Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism

New York Times ^ | January 31, 2010 | Steve Lohr

[antiRepublicrat]

but without the performance or bells and whistles of the competition

Have you seen Volvos lately? That 2.9l straight-six is no slouch, and that twin-turbo straight-five diesel is pretty powerful, too.

[antiRepublicrat]

Job’s the putative minimalist is running a maximalist pricing racket.

Crappy, overdone design is easy and doesn't cost much. Slap a picee of garish stamped plastic on a basic generic box, ta-da!

Quality minimalist design to the core costs much more to create and manufacture.

[dennisw]

All laptops are minimalist...And laptop sales are greater than desktops. So they say

I can easily out minimalist Ives/Jobs eight days a week

Apple desktop computers are flashy overkill compared to the minimalist approach to what is really needed to run OSX. Matter of fact I have an Intel E2180/E5200 and gigabyte board w the right chip and right discrete video card (nvidia) to run OSX and I just may try it out. Minus the JesseJobsGang hardware tax.

[antiRepublicrat]

All laptops are minimalist...And laptop sales are greater than desktops. So they say

This is what HP considers "design," take a standard clunky laptop and slap some paint on it:

This is minimalistic design that integrates with the functionality of the product:

I may look simple, but thousands of man-hours and much time on CNC machines went into making it look that simple. The clunky HP above is what happens when you just slap components together in a case.

I can easily out minimalist Ives/Jobs eight days a week

Go for it. I take it you aren't a billionaire, right?

Minus the JesseJobsGang hardware tax.

I understood the term "Microsoft tax" back when Microsoft prevented any OEM from selling Windows at a competitive price unless that OEM shipped Windows on every machine regardless of whether the user wanted Windows. If you wanted a pre-built OEM system from a major manufacturer, you paid for a copy of Windows.

I don't understand this "Apple tax" thing. You can pick from any number of OEMs to avoid Apple's hardware. You can pick from any of several operating systems and avoid OS X. Nobody is making you buy OS X or Apple hardware.

[dennisw]

As you know the Apple tax means if you like OSX you have to buy overpriced, anally over designed (by John Ives) hardware from the Cuppertino gangstas.
Steve Jobs role model is Scrooge McDuck. He loved to roll around in the piles of bills and coins in his vault.
You are being screwed by scrooge

[antiRepublicrat]

As you know the Apple tax means if you like OSX you have to buy overpriced, anally over designed (by John Ives) hardware from the Cuppertino gangstas.

You have choices other than OS X in the mainstream market, thus no tax. The Microsoft tax was due to you not having a choice. If you wanted an OEM PC with Linux or OS/2, you paid for a copy of Windows first. That's a "tax."

As far as "anally" all I can think is THANK YOU! It's about time a manufacturer gave a damn about the consumer and put some serious care into the design of its products instead of pumping out cheap generic crap. I'm quite happy to pay more for a better-designed product. It's a throw back to the old days when people took pride in the design and craftsmanship of their products.

[dennisw]

You have choices other than OS X in the mainstream market, thus no tax. The Microsoft tax was due to you not having a choice. If you wanted an OEM PC with Linux or OS/2, you paid for a copy of Windows first. That's a "tax."

There were tons of little screwdriver shops that would build a Windows PC for you or a blank PC that you put the operating system on. Or they would do it. So there was no Microsoft tax
But for those desiring to deploy OSX, they have pay for overpriced, hardware to run it on because the Cuppertino gangstas try to legislate it that way through the courts 
So in order to get their bragging rights an Apple consumer must overpay for computer components when all prices are down on them except for memory
Those who bought an OSX machine from Psystar avoided the Apple "hardware tax"

I read the comments section at Psystar and some of its customers also owned Apple machines but loved the value conscious products Psystar put out. One guy said it ran superior to his Mac
Psytar was able to sell less expensive machines that ran OSX just fine
The JesseJobsGang sued them because they hate legitimate competition being the shameless commies they are by appointing AlGore to their board and coming out big for anti-global warming boondoggles

[antiRepublicrat]

There were tons of little screwdriver shops that would build a Windows PC for you

No major OEMs.

But for those desiring to deploy OSX, they have pay for overpriced

Just because you can only get a certain option on a Mercedes and not Kia doesn't mean it's a tax.

I read the comments section at Psystar and some of its customers also owned Apple machines but loved the value conscious products Psystar put out.

I also noticed Psystar sold a generic box o' parts and had almost non-existent support.

[dennisw]

Get a Psystar. Probaly find one on Craig’s or eBay

... I’m sure it will run just as good as a Mac with comparable specs. Without the Ives/Jobs hardware tax. That’s why they got good reviews from Apple owners who needed another Mac but needed to save some dough

[antiRepublicrat]

That’s why they got good reviews from Apple owners who needed another Mac but needed to save some dough

Probably planted reviews. Psystar sold how many systems? Wasn't it in the low hundreds? A few idiots bought them. The rest realized they're crap. Meanwhile Apple sold millions, during a recession.