I think giving away gadgets helps the economy. I don't know how, but it certainly makes the winner feel good about themselves.

please pick me.

Please let me win!

Consider me entered.

I would like to win, please.

That's a very interesting thought. However, I really think the retailers want their ad's out early. It drives sales, period. More and more people will pre-plan their shopping experience and head to a store with the best deals.

I do hope you are correct though. Economy sucks and I know the retailers cannot afford losses, but customer counts do matter. Even if someone doesn't get the deal they want, they will buy something because it's on sale. It's a very scientific process for them. Consumer trends REALLY exist. My wife is in retail and Average Dollar Sale (ADS) and Units Per Transaction (UPT) are important indicator's of sales. It's not just the bottom line.

I seriously thought I missed something in this ad. I looked at it and found NOTHING worth jumping in line for. My wife and I do this as a tradition and make a whole day of it. It's fun for us to watch the crazies (okay so maybe we're crazy too) run around. Two years ago, some guy tried to jump the line as we were going in and I think the people behind us rolled him!!!

And I've never gotten into a fight over anything. As a matter of fact, the Target we went to last year gave out free hot chocolate while we waited in line. They were nice.

Any idea if DirecTv is getting this?

I actually had to unplug my receiver to get it to restart.

goodbye. i'm interested to see what direction Microsoft goes now!