Starting today, you can buy The Internet

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Microsoft's Internet goes on sale

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Newsboys) -- Retailers across the country stayed open through the wee hours of Tuesday morning to sell the long-awaited Microsoft Internet On A Disk, even though most knew customers wouldn't be lining up out the door for the midnight launch of Microsoft Corp.'s latest breakthrough offering.

At a CompUSA store in Raleigh, only about a dozen people waited around to be among the first to get The Internet On A Disk.

The store reopened at 10 p.m., offering customers coffee and discounts on items including printers and recordable DVDs, and planned to stay open until at least 2 a.m.

The low turnout wasn't surprising, especially after Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said the company wasn't pushing the midnight sales events.

However, he did mutter something about pushing world domination.

CompUSA manager Damon Didier said the midnight sales met his expectations, especially given the late hour with temperatures in the upper 20s.

"I think we'll see sales pick up throughout the rest of the week, especially on Friday and over the weekend when people have more time to pop the disk in and watch the world open up in front of their eyes," Didier said.

Employees decorated the store with balloons and set up bright new displays featuring computers equipped with The Internet On A Disk.

There was a five-second countdown over the public-address system to let customers know they could buy the disk.