Why Is Amazon Trying To Sell You Leopard Now?

Most of us were a bit disappointed when Apple delayed Mac OS X Leopard until October.

Not to worry. Amazon says it’s OK to buy Leopard now. What a deal. Pay the retail price and still wait until November.

After watching the more detailed look of Leopard on Apple‘s keynote QuickTime video, I’m more convinced than ever that Apple is on a roll, everything is going well.

Except that long wait until October, when Leopard is scheduled to be released. Now I have to put off buying my next Mac because I want Leopard to be running on the latest and greatest.

Amazon to the rescue. Guess what? It’s OK to order Leopard for delivery in October. No discount. $129. That’s $129 for your choice of the Home version, or the Business version, or the Enterprise version, or the Ultimate version.

Since Apple doesn’t plan to ship Leopard until October, why is Amazon trying to sell us a copy today? It’s math. It’s money. It’s another way to lock in potential customers who will feel better by placing their orders now.

Feel better? Will you feel better for four months knowing that Amazon has your order and you won’t need to line up at the nearest Apple Store to get a copy of OS X Leopard? I’m not so sure.

There’s an assumption that the earlier you order, the earlier your copy of Leopard will be ready to ship, the earlier it will arrive, and the less you’ll have to wait—for FedEx, UPS, or USPS, or whomever.

Oh, and there would not be a need to head to the Apple Store to get Leopard. After all, who wants to go to the Apple Store? It’s crowded now with people buying iPods and accessories. It’ll be worse by the time the iPhone’s sales get into full swing.

Those stores might not even have enough Leopard stock on hand to sell to everyone who shows up. It could happen. It hasn’t yet. Ever. But it could.

So far, every time I’ve headed to the Apple Store for a new release, they’ve had ample quantities on hand. Jaguar. Panther. Tiger. No waiting. Well, not much, anyway.

It’s even better to buy at the Apple stores these days because the check out counter guy wanders through the store checking people out so they don’t need to wait in line. That works for me.

Obviously, Amazon is just taking your order, taking your credit card number, and won’t charge you anything until Leopard is actually shipped, right? Right.

Also obviously, Apple gets some bragging rights about how popular Leopard is going to be because it’s already the top selling software on Amazon. Two days running.

Let’s assume that you’ll sleep better between now and October by placing your order with Amazon now. That’s OK. Make sure to use the Mac360 Store for your Amazon purchase (the Mac360 Store is really a front for Amazon).

Oh, one more thing. Amazon sells books about Mac OS X Leopard. David Pogue’s always popular missing manual series is available at a discount. Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual.

How about this book? Mac OS X Leopard: 290 Missing Features From Steve’s Keynote Presentation? I know what the top 10 features are—I’d like to know the rest.