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Apple Starts Selling $69 OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive
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Chances are if you're still running Tiger (or even Leopard to a lesser extent) you don't have the hardware sys reqs to be running Lion anyway. So your argument is invalid.
You might want to take your own advice.
Seriously, what an insulting comment. There are plenty of good reasons to want and use this to upgrade to Lion, the only other choice being not to upgrade at all.
I'd rather Lion's adoption rate be that much higher thanks to a multitude of upgrade paths than some hippy quest to save the world. Heck, your post probably generated more waste in the world than you buying a USB stick with Lion on it would have.
Considering all Core 2 Duo Macs can run Lion, you're pretty much wrong there.
All of you whining about the price have a choice! Vote with your wallets. DO NOT BUY it if it seems overpriced priced to you.
For many the $69 is a cheap upgrade. For some of you, who expect everything for free, (read as entitlement), it will be over priced.
Your wallet is always the best way to vote in a free market economy.
I know. I've done it. You create an installer that can be used for recovery. It can also be used for a fresh install. No one is debating that.
The installer connects to the internet during installation shortly after the system restarts, after it's too late to extract anything from the installer before it's deleted. This $69 USB apparently does not, everything that is normally downloaded during installation, not before it, is already on the drive.
The USB drive you make using the instructions I linked has all the files you need to install Lion without downloading any more files from the internet. That's why it needs a 4GB minimum USB key or 4.7GB DVD-R.
Well when apple gets round to setting up iTunes accounts for the entire world then maybe.
As this is my only way of me getting lion, Should I be (as you put it) punished
You can argue that by having the USB - you can upgrade 2 OS's - but who is to say that's the "norm"
So Apple is "penalizing" those that just want to upgrade via USB vs their store with an extra fee because SOME people will be bypassing Snow Leopard.
Why not just sell two difference USB keys. Or couldn't they have come up with a way for the USB to detect which OS was already there and then bring up an appropriate activation screen to charge the appropriate amount (or via phone validation with a code to enter?).
Among the methods above - I can think of several more which wouldn't result in having to charge $69 for someone to do an install of a $29 OS.
So Apple is "penalizing" those that just want to upgrade via USB vs their store with an extra fee because SOME people will be bypassing Snow Leopard.
Why not just sell two difference USB keys. Or couldn't they have come up with a way for the USB to detect which OS was already there and then bring up an appropriate activation screen to charge the appropriate amount (or via phone validation with a code to enter?).
Among the methods above - I can think of several more which wouldn't result in having to charge $69 for someone to do an install of a $29 OS.
Wonder if these can be used on the 2011 MBA or Mac Mini sinceyou can only install over the Internet.
You are debating that. You debated it repeatedly. Then when numerous people pointed out you were wrong, you got snarky (want a cookie), and now you are behaving as though you never said the things you said. As if we can't click the back button and re-read what you wrote.
Option has to be reasonable and acceptable, IMO, $40-$50 would have been just fine. $30 for Lion and $10~20 for thumb drive. But, you're paying $40+tax ($45) extra because it has Apple logo in it.
Then again, if you're Apple fan, you should know how Apple prices work, so no one should whine. It's been their tradition forever. So, I don't see a reason to bother with it at all.
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Why ? Just buy a much cheaper USB thumb drive and make a hard copy from your download. You'll save much dineros that way and still get a hard copy in your safe.
I was thinking this, too, but have you confirmed by looking at the EULA for the USB and seeing how it differs from the Mac App Store download?
Also, does anyone know if buying this adds a Lion download license to your Mac App Store account?
You can erase it. See this topic: https://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-1036383.html
It's for the MBA restore key, but it should work for Lion as well.
I find most of these posts pathetic. People wasting time over how much Apple should charge for something.
What if they had come out with Lion at a cost of $69 in the first place. People would have bought it. Others would have bitched about having to wait for the damn DVD or USB stick to arrive.
And then Apple announce, we will offer if for $29 or $39 or $49 if you do not want media - just go online.
Some of these same pathetic people would bitch about that.
In the end, they can charge what they damn well want. One would have thought this thread would talk more about how well this option works, or does not work. Or if you need one for each PC. Or if it would work if you hard drive was trashed, or.....
What if they had come out with Lion at a cost of $69 in the first place. People would have bought it. Others would have bitched about having to wait for the damn DVD or USB stick to arrive.
And then Apple announce, we will offer if for $29 or $39 or $49 if you do not want media - just go online.
Some of these same pathetic people would bitch about that.
In the end, they can charge what they damn well want. One would have thought this thread would talk more about how well this option works, or does not work. Or if you need one for each PC. Or if it would work if you hard drive was trashed, or.....
Although pricey compared to the download version, it's still a good price for an OS. And really, it costs more because of physical distribution, but also because apple wants to encourage you to use the (cheaper) app store. Not hard to figure out.
jnpy!$4g3cwk, That was my thought. Why would Apple even include this. And the sites I listed thought it was important to note as well (even though they all learned of it through 9to5mac). Obviously most people will just use the App store anyway, but the language is curious. Maybe maybe it's designed to be used with the recovery image creator tool that was released a few days ago. Beats me.
