Microsoft Bribes People to Stand in Line for Surface Tablets

Microsoft Bribes People to Stand in Line for Surface Tablets

Microsoft is taking no chances in ensuring that people will be standing in line on Friday for their new Surface tablets and Windows 8, they’re offering a $100 “bribe” to the first 100 people who are lined up at Microsoft stores Friday morning.

The Seattle Times:

The company is offering a $100 credit toward a full year of Xbox Music Pass to the first 100 people lined up at Microsoft stores when they open Friday morning. To receive the gift they also have to make a purchase.

Launch day lines have long been a phenomenon with everything from the iPhone to Tickle Me Elmo. Heck, the Times reports there’s a guy in New York that’s already “in line” for the new Nintendo Wii U, which doesn’t go on sale until November 18th. Microsoft must really want that launch day buzz.

The Xbox Music Pass is an unlimited streaming service that debuted this week on the Xbox, and in Windows 8. The service is built around a catalog containing around 18 million tracks of music in the U.S., and around 30 million globally.

The service is seen as a competitor to services such as Rhapsody, Spotify, and others. Bloomberg reported today that Apple may launch its own streaming service in early 2013.