$50 bucks to apple for an adapter costing $10. If their margins for the macs are high like 40% their adapter prices are close to 300-500%. And dongles get lost all the time, or forgotten, make for nice visits to the local apple store at the city you are having a conference in and need ethernet, and a 400% margin purchase at the apple store as well as chance to bring wify or gfriend along to bust your balls to get her the new ipad or ipod touch as a gift.
Apple is all about corporate marketing and greed these days. More so than ever. People shouldn't think for a second that they are not only keenly aware of the scenario I described but they have intentionally planned it that way.
How many of us lose or forget dongles, especially ones you carry around (most of us), how many of us will be in an ethernet only scenario where we 'll just have to access the network having lost or forgotten said dongle and will have to take a stroll down to the local apple shrine (sorry store) or reseller many times on holiday with family where not only will we pay them the inordinate amount for it but they ll be able to excite family members for a little gift off the store.
These are all very calculated, statistically analyzed and organized to a "t" marketing tactics. Computer wise of course they make absolutely no sense, a notebook does not HAVE to be 1 millimeter thinner for any compelling reason, ethernet is the most ubiquitous industry standard after usb that's in no way phased out and it's a necessity to almost all professionals, a rev. 1 notebook with such a demanding screen doesn't benefit in it's all important thermals for being 1mm thinner it's taxed even more. This has nothing to do with computers or your customers' needs, it's all about how to squeeze every buck you can out of people, it's marketing greed. And apple are keenly aware they are in such a market position that they can milk most people for anything they got. They should be careful though it doesn't come back to bite them in the *** at some point.
