RM: We don't want your money

For the last few months candace has been eagerly watching the forthcoming Asus Eee PC. It's a small (7" screen) laptop with flash memory but a full keyboard. It's somewhat like the One Laptop Per Child design, but it's a commercial product. (It's also reminiscent of the "Ultra Mobile PCs" that Microsoft and Intel have been promoting for a while, but it costs about a fifth of what they do, albeit with some significant cut corners.)

It's actually been a little odd. Usually I watch as new shiny toys come and go and candace couldn't care, but this has been somewhat the other way around; I don't see how it would fit into my life (I'm perfectly happy with a "full fat" laptop) but she's eager to get her hands on one, to save her carrying a MacBook. There have been the usual delays, and then in the middle of this week we saw that Research Machines announced a UK distribution deal for the device.

Renamed the Asus MiniBook (much better, if you ask me), the two models are available for £169 and £199 (ex VAT), and there was much rejoicing. Just compare the price to the iPod touch, for example. The one worry was that, as an educational computer supplier, RM might be unwilling to sell to inviduals, but there wasn't anything on the website implying that.

Today, Chris pointed out this - apparently newly-arrived - text on the pricing section of RM's product page:

The RM Asus miniBook is exclusively available to UK Education. RM reserves the right to reject orders that are later found not to be on behalf of a UK educational establishment.

Of course, they're completely within their rights as a business to do this. However, I really don't see what the benefit to them is. RM aren't a big name (indeed, I've seen a comment "Research machines (they still exist?!)") and I'm sure that the exposure - and potential profits - wouldn't be unwelcome. So why turn away people willing to pay money for the device? The Asus site certainly makes it look like a consumer product, so I'm assuming it's not their doing.

RM: please just take our money, and sell us a laptop. Thanks.