four year life for $799-3999 dollars?

[jefhatfield]

what other item would you shell out $799 to $3999 dollars for, knowing that it will be discarded or given away four years from now?

this is what most will do with a four year old mac...four years ago, we had a 266/300 mhz beige powermac and a 233 mhz imac with 32mb ram

used cars last longer...an armani suit will last longer...a used motocycle will last longer...a huge cd collection will last longer

perhaps spending that large amount of money, having it go away faster would be a similarily priced vacation, where you don't keep anything in the end but the memories;)

computers are not an investment, but an expense...or addiction:p

[wake up Jobs!!!]

Well said.

-GaBe-

[marcsiry]

If you use your computer to make money, it's a business expense, and a tax deductible one, at that.

Let's see, spend no money=make no money.

Spend $4000=make much more than $4000

The choice is clear :-)

[G4scott]

heh, just last night, my dad had two powerbook 1440c's from his school at home... He was trying to get them to work. Niether computer will recognize either battery, and one of the CD drives has bummed out... And both have tons of other problems. One was upgraded to a G3, and the other was just a 166mhz 603... Of course, these laptops served more than their share for my dad's school... I've seen new pee-cee's (dell's in particular) go bad in 6 months, and trashed in 2 years, just sitting on a desk, while these laptops have been working hard all 6 years of their lives...

It's hard to beat Apple engineering :D

[tcolling]

My 5+ year old 8600 is doing just fine, thank you very much.

It's been upgraded with a G3/400, 1 Gig RAM, extra 4 Gig HD, Firewire, USB, and external DVD burner.

I run Photoshop 6.01 and Illustrator 9 on it without any problems.
Obviously, OS 9, but I'm thinking about going to X, if the gurus can figure out how to do Jaguar on it.

I am expecting at least a couple of more years out of this machine before I upgrade.

(No, I can't run the latest games on it, but then again, why would I spend $2K on a computer to do that, when a Playstation costs $200?)

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by marcsiry
If you use your computer to make money, it's a business expense, and a tax deductible one, at that.

Let's see, spend no money=make no money.

Spend $4000=make much more than $4000

The choice is clear :-)

that's the case with my wife's business since her second job is freelance graphics

but the vast, vast majority of mac, and computer owners, don't make money from home or a business with a computer

manily, most computer users cruise the internet, send and receive emails, do word processing, and play games

when i was first a tech and worked at office depot, most of our sofware section, 1/4 of store was games and most of the computer side sales of the store (other side was pens, pencils, paper) were gaming software

amazing...they should have changed the name to gaming depot...with pens and paper for sale, too;)

[krossfyter]

i can see your still rocking it jet... kick as*.

[hesdeadjim]

I hate to tell you this, but it is the nature of the game. The truth is, most PC's don't last 4 years. Some last that long if your lucky.

I've seen people use macs for 6-8 years without a hitch. Now, thats saying a lot. True, they don't have the fatest software or hardware, but they still run great. Hell, I found an old Mac II at some garage sale that someone was giving away. I picked it up, turned it on, and I could still run a very old word processer (I don't remember what). In fact, I found some old drivers from my father for an even older printer and it still worked. Now, that's quality engineering at its best. (I don't think I get it to work for the internet, but I might try.) I still have it in case I have some paper to do in a rush.

Just like any investment, if you keep up the hardware, it can last, that's why there are processer upgrades and such. And besides, might as well try since the computer was free.

[hesdeadjim]

I don't think some of what I said made much sense, I've had a hard day. I also wanted to add that people have said that the average lifespan of an operating system now is 5 years. And, most computer companies assume that you would want a new computer by then. I agree, computers should cost less, but I just don't see it hapening.

[MacMaster]

My 5 year old 9500 is working just fine...Well the internal floppy drive is burned out, but who cares about that! Heh, it could even run X if I wanted it too...but then I would burn out my wireless internet PCI card(for our airport network)...:( If you want more info on it it's im my profile:)

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
what other item would you shell out $799 to $3999 dollars for, knowing that it will be discarded or given away four years from now?


that's only $16.67 - $83.33 a month - not exactly all that much when you think about how much use you'll get out of it.

D

[big]

>computers are not an investment, but an expense...or addiction

addiction

[Macmaniac]

They are not an addiction they are an outlet for gaming addiction;) Or in my case an obsession(When u start dreaming about it u know u have gone to far)

Oh and u can spend much more than $4000 on a mac;)

(Steals Big's pants)

[Taft]

Originally posted by dukestreet


that's only $16.67 - $83.33 a month - not exactly all that much when you think about how much use you'll get out of it.

D

Exactly right. Do the math.

Lets say I want touse my computer to communicate (e-mail) and entertainment (games/internet/media). Well, chances are you are paying for two things every month that give you communication and entertainment. For example, the telephone and cable tv.

Lets say phone and cable together cost around 70 bucks month. Not bad compared to the monthly cost of a computer.

Factor in devices and internet cost and your computer probably costs more, but you get the picture. A computer really isn't that outrageous an expense if you by it and its services in moderation.

Taft

[G4scott]

Hey MacMaster, you jacked my sig :p

Just wait until you see my next revision...

[big]

>(Steals Big's pants)

<pantsless>you didn't know I go Commando then huh?
HA hA hA hA</pantsless>

>They are not an addiction they are an outlet for gaming addiction
Or in my case an obsession(When u start dreaming about it u know u have gone to far)


yeah, though I know kids who go out and have to have the latest video card, then mouse and joystick, then upgrade their sound, then get a new sound card because it would sound better...then a tv card so they play it on their tv

etc etc etc...all this with a PC and you'll a nice machine, so it is addictive...upgrades, updating. why do we care so much? Why do i check my software update daily? why did I run out and buy 10.2? WHY WHY WHY

I'm a MACaholic! (which would be a great screen name)

[MacMaster]

Originally posted by G4scott
Hey MacMaster, you jacked my sig :p

Just wait until you see my next revision...
heh...yeah.:D If you notice, now I'm revising mine too...:rolleyes:

PS: MacManiac, why are you stealing everyone's pants?:rolleyes:

[Taft]

Originally posted by MacMaster

heh...yeah.:D If you notice, now I'm revising mine too...:rolleyes:

PS: MacManiac, why are you stealing everyone's pants?:rolleyes:

Yeah. He stole my tux. Now whatever am I going to wear to the ball????:(

Taft