Week End Special: HP's view of the recession

Recently, HP held a Press conference and introduced few new HP laptops, workstations, printers, all in one solutions and so on. Their giveaways for the press were rather interesting.

Most of press and trade show visitors know that freebies are the first to go when the times are tough, but we did not expect to see a press conference of an IT company with logo-less gifts. As usual, we got a pretty big HP paper bag [no recycled paper - no green points for you, HP], but nothing came close to our surprise when we unpacked the contents: inside featured a Moth repellent and six scented candles.

I must say that it was a big surprise, because you know when you give a gift it means something, but what was the meaning of this? Maybe that media is coming with holes in their clothes and need a Moth repellent or just that they need to dress better? The aromatherapy candle part sits well with us - after all, who doesn't like to take a bath at the end of a long day/week - maybe this was just a sign that recession took its toll on the mighty HP as did to everyone of us.

For the record, the best freebie we ever received was Nokia's gardening set - it is still in use in chief's vineyard [no signs of rust in eight years - Ed.].