Mobile may start taking orders for the phone in September but offering it for "pre-sale"? The phone doesn’t exist today but even if it did it technically is already a "pre-sale" device. Taken at it’s base value the term pre-sale simply means anything that has not sold yet. You could say that everything that exists is a "pre-sale" item until it sells and then it is simply a "sold" item. Pre-sale. Anything to work us geeks up.
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i would say thats more marketing speak then geek speak…
Agreed. The HTC Shift, for example, was listed on a lot of sites for ‘pre-sale’ a year before it was available!
Maybe they just mean pre-orders? Maybe they expect to sell out so they’re taking “pre-sale” reservations early? I don’t know the specifics, but I’m not going to get worked up about leaked information.
Now hold on a second. I spent two years writing copy for a pre-order catalog, selling stuff that didn’t exist yet, so I take some offense at the accusation that “pre-sale” means absolutely nothing. T-Mobile deserves praise for wanting to be the first provider to embrace and promote an open source phone operating system. Their enthusiasm merely mirrors that of a market hungry for innovation. If the other providers would be so brave, the industry would be better for it. Did I mention I used to write copy for a pre-order catalog, basically selling stuff that didn’t exist yet?
It exists if we believe in it…..and that’s what matters.
Cue credits.
Don’t politicians give the pre-sale sales pitch?
They ask for votes on stuff they are not yet in a position to give us but promise to do so somewhere down the line. Of course, they rarely fulfill the pre-orders!
Considering that the alleged “pre-sale” is supposedly limited to EXISTING T-Mobile customers, I would think pre-sale definitely means something!
Good thing T-Mobile launched month-to-month contracts…
So let me get this straight … if someone says something is “pre-love,” does that mean *before* or *after* (as in pre-record = previously recorded)?
Thanks, marketeers, for continuing to ruin a language. May I pre-stab you?
Well then, and you think woman-speak is confusing?
Although it is kind of a nonsensical term when looked at too closely, I’ve always interpreted the term “pre-sale” to mean a period in which something is offered to specific groups before it goes on sale to the general public. An obvious, non-tech example is concert tickets, which are often made available to fan clubs or other special groups prior to their official on-sale date.
The rumors about the T-Mobile deal actually do look to fit this definition as it suggests that the phone will be offered to existing customers (either as a pre-order or even physically) before it becomes available to everyone else.