Comments on: Open Thread: Apple Defies the Laws of Economics

By: Gp Webs

Gp Webs — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:41:04 +0000

as usual anything related to apple is hyped ;-)

By: Leif

Leif — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:06:59 +0000

Because you could do the same on a Dell for half the price (granted some effort involved for SL and the hardware isn’t as cute).

By: Aymerik

Aymerik — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:12:42 +0000

That’s not quite accurate. The first iPhone had a lot of great features. Threaded SMS messages, visual voicemail, fantastic and intelligent integration of the system wide address book, great map application, great media player, etc. On the whole, it made my stop using my BlackBerry, Danger Hiptop/Sidekick, and was way, way better than my Symbian-powered smartphone.

By: vikram

vikram — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:39:30 +0000

I have a macbook pro 13 inch running:mac osx 10.6,visat,win 7(beta),xp,solaris,full on unix,and garageband for my nieces with iphoto to catalog their “gigs”;how can anyone say this piece of hardware is overpriced?you simply don’t appreciate what you have.

By: Suds

Suds — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:45:11 +0000

Sure. Companies charge a lot for retro features. Remember the early days when floppy drive went out the door as “standard” in a new PC. Dell used to charge $25-$30 for a floppy drive.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:38:53 +0000

That’s my only complaint with the Macbook Pro. Hate the glossy screen!

But honestly, as a former die hard PC guy and a newly converted mac user, I have to say, this is the best computer I’ve ever had.

By: greg

greg — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:14:42 +0000

Love Thievery Corporation too! Om is a great thought leader, writer AND has good taste in music??? Can’t be the same human being…

By: Mishan Kontroll

Mishan Kontroll — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:26:50 +0000

Apple is a socialist paradise, and shareholders and customers suffer. MacOS should have at least 50% of the market, but it doesn’t. Why? I almost wish Castro would die.

By: Shai Berger

Shai Berger — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:49:07 +0000

Thievery Corporation…. Double thumbs up! Huge fan.

By: Yonidass

Yonidass — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:56:09 +0000

Isn’t it simply a matter of economics? Whether Apple went to glossy screens because of the greater feeling of depth, as Eideard says, or for other reason (I have no idea actually), you can’t just order a few million pieces of each type of display shield and hope they sell. A company that sells relatively fewer pieces for each product line simply can’t do that.

The surcharge covers the exceptions and pays for the actual assembly of the matte antiglare film, which goes over the exact same display in place of the glass. It’s a build-to-order option.

It stings to pay extra for something that used to be standard, but at least they listened to all those who complained.

By: Eideard

Eideard — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:43:22 +0000

Quit looking as computing as a social phenomenon unto itself, folks. I realize that’s difficult if that’s what you make your living at – but, there is a larger world serving as context – even within the definition of technology.

Apple went to shiny screens because TV manufacturers discovered that glossy screens give viewers a greater feeling of depth to whatever they’re watching. People set up their TV sets at home to minimize glare and reflections – and generally their most satisfying viewing comes in dimmed rooms in the evening, as well.

Most laptop purchasers follow the same pattern 98% of the time – the time they’re in the same office space they use every day. And more and more laptop purchasers are using that machine to watch video content.

There will be a next-gen screen – and another behind it – and Apple is smart enough to look at the larger context of how most people use their devices.

The difference is Apple making decisions on how people actually use their products instead of geeks who want to decide how people should use these critters.

By: Ngan

Ngan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:30:32 +0000

how about Sony? They charge you $$$ so that your laptop comes without those additional junk software or malware

By: Panch Rupaiyya

Panch Rupaiyya — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:03:11 +0000

What “laws of economics” did Apple defy? One law that you never defy is the Law of Compulsive Bullshitting.

By: Allen

Allen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:53:40 +0000

The apparent gap is marketing. Apple are genius at marketing. Take the first generation iPhone, if you are able to review it dispassionately, despite the cool UI, a second generation phone lacking basic features with few applications should not have done so well. Such is apple’s marketing genius that few are able to review it dispassionately.

By: Trieu

Trieu — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:52:17 +0000

It’s not at all strange for antiquated technology to cost more than the latest and greatest. A random example, DDR 266 memory versus DDR2 533 memory:

Kingston DDR 266, 1 gb – $32
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134171

Kingston DDR2 533, 1 gb – $17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144151

Or, staying w/ Apple:

OS X Leopard – $199

Mac OS X version 10.6.3 Snow Leopard

OS X Snow Leopard – $25
http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8/

At some point, it becomes costly for companies to support older products. It’s in their interest to pass that cost on to their customers.

By: sfmitch

sfmitch — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:21:53 +0000

I was going to mention getting charged extra for ‘downgrading’to XP but tino beat me to it.

I recently bought a Windows laptop from Best Buy and they tried very hard to have me pay for ‘optimization’. They actually said that they already did the ‘optimization’on every one they had in stock. The Best Buy guy explained that ‘optimization’was getting rid of all the crap that the manufacturer puts on. I refused to pay and they gave the laptop for the marked price – I didn’t have to pay for the ‘optimization’.