Microsoft Launches Crowdfunding Method to Help Students Buy PCs

Microsoft launched a new way for college students to pay for Windows PC purchases on Tuesday — a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding program.The tech giant’s new « Chip In » program lets friends and family crowdsource donations toward purchasing a Windows PC for a college student.The program works like this: A college student selects a new Windows PC device on the Chip In site, then creates a campaign page and shares it out to friends and family, asking for help funding the computer. Microsoft contributes 10% of the PC purchase as the first donation.When the new computer is funded, the student receives a promotional coupon code to buy the device from MicrosoftStore.com. Though anyone can set up a crowdfunding profile (parents, relatives or students themselves), only a student with a .edu college e-mail address or international student identity card (ISIC) can redeem the coupon to buy a computer. For the first 10,000 students, the purchase also comes with a four-year subscription to Office 365 University.

Microsoft’s promotional program for students, which starts Tuesday, runs through the first of September.

A Microsoft Windows spokesperson told Mashable that this approach toward crowdsourced consumer purchasing is still new for the company and the industry.

« You think about all of these big purchases that we make throughout our lives and a lot of them come as gifts, » said Kristina Libby, head of Windows consumer PR for Microsoft. « So, encouraging your community to help you purchase a large good — we think that it’s going to become a much more standard practice [across the whole industry]. »

Tuesday’s campaign launch came in the midst of graduation season and quite a bit ahead of back-to-school time. The move could be yet another response from Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft to Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple’s popular back-to-school promotions for college students. Previously, Microsoft offered a free Xbox 360 for students who bought a new Windows PC that was at least $699.

Read the article : http://mashable.com/2013/06/04/microsoft-student-chip-in/