Christmas shopping in the new economy

I have been reading for months now that the longer you wait, the more you will save for holiday shopping. In my opinion, this is true, but it is making things even worse with the media reporting it. As you see prices go down, the media telling you theres no bottom, youll wait even longer and longer to buy, causing these companies to lose billions. The newspapers are supposed to report the truth, but with thousands of pretty much the same article throwing out random statistics that are meaningless to the average consumer, and them all saying "buy later", its a wonder that people dont wait till the day before Christmas.

No matter what they do, its supposed to be the weakest season since at least 1969, and the only good news is that online sales are up for stores. Hopefully, sales will pick up as with 7 days till christmas, there isnt much longer to buy.

IBM goes Microsoft free

IBM is going to make its own computer, without any hardware, or even Microsoft hardware. For $60-$300 you can save 50% according to Jeff Smith (IBM VP). Canonical, Virtual Bridges and IBM make the main components of this system, and if you buy 1000, its $50 per computer. They are releasing it as an alternative when many companies are trying to cut costs, and it likely can work on a large group base, probably also in schools, and could create computers in places where there never were, maybe eventually an adaptation for poorer international communities, in Africa and abroad. The 3 companies are working on technical support together, and this can lead to new competition with Microsoft on a major scale.

Hopefully, we can see this apply to companies who need lower quantities, maybe added to libraries, Starbucks and all sorts of other places. The real questions I have are the cost of the server, cost of maintenance, how long it will take for maintenance, and similar questions, but I assume the answers to all those it will be cheaper and easier as time goes on and they are not sure themselves yet.