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Apple to Introduce Cheaper Macs?
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....and as long as it is to some people, the market exists for exactly what Apple is doing, and few, if any, other PC makers are.
With that being the case, how can any call for Apple to change not be viewed as obviously self-serving, to the detriment of those who like what Apple does and want them to continue to be able to do it?
Are you suggesting that being self-serving when buying products is bad?
Do you think Apple is being altruistic in their pricing model?
they also raise the question "do they think the public are idiots". this last ad was just sad. the store employee sounded like an idiot and this so called filmmaker was a joke line. even if she was a student, I can't see any film school that wouldn't be pushing final cut on the students as it is one of the small handful of programs that actual studios use. and Final Cut is Mac only. AVID is the other big program and it runs on both. plus the macbook pro was under $2000 since they never consider tax in those ads, had a faster processor, only a half an inch less in a screen, movie editing and dvd mapping software as well as scoring options suitable for a hobbyist film maker, and so on. in many ways it is the better machine and fit the bill on the price as anyone listening heard. and if she is an actual student there's a discount with Apple making it more like $1700
Yet this remains MS's style of blatant deception. BTW, do you recall seeing the 1st gen 30G Zune being advertised in the paper, side by side with not the 30G, but the 80G iPod, as if to state that the Zune was comparably a better deal since it cost $249 instead of $299?
Of course I don't think it is bad to be self serving when buying Apple, or any other product. What I am calling BS on is those who make obviously self-serving statements, and then attempt to spin it as something else. Such spins include things like claiming that Apple is being foolish with their pricing, or claiming that those who don't see it their way are blind, drinking the kool-aid or just "apple faithful". Such spins show a deep lack of understanding of Apple's business model.
Well...with the recession and all, I think it would be wise if Apple introduce an affordable Mac. Perhaps something like the eMac, but not limited to the educational market and with a 17" flat-screen all-in-one like the iMac.
They could always just reduce their current prices!
Probably cheaper for them to buy 19" or 24" screens than 17" nowadays - The prices I can buy them for all packaged and boxed up and sent to me, must cost them absolutely nothing.
Same things with laptops. Often the prices of laptops goes down with the increase in screen size. The cost difference is almost non existent (?), and there's more room physically inside the case to work with.
I typed this is about 10seconds, make any sense?
+1 Hardware and software integration and all that premium hardware talk just means that people have been fooled or don't know what they are talking about. Most macs are just last year's pc in a nice coat. Only reason I'll be buying a mac is that I don't have to download some illegal cd and tweak it to run with all my components.
I agree! Then again, this is an APPLE fan club.. what do you expect?
I have an iMac and an HP quad-core that I've been using for the last year and a half... My HP kicks the iMac ass in every possible thing I can compare with...
For example: I was very frustrated that on Friday, I tried to write an email for get sponsors for my jog-a-thon. I opened up Safafi on my iMac since the iMac seems to use less power than my PC because I have tons of stuff on my PC. After using Gmail to write the email, the damn thing froze! I couldn't send or even edit the email. I then went to use yahoo mail thinking that since gmail is in beta, it'd have that problem. SAME RESULT!!! I went to my HP and retype the email and send it. Then go back and send it again and again and again since I needed lots of sponsor. No problem on my PC AT ALL. AND YES! I'M USING WINDOWS VISTA with NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER!
So with the frustration I've gotten from my iMac over the period that I own it compared to the problems I get with my PCs, I only kept the iMac because it was FREE. Otherwise, it would have gone back to the store the week I got it.
Here's my list of problems with the iMac...
1. It comes out of sleep EVERY TIME it loses connection with my bluetooth mouse.
2. I have to re-pair my bluetooth mouse EVERY TIME I shut down the system.
3. Using Safari is a bitch! I can't copy and paste as easily as PC. I have to be extremely precise in choosing the EXACT CENTER of a form in order to do any pasting.
4. It automatically download craps onto my computer. On a PC, when something wants to download anything onto my computer, I get a warning that says this program wants to download or run something... But NO, I saw in my download folder a whole bunch of crap that it automatically downloaded... AND THEY'RE VIRUS FILES!!! Good thing I didn't let it run!
