Why does this thread exist? I have a 2006 Ford Focus. Ford will replace the engine if it's defective, but they're not going to upgrade it for me to a better model just because I bought hardware from them!
Of course they're going to charge for it, there's no way in **** that they wouldn't!
This thread exists for the same reason that Ford dealers have sales and trade-ins, that credit unions arrange members-only discounts layered on top of the dealership's discounted price, and that OEM and third-party manufacturers settle class action lawsuits for defective manufacture: consumers wield power over their suppliers. Consumers seldom exercise this power and when they do, it is seldom exercised wisely or well. Yet when it is informed, channeled, and well-organized, the consumer power of one individual acting on his/her own or as part of a larger group, is a force to be reckoned with.
The $129 that Apple charges is a lot less than what Microsoft charges for Windows. Not to mention you don't have the confusion of several different versions (Home, Pro, etc), nor do you have to deal with lame upgrade only editions sold at retail either. And that's not even getting into the entire nightmare aspect known as activation.
Although I take your point, let's not compare Apples with oranges. If Apple wants to seed the market, what more cost effective method than providing incentives to current users who will spread the gospel at lightning speed? Given the small (but evergreen) market share Apple holds, WHY NOT pick up the pace for spreading the Mac OS X gospel? [N.B. Who of us here isn't weary of navigating to a site only to discover "sorry, no Safari browsers can be used here and someday, when we're darned good and ready, we'll make the cool features of this site available to you wacky Apple groupies" ..... or words to that effect] If Apple wants lusty, energetic growth, it won't happen on the bottom line first. First, win the battle for people's minds.
Ultimately, it will be we consumers who resolve this dispute. Typically, I am an early adopter of gadgets and devices; I love new toys, bigger and brighter sirens and whistles. After Tiger was finally let out of the cage, and after regular reading here and at other sites to determine what I could realistically expect from its performance and promises-vs.-delivered-on-the-goods, I decided that the price, the inevitable learning curve with downtime, and the authentic usefulness of the new features equalled an excellent ROI. Right now -- for my needs -- Leopard is more sizzle than steak. I'm not saying the new features don't sound like fun or wouldn't be cool to use, but they aren't on the same "Wow! Whoopee! Problem solved! Look, ma, no hands!" scale of excitement and innovation for me that the Classic-to-Panther-to-Tiger transitions were.
Would a creative incentive from Apple change my mind? Yes.
