how does every1 pay for these computers!

The simple answer is, we don't pay for them. Once you are initiated and learn the secret handshake, all of Apple's products are free!

 

Drugs, sell lots and lots of drugs... (JK of course)

 

I often wonder this too sometimes, and here a few possibilities:
- Well paid professionals who are financially able to purchase things.
- Rich parents
- Many people around here work in the computer/digital industry so they
require several machines for different purposes, possibly provided by their
employer
- People make spending money on computers a priority above other things
for various reasons.

Thats' just a few possibilities. FWIW, I saved up for quite a long time to purchase my PB, being a student and only working part time. I don't really have any need for more than one computer, so after the initial purchase I really haven't spent that much I guess.

 

Most people pay MR $25 and then Arn gives every demi-god/godess and contributor multiple free computers of their choice. iGary and Dr.Q get as many as they want, as does JSW.

How this happens is a mystery, which, like when we are going to see a G5 powerbook, only Steve Jobs knows.

 

Work hard and save sensibly. Or whore out a sibling.

 

I wish!

 

I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you!!!

 

And now that KTs the CFO she gave free PowerMacs to everyone on MR... did you not get yours?

Sorry, really old joke.

 

I sold some shares for mine. Sold them at a good time too, the week after I sold them they started to go down and haven't stopped since.

I could have bought one with the money I saved working as a full time waiter in the Aussie ski-fields (saved A$5500 in about 3.5 months) but I used that money to fund a year-long working holiday in Canada.

 

Save your money - your ibook will be fine for the forseeable future unless you're doing absolute cutting edge graphics, video, sound and gaming. It never ceases to amaze me folks who will buy a PB or MBP, nowadays, for using Word, checking email, surfing the Web and watching DVDs.

Yeah, the new MBs are pretty special, but keep in mind they're rev. A machines, there's several new Intel processors waiting in the wings this year, and by the time you actually need a replacement laptop and have saved up for one, they'll really be killer notebooks.

Get your cell phone - it was your original goal. Then start saving again for a MB.

As for me, every product I buy is on a cash and carry basis only, including my Apple hardware. If I don't have the cash saved up, I don't get it - I'm approaching $0 on my credit cards and don't ever want to use them again.

Which leads me to another observation - a lot of Americans finance their lives on debt, so it wouldn't surprise me if a chunk of folks on MR have Apple gear that was purchased on credit cards alone.

 

Plan to work. Work to save. Plan to buy. Work your plan. With a family of four (two kids in college), there's not a slam dunk one-size-fits-all formula for fitting everyone in to a computer. When we started out, everyone shared my little PB 150, then we added an iMac 350, then a 632CD and a 6116 PowerMac. By the time I got my pismo500, we had a couple of friends of the family who bought my wife and daughter each a new iBookG3 (wife) and then an iBookG4 (daughter). By last year, I'd saved enough to get my AlPB 15" and gave my pismo to my son. It's all been a combination of saving and pinching and a little good fortune from friends.

 

Well, not really, as you might not know we're really "up top" and we don't have shrimp, we have prawns. Pretty sure our entire nation has never really forgiven Paul Hogan for that one.

That's a good idea to have that money in a University fund as with a good education you can make a proper wage and really go nuts on the Mac-buying side of life.

What job do you have where you're only pulling in US$150 a week? That's a tiny bit less than A$200 per week which, if I was working in a proper restaurant I would earn in an 8 hour shift on Sunday. Sorry but I still can't get my head around the low wages in the states for hospitality workers.

If you want something so much (and remember, your iBook is still a damned good machine especially with 1GB of RAM) you have to take it seriously, work out a workable saving plan that you can really stick to, break it down into smaller goals and tick them off as the come up to give yourself a feeling of completing something and to keep you focussed on the task. Look at what you can afford to sacrifice, if you really like to do something then don't give it up, just cut back a little. Do you really need a brand new phone at that price? Can you find a cheaper one? Remember, it's really just a phone.

Trust me, I know what it's like to have money burning a hole in my pocket - I have a real problem with money even now where I have to live paycheque to paycheque because finding a job as a student in this town is like pulling teeth and until I graduate (in just about 6 weeks time - here we don't "graduate" from High School, graduation is from University) and finally have this bloody degree I've been working for the last five years to get I'll have to keep working and saving the pittance a week that I don't spend.

Chin up tiger, relax and try to figure out what you really want.

 

Excuse me!

However, if this is true, Arn must have many, many Macs just lying around. I wonder if he goes swiming in them like how rich people go swimming in their piles of gold coins...

I can't imagine that is very comfortable.

 

I work...on my Mac...I only have one.

But yes, I think people afford fancy computers by working, and I'm not talking about minimum wage jobs. Lots of graphic artist, web designs, video professionals and photographers on the site. Not saying those are all big money careers, but if your good you can make a nice living.

 

I'm also a full time student (working about 30-35 hours a week), and I just have to say that you should really be certain you can afford it. I kind of jumped the gun when I got it last September; my workhorse Powerbook G4 400 I'd bought from my dad for $250 over a year ago had died a sudden, horrible death (that I won't go into here) and I think I looked at my finances a little too optimistically when I decided to get an iBook in the beginning of the semester. Of course, within two months of getting the iBook my car broke down for good, and I had to hitch rides to school for three months before I could afford a new (read: VERY used) car. Enjoy your iBook as long as you can!

 

I get money for my computers the way I get money for everything else I own... I have a job!

 

I kind of resent that. I don't enjoy being referred to as a "little kid" who only has Apple products b/c my daddy can afford them. I have a 15" iMac G5 and it's a nice computer and I'm very grateful that my parents got it for me for Christmas out of their own will.
If one's parents can afford it and the kid is going to use it and enjoy the Mac, what is wrong with the kid getting the computer??
And I at least try to act like I know what I'm doing and hope that I do. Most people who don't give a crap about the computer and only have it b/c they're rich probably wouldn't be on this forum.

Oh, and I agree with the guy, RAZR first, MB later.
Also, I think a lot of people either have nice professional jobs, have the computers for work, or are in debt on the computer.