Lauren's not guilty.
Posted on 03/30/2009 12:03:41 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Edited on 03/30/2009 1:00:06 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
News Analysis. If you're one of those people who insist Macs are comparably priced to Windows PCs, read no further. This post will make you really angry.
Last week, Microsoft started airing the newest "I'm a PC" ad, featuring Lauren
(Excerpt) Read more at microsoft-watch.com ...
I actually have a tertiary acquaintance with Miss Lauren.
Nice kid for what it’s worth.
OBAMA was packaged as a product (branded like Apple or Pepsi). It was the secret of his success.
We went Mac 2 years ago and can’t imagine going back.
Yes, Macs cost more at time of purchase.
And yes, the Macs have been the least expensive PCs I’ve ever owned (PC owner since 1982).
I have saved literally hundreds of hours and mucho dinero by not having to play nursemaid to our multiple PCs. Conflicting DLLs, blue screen of death, viruses...can barely remember what those are.
“Good product pricing is about upsell.”
Macs are priced for maximizing Apple profit. while retaining enough value for consumers to buy.
PCs are priced based on the tough competition among multiple low-margin competitors.
The gap should not be surprising.
>> OBAMA was packaged as a product (branded like Apple or Pepsi). It was the secret of his success.
That’s exactly right! And look how that turned out.
Let that be a lesson to you Mac freaks.
People are willing to pay for the “smug” factor.
Perfect example is the iPod. Pay 4x the cost of a “regular” mp3 player with the same memory, stuck with a required interface, have to deal with DRM, but “Look! It says Apple!”
That’s apparently important to some people.
(And not just girls in junior high...)
The most important reason to buy a Mac: You never see threads like:
laptop keyboard help (strange function key thingy), Help! ????? - not a valid win32 application, Vanity: Reformatting XP?, Vanity!!! Help with entering formula into MS Excel??, Need help with Win95 (Vanity), new visionman pc doesn't work, how to vista, HiJacked by AdServer. Anyone else? (Vanity - Tech, sorry), CD ROM Disappeared, Vanity: HELP! - How to recover a saved-over document, Help: All USB Ports Disabled Including Keyboard & Mouse, etc., etc., etc.,
from Mac users on Free Republic. And yes, those are actual headings for FR threads from PC users.
The 17-inch Macbook Pro is a much more advanced computer than the HP Lauren bought. Faster chip, higher-res screen, dedicated graphics chip, faster networking, thinner and lighter, Bluetooth-enabled...
It’s perfectly reasonable to decide that none of that stuff is worth the extra money to you. But the idea that Lauren finding an inferior product for less money (but it has the same size screen!) proves that “Macs are more expensive” does not follow.
I am somewhat surprised that the gap persists. The PC industry has exploited this gap for many years. With the brutal competition among PC makers, I am surprised that the gap has not narrowed. I was even more surprised to see the huge crowd at the Mac retail store in December. The store was packed so it was difficult to get the attention of a sales person. I give credit to the engineering and marketing staff of Apple. They are rewriting the book on premium pricing and value.
You don't have to deal with DRM on an iPod unless you buy songs from the iTunes store. The vast majority of songs on iPods are ripped from CDs, have no DRM, and play just fine.
Go to your room.
Wow, someone should have told me that last night when I was writing a daemon / LaunchAgent (I haven't made up my mind yet which to make it) to control my Mac's display settings when pulgged into my TV via an HDMI-switching AV Reciever. All on the advanced development system that Apple ships with every copy of Mac OS X.
Oh, wait a second - you said it isn't possible. So the development system doesn't exist or come for free, my software never worked, and a guy working on hardware settings for a Home Theater computer isn't a home-based computer geek.
I could have saved a lot of time this weekend if you only had posted this earlier!!
Lauren's not guilty.
You mean she might *NOT* be a dippy lib chick?
I like the redhead...she ain’t guilty.
For a long time, I wondered what the point of finely engineered German cars (Mercedes, BMW) were. I mean really, yeah they’re nicely done, but do you really need to pay that much more to get from point A to point B?
Then I drove on the Autobahn.
Up to 140MPH.
Standard cruising speed was 100MPH.
Then I understood.
It’s not something you can explain to someone who hasn’t done it, and who doesn’t want to understand.
Yeah, a Mac is more expensive than an allegedly equivalently configured PC.
If you’re just focused on straight comparison of grossly-specified components, you’re missing the point ... and you’re welcome to haggle with the cheaper machine, while the other one Just Works*.
(* - yeah, Macs aren’t perfect. Neither are BMWs. From experience, I’ll still pick them over their “equivalently equipped” counterparts.)
You mean there’s more?
The very knowledgeable and friendly salesperson showed me a MacPro. I said, "wow, rock on dudes," and walked out.
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