What's With Apples Marketing Scheme???

[arn]

Originally posted by rEd Eye
"
That's because Apple will not allow anyone else to manufacture anything Apple related,and want to force "ahem!"(encourage people into buying the whole pre-fab kit every two years

I think here is the crux of the issue though...

Let's all step back a moment and think about it... Apple has limited resources...

What percentage of the general population is a "do it yourself" computer kind of person.... ? I'd wager to say it probably doesn't even register on the polls.... we're talking an insane minority..

Why should Apple try to cater to them... vs the "mom and pop" crowd... where they have no clue how to even open their computer... they don't even know what RAM is.

Now... that being said - I think it _is_ important that Apple DOES appeal to the tech crowd.... in that they are the ones who make recommendations for their family/friends.... so the whole unix/os issue definately helps them in that respect.

arn

 

[rEd Eye]

Apple Store:512mb PC133 ram =$300
Pricewatch.com--------------------=$78($135 for Apple ram)

Apple Store:80 gig ultra ata drive=$250
seagate.com--------------------------=$207(ST380021A)

SCSI drives:comparable price(I don't think Apple dares to charge more)

Apple store:Geforce 4 Ti-----------=add $250 more(close to$500+ total,I think)
Pricewatch.com----------------------=$275

etc.etc.etc.

I cannot be bothered to research more,or try and figure out how much the exclusivly mac components cost,but this is the jist of it if you start putting together the difference in component cost's,you pay a hell of a lot less if you build your own"hi end PC",and you can save considerably anywhere that you can bypass the Apple store,or an official reseller.Right down to keyboards,mice power supply,the fancy case,the fans inside,the solder on the circuit board,cables etc.Almost ALL costs more from Apple,except the products that they sell to promote sales of their more expensive hardware(eg.OS X,blank DVD's) .Maybe it costs them more to make their computers,but they are obviously profit margin hungry.Whomever is building comparable PC's for more than the mac would cost is obviously buying their parts from the Apple store

Combine Apples markup,with their lack of options,and then the consumer finds deals like this
http://www.gateway.com/home/deals/offers/dealoftheweek.shtml
(or at least it looks good to the undiscerning)
And Apple is not going to sell this person a computer!
At least with complete ground up bto options,a discerning(budget resricted) user could put together a tight mac,minus the bells and whistles that are not really important for the time being and go home with a fully functional stripped down Mac for much less than is now possible.
I can tell you one thing though........as soon as(if ever) OS X(or even OS 9 lol) gets ported over to run on PC Hardware,I'm gone.I would never pay way too much for a mac and a bunch 'o stuff that I didn't want or need,ever again!!!!!
I don't know how much you manage to build a PC for,but I damn well know how little I could do it with!

 

[arn]

Originally posted by rEd Eye

I can tell you one thing though........as soon as(if ever) OS X(or even OS 9 lol) gets ported over to run on PC Hardware,I'm gone.

And that's why it will never happen*...

arn

*except as a last ditch about-to-go-bankrupt effort

 

[rEd Eye]

Originally posted by arn


I think here is the crux of the issue though...

Let's all step back a moment and think about it... Apple has limited resources...

What percentage of the general population is a "do it yourself" computer kind of person.... ? I'd wager to say it probably doesn't even register on the polls.... we're talking an insane minority..

Why should Apple try to cater to them... vs the "mom and pop" crowd... where they have no clue how to even open their computer... they don't even know what RAM is.

Now... that being said - I think it _is_ important that Apple DOES appeal to the tech crowd.... in that they are the ones who make recommendations for their family/friends.... so the whole unix/os issue definately helps them in that respect.

arn

I agree,this definately pertains to the reality of the situation.My beef is that I am part of that minority crowd who loves to put it together myself,as well as do it as economicly as possible,as I am not wealthy.I wish Apple could make this possible for me,as well as I strongly believe that they could build a huge budget oriented"techie"consumer base if they figure out how to provide more options for the"do it yourself" consumer.The big name PC component manufacturers do just fine,so I don't see why Apple couldn't.
Would you buy a new G4 mobo and dual CPU from Apple instead of buying the whole new rig,if they made that an option?
Would you buy these component and stuff them into a generic case with 3'rd party,reusable components if you could do it for a $500+ less,$1000+ less the second time?
I would!Twice as often as I would buy a new tower!
So come on Apple,unlimit those resources............You've got money,use it!
Cater to us poor techies,godammit!