5. Safari is NOT safe to use on the Internet at all! Automatically downloading virus files in executable form in UNACCEPTABLE!
6. OSX has NO defense against viruses. Don't tell me your crap that it needs no virus protection because it DOES! Wait until people start developing viruses for OSX and you'll come crying to MS for their well protected OS.
For those of you who keep saying that Vista is this and Vista is that... Have you even remotely tried using Vista? I have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER using Vista... and I've been using Windows since Windows 3.1... Sure... windows 95 has a few bugs and that was fixed. Windows 98 had bugs that were fixed. Windows ME has bugs too and they were fixed... Same with Windows NT, Windows XP and Windows Vista. I LOVE Windows 7 so far. Not a single problem except for device drivers since it's just a release candidate and no driver has been develop for my hardware yet. But that's not a problem... I still have Win Vista which has all the drivers I need.
Does OSX have bugs? YES! That's why it's been released to developers and testers all this time. APPLE just release their OS when THEY think there's no bugs left... But from my experience... It's still buggy as hell. That's why there's updates... just like MS. MS's OS only has bugs on release because MS rushes Vista out to the public. They clean up, however. Apple isn't free from whatever you dreamers think. It's time to wake up and stop worshipping your false idol Apple... It's only a FRUIT people! It won't grant you any prayers... Maybe it keeps the doctor away as they say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." I like to see my doctor, thank you very much!
I have an iMac and an HP quad-core that I've been using for the last year and a half... My HP kicks the iMac ass in every possible thing I can compare with...
For example: I was very frustrated that on Friday, I tried to write an email for get sponsors for my jog-a-thon. I opened up Safafi on my iMac since the iMac seems to use less power than my PC because I have tons of stuff on my PC. After using Gmail to write the email, the damn thing froze! I couldn't send or even edit the email. I then went to use yahoo mail thinking that since gmail is in beta, it'd have that problem. SAME RESULT!!! I went to my HP and retype the email and send it. Then go back and send it again and again and again since I needed lots of sponsor. No problem on my PC AT ALL. AND YES! I'M USING WINDOWS VISTA with NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER!
So with the frustration I've gotten from my iMac over the period that I own it compared to the problems I get with my PCs, I only kept the iMac because it was FREE. Otherwise, it would have gone back to the store the week I got it.
Here's my list of problems with the iMac...
1. It comes out of sleep EVERY TIME it loses connection with my bluetooth mouse.
2. I have to re-pair my bluetooth mouse EVERY TIME I shut down the system.
3. Using Safari is a bitch! I can't copy and paste as easily as PC. I have to be extremely precise in choosing the EXACT CENTER of a form in order to do any pasting.
4. It automatically download craps onto my computer. On a PC, when something wants to download anything onto my computer, I get a warning that says this program wants to download or run something... But NO, I saw in my download folder a whole bunch of crap that it automatically downloaded... AND THEY'RE VIRUS FILES!!! Good thing I didn't let it run!
5. Safari is NOT safe to use on the Internet at all! Automatically downloading virus files in executable form in UNACCEPTABLE!
6. OSX has NO defense against viruses. Don't tell me your crap that it needs no virus protection because it DOES! Wait until people start developing viruses for OSX and you'll come crying to MS for their well protected OS.
For those of you who keep saying that Vista is this and Vista is that... Have you even remotely tried using Vista? I have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER using Vista... and I've been using Windows since Windows 3.1... Sure... windows 95 has a few bugs and that was fixed. Windows 98 had bugs that were fixed. Windows ME has bugs too and they were fixed... Same with Windows NT, Windows XP and Windows Vista. I LOVE Windows 7 so far. Not a single problem except for device drivers since it's just a release candidate and no driver has been develop for my hardware yet. But that's not a problem... I still have Win Vista which has all the drivers I need.
Does OSX have bugs? YES! That's why it's been released to developers and testers all this time. APPLE just release their OS when THEY think there's no bugs left... But from my experience... It's still buggy as hell. That's why there's updates... just like MS. MS's OS only has bugs on release because MS rushes Vista out to the public. They clean up, however. Apple isn't free from whatever you dreamers think. It's time to wake up and stop worshipping your false idol Apple... It's only a FRUIT people! It won't grant you any prayers... Maybe it keeps the doctor away as they say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." I like to see my doctor, thank you very much!
I didn't *have* to do anything. I just wanted to use Lightroom. It runs on Windows and Mac. I used Windows, but got annoyed with it, so I decided to try out OS X and I liked it. So I'll be getting a Mac, despite the somewhat disappointing hardware.
I have used Vista before on a core 2 duo, 2GB ram machine (DDR2), it runs slower than my p4 computer with XP(DDR1). Vista froze when we are working on an important project, when we are checking email with my friends, and load slightly slower than my XP counterpart.
apple's macpro box is oversized and TIRED.
The price sucks, period. Apple could've delivered something between the mini and the macpro that wasnt crammed into a monitor casing. Lets face it, you can buy a 22" for $159. Why would I want a premium for an i'm-on-crack. It's a computer for grandma.
The mini can do a lot. I'm running 24 track audio and editing video, but yeah, I would like more power to grind through rendering and DVD transcoding. Can I get it from Apple without laying out 3k? No. The mini is obviously limited though. They could make another quadra pancake style computer 4x the mini to fit on s shelf, with the jacks IN THE FRONT, like some people have figured out.
I've been with apple for a long time, and they are definitely preferable to the alternative (I think). I have new respect for FCP and iLife after using the convoluted abomination that is CS4 production premium, but as was said, Apple blew their chance to double their market share. They either didn't think they could handle the increase, or have some brain-dead notion of elite marketing, but they also didn't care about rewarding their loyal pro base.
Windows 7 will work great, and the competitors will beat down on the iPhone. Meanwhile, hatred for iTunes is palpable, and Apple has basically blackmailed its classic pro user base with overpricing. Meanwhile, the PC is huge in its possible customization. This has happened with the iphone and ipod, why not the desktop?
The more things change, the more they stay the same. 6gigs of ram to run CS5? I'm not gonna blame Apple for Adobe's failings, which let me tell you, are substantial in CS4.
Bottom line, though, a company that manipulates its userbase instead of giving it what it wants is skating on thinning ice.
The price sucks, period. Apple could've delivered something between the mini and the macpro that wasnt crammed into a monitor casing. Lets face it, you can buy a 22" for $159. Why would I want a premium for an i'm-on-crack. It's a computer for grandma.
The mini can do a lot. I'm running 24 track audio and editing video, but yeah, I would like more power to grind through rendering and DVD transcoding. Can I get it from Apple without laying out 3k? No. The mini is obviously limited though. They could make another quadra pancake style computer 4x the mini to fit on s shelf, with the jacks IN THE FRONT, like some people have figured out.
I've been with apple for a long time, and they are definitely preferable to the alternative (I think). I have new respect for FCP and iLife after using the convoluted abomination that is CS4 production premium, but as was said, Apple blew their chance to double their market share. They either didn't think they could handle the increase, or have some brain-dead notion of elite marketing, but they also didn't care about rewarding their loyal pro base.
Windows 7 will work great, and the competitors will beat down on the iPhone. Meanwhile, hatred for iTunes is palpable, and Apple has basically blackmailed its classic pro user base with overpricing. Meanwhile, the PC is huge in its possible customization. This has happened with the iphone and ipod, why not the desktop?
The more things change, the more they stay the same. 6gigs of ram to run CS5? I'm not gonna blame Apple for Adobe's failings, which let me tell you, are substantial in CS4.
Bottom line, though, a company that manipulates its userbase instead of giving it what it wants is skating on thinning ice.
Which model iMac do you have? A freezing issue could be related to a graphics card problem - a firmware update may eliminate this problem. I have an iMac 3.06, which continuously runs over nine intensive apps simultaneously, without experiencing a hiccup. Running nine intensive apps on Vista does not garner anything close to the same results.
Which bluetooth mouse are you using? Sounds like a signal problem from the mouse itself.
Ditto.
However, dragging and dropping objects and URLs directly from web pages is a breeze, compared to Windows. Dragging URL addresses directly onto the Safari icon in the Dock opens it without typing. Copy cmd tab Paste is a breeze, with most URL forms, and autofill works with most of them as well.
This is simply not true - OS X will never download anything without permission. If you saw items in your download folder, they were very likely components of a previous download.
Ditto with Safari
Unix has been around for 35 years, with security as its foundation. The reason Macs are “safer” is because OS X is based on BSD Unix. Unix was designed to deal with mutiple users. The numours security issues encountered in dealing with multiple users have been mitigated by design, over the years, for the secure system we have today. Windows, on the other hand, was originally a single-user system with mutliple-users bolted on as an extra feature back in the Windows 95 days. Security was then bolted on top of that for Windows Xp. Even more security was bolted on the top for Vista and Vista 2 (Windows 7). The difference here is, that OS X is designed with security as a foundation. Window has it grafted on the top. Guess which is more secure…?
True, Vista runs quite smoothly when executing tasks of minimum intensity i.e. emailing, surfing, typing documents. This is not the case, however, while running several memory intensive applications at once, or while dealing with large files. OS X is far more reliable, efficient, and powerful when it comes to productivity at this level, as releases of OS X tend to be far more refined, with far fewer bugs, than any releases of Windows.
fallacy in your argument
The fallacy in your argument is that you are trying to claim a progression from Win9x to Windows NT.
The NT system is not based on the 16/32-bit Windows code. NT is fundamentally multi-user, and has modern security in its original design - actually much better security features than most UNIX-based systems. [resist snarky comment about "repair permissions", must resist]
Security improvements in XP, Vista and Win7 are not "bolted on" as much as they are changes in the outer layers to use the security features already present in the OS.
The fallacy in your argument is that you are trying to claim a progression from Win9x to Windows NT.
The NT system is not based on the 16/32-bit Windows code. NT is fundamentally multi-user, and has modern security in its original design - actually much better security features than most UNIX-based systems. [resist snarky comment about "repair permissions", must resist]
Security improvements in XP, Vista and Win7 are not "bolted on" as much as they are changes in the outer layers to use the security features already present in the OS.
...I like my MacBook Pro Unibody too (love I reserve for living things) BUT I payed the premium it cost compared to other offerings I had, thinking I need something that just works. After four computers, with the current one overheating, breaking down now and then, a few weeks later I read Apple is sitting on 29 billion... So I got burned but they couldn't have lower prices when that 'extra' gave them 29 billion in a recession? What the hell happened to dependable Apple premium quality previously worth that justifiable amount of extra money?
I'm all for getting paid for a good product or service but there's limits and I think Apple is really pushing their luck. Maybe they're growing too fast. It's like that old saying, those having much always want more.
And as I said, I really like my MacBook but Apple itself leaves a sour taste in my mouth these days. They have a really good OS but that's all. The only reason I see for them not to let OSX out in the open is that they want to continue leeching extra money from their hardware buyers. My next one will most likely be a 'hack' again or maybe I'll use W7 - I don't know but Apple's missing support for professional CAD-software just sucks either way.
Oh, I'm talking about being a Apple-user in Europe.
On cheaper Mac's - especially in the Educational market...
I read this article last night.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20090518/articles/905181010
It struck me that the school district is searching for the same thing i am. A cheaper way to get a computer in every students hand.
In this case, the Dell Netbook Solution is $12,000 vs the $30,000 for a regular laptop cart. This is going to happen more and more.... Apple NEEDS something for this niche. Get them using Mac's in High School in the lab - it's what htey will want to take to college.
ALthough, i hope these students don't pay the $400 for the Netbook they are using - i priced one at $100 cheaper to start.
Oh well, it's my fantasy Apple product and marketing approach. They didn't ask me
I read this article last night.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20090518/articles/905181010
It struck me that the school district is searching for the same thing i am. A cheaper way to get a computer in every students hand.
In this case, the Dell Netbook Solution is $12,000 vs the $30,000 for a regular laptop cart. This is going to happen more and more.... Apple NEEDS something for this niche. Get them using Mac's in High School in the lab - it's what htey will want to take to college.
ALthough, i hope these students don't pay the $400 for the Netbook they are using - i priced one at $100 cheaper to start.
Oh well, it's my fantasy Apple product and marketing approach. They didn't ask me
