How Apple builds a Mac mindset

Was: Mac Pro PCI port access cover problem?

Warren Oates was answering to Priam:

>> Don't be so stupid. That's self-evidednt. When you buy a Mac Pro,
>> you know _not_ to populate the drive bays until you get it home and
>> you can buy them from Directdial. Apple will rob you blind in this
>> regard

Warren, if Jobs asks $100(1) upgrade that costs $10 on the
market, how much do you figure you pay for the 640 GB HD that you can't
escape buying with a Pro?

(1) Upgrade from a 640GB HD to 1 TB on a Mac Pro.

Same when you buy memory or a monitor: you buy elsewhere because Apple
is so awfully expensive. The ultimate Maccies' dream would be to buy
only the motherboard from Apple so they can run their flashy interface
to FreeBSD.

The problem is Apple just won't let you because Jobs wants to juice you
to the last drop on every part that you have to buy with a computer.

Now all that's left for you is shout "Hurray, hurray, hurray!" every
time Apple is disclosing its indecent profits. You feel part of Apple.
Trouble is you're only Apple's sucker.

Why do you get this stupid? Because you're brainwashed 1984 style by
Jobs. In every single "I'm a Mac" ad, the father, the Grand Master
explains you're his wisest son. You wouldn't want to be caught dead
buying one of those PCs that everybody buys at a decent price because
you're not everybody. You're special.

That's why, Warren, you can't fathom that you're being had as badly when
you buy your computer as when you buy additional equipment. It's very
plain and simple.

Would your father, the Grand Master, lie to you? Of course not! So, when
someone comes around explaining that he's indeed ripping you off badly,
you get into fits of rage, damning all the Frogs in the world for not
understanding how much superior you are.

You're not superior, just damn pathetic, Warren.

Arnold Wheeland wrote:

> Warren, if Jobs asks $100(1) upgrade that costs $10 on the
> market, how much do you figure you pay for the 640 GB HD that you can't
> escape buying with a Pro?


Not all 640 gig drives are made the same. Some are tested/warranted for
longer operations, some have firmware to notify the OS of problems, some
don't. Oh, and some have better performance than others too.

So comparing the disks sold by Apple with disks sold at the computer
store equivalent of wallmart is comparing apples with oranges.


Yes, Apple products have higher markups, but the markups are not as bad
as you make them out to be.

On Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:10:42 -0500, JF Mezei wrote
(in article <0096eae8$0$8185$(E-Mail Removed)>):

> Arnold Wheeland wrote:
>
>> Warren, if Jobs asks $100(1) upgrade that costs $10 on the
>> market, how much do you figure you pay for the 640 GB HD that you can't
>> escape buying with a Pro?
>
>
> Not all 640 gig drives are made the same. Some are tested/warranted for
> longer operations, some have firmware to notify the OS of problems, some
> don't. Oh, and some have better performance than others too.
>
> So comparing the disks sold by Apple with disks sold at the computer
> store equivalent of wallmart is comparing apples with oranges.
>
>
> Yes, Apple products have higher markups, but the markups are not as bad
> as you make them out to be.

And you're talking to Priam again...

--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

+ JF Mezei <(E-Mail Removed)>:

> So comparing the disks sold by Apple with disks sold at the computer
> store equivalent of wallmart is comparing apples with oranges.

Every time I hear that, I am overcome by an irresistible urge to quote
the following bit of scientific research:

Scott A. Sandford: Apples and Oranges – A Comparison
Annals of Improbable Research 1 #3 (1995)
http://improbable.com/airchives/pape...-3-apples.html

Sandford, by the way, is a Rocket Scientist.

So there.

--
* Harald Hanche-Olsen <URL:http://www.math.ntnu.no/~hanche/>
- It is undesirable to believe a proposition
when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.
-- Bertrand Russell

On 12/13/2009 09:10 PM, JF Mezei wrote:
> Arnold Wheeland wrote:
>
>> Warren, if Jobs asