Wow, a pyramid scheme (which makes it illegal for me to participate) coupled with a sign-up-for-spam-site? Gotta try it. Or not.

I am so sick of seeing Free iPod links on slashdot. I'm saddened to see you stoop this low Asa. :( Wouldn't it have been better to say "I want an iPod for Christmas (or whatever). Please donate here.", and then provide a link to an Amazon.com or PayPal donation form?

Yaaay! Blogspam!

Asa, please don't do this to us.

1. It's not a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme requires you invest to make money. Typically you pay a 'startup fee' of some type. FIP.com doesn't require you put anything in... if you don't get 5 referrals, you don't loose anything more than a few minutes of your time.

2. Use a junk email address! Yahoo is free, so is Gmail, Hotmail, etc. etc.

3. They use Adteractive, a very reputable ad agency.

May also want to check out:

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html

http://freeipodguide.com/?ops=reasons

Some interesting info.

I can tell you this: it worked for me. I have an iPod. Many others report recieving their iPod too.

I'll do it for you, Asa! Everyone should have an iPod. Just don't let ferrets steal it.

http://eliot.landrum.cx/archives/2004/11/15/a-joyful-ending-to-a-sorrowful-tale/

Well, I'm going to do the Blockbuster one in a couple of weeks when I'm back from a bunch of trips. I'll do it though, I promise!

I did the freeiPods thing and got my iPod just fine. The only problem was that I got several people at our company to sign up, and because our requests all came from the same external IP (our corporate firewall), they put all our accounts on hold. Reversing that took a LOT of time and effort.

It's not a pyramid scheme, though, it's not illegal, and they do deliver.

You know, iPods and Firefox have a lot in common. They're both small, attractive, easier to use than the competition and quite extensible (in the form of notes and things). I think an iPod would suit you well, Asa. :)

I would sign up but I'm already the very proud owner of a green iPod Mini.

Asa,

While I'd really like you to have an iPod, free or otherwise, I think you need to read this (because I care aboutcha ;-) ):

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/2004/09/freeipod/index.php

I signed up for this awhile back after I saw another plea from a particularly visible CSS designer... and shortly thereafter, WITHOUT EVEN FINISHING THE SIGNUP PROCESS, I was getting nailed with all kinds of spam. I had to block the @freeipods.com domain from sending me stuff as well as its cohorts.

As much as I want a free iPod, it's not worth the lack of productivity that results from having to clean out my inbox everyday (no matter how good Thunderbird is!).

All I can say is, good luck dude.

I've signed up for this but have been 'Sent to Vendor' for almost a month now. I'm hoping it will show up soon but I can confirm its legitimacy because I know people who have gotten theirs.

About the spam - just use a disposable email address.

Chris M.:

Get a free email account at Fastmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. and only keep checking it until the iPod comes in the mail. After that, never check it again. Voila! No extra spam in your normal inbox.

For those of you who need throwaway addresses. I heartily recommend http://www.spamgourmet.com -- It's quick and easy and you can actually get the pre-spam confirmation emails (the ones that check for valid address).

Uh, no... it IS a pyramid scheme. It may be legal and completely fraud-free, but it's still a pyramid scheme. You need 5 suckers to sign up for deals for you. Then those 5 need 5 more suckers. At least 4 out of every 5 who are referred and sign up will not get their ipod.

Josh, I don't understand. I'm not asking for others to try to get iPods. I'm the one that wants the iPod. I'm just asking interested people to purchase goods and services through me instead of through some other mechanism. I don't see this as any different than all the amazon.com links on blogs where if you were going to buy something at amazon, they ask you do it through their link so they can earn a small percentage for referring you.

This isn't about me finding other people to sign up to participate in the free iPod deal. This is about me trying to sell a few subscriptions to earn myself an iPod. For it to be a pyramid scheme, I'd need to be trying to get others to try to earn iPods. I'm not doing that at all.

--Asa

For reference, getting the iPod required about 40 days for me once I reached "Sent To Vendor" status.

Josh: the structure is pyramidal in shape, but the words "pyramid scheme" have a specific legal meaning which does not apply here. Specifically, the difference is that in a pyramid scheme, members are informed that they will receive benefits for every subordinate they sign up -- benefits which can actually only be paid for through signups of _other_, additional users. Therefore, the large group of last people to sign up do not, and cannot, receive the benefits they were actually promised, because there are not enough "other users" to carry everyone's load, despite the fact that according to the promises made, these people should be receiving something. Basically, there is fraud. But in this case, you are told you will receive an iPod if and only if you successfully complete an offer and get five unique subordinates to successfully complete offers. While you are correct that there is a potential large "last group" which will not find the five people, they are not being denied anything they were promised. There is no fraud, and so this is not a "pyramid scheme". Semantics matter :)

Also, I forget from the last time I did the math, but I think the best-case scenario may be closer to 5/6 not getting their iPod rather than 4/5. In reality, of course, it's even worse, since this "best case" assumes a balanced tree in which all non-leaf nodes are fully filled (i.e. get their iPods).

Check the site out: http://www.phpbbforfree.com/forums/index.php?mforum=ipods
Registration for that site is free so sign up. Plus we are giving away Gmail invites to anyone who signs up for the photo ipod conga or other congas.
The conga website is- http://www.phpbbforfree.com/forums/index.php?mforum=ipods . It's virtually the fastest way to get your green referrals. In the website, if you go to the proof section, you will see a lot of supporting info backing up the free stuff. It has 4 interviews (like the G4TV and NBC with the CEO of the company that gives away free stuff), it also has 12 conga lines (photo ipods, desktop pc, Irivers, Rio Carbon 5g, game consoles and others) that you can sign up ( you can sign up under all). If you complete an offer (explained at the site with a lot of details) your referral link will be posted on the conga line you signed up under. The conga lines are short so you won't have to wait and you can get your green referrals easily unlike many other conga lines. The website goes into a lot of details on everything. For any questions email me - cmwbnp@yahoo.com.

Plus we are about to advertise on ebay.com to get the conga lines moving fast.

Still sounds to good to be true email me at cmwbnp@yahoo.com, I will show you tons of proof.

For a even better freeipod check out

http://www.freephotoipods.net/

It actually works! I found out about this deal after seeing this: www.ipodsforfree.50megs.com I thought it was a scam but after my refferals went through, I got my iPod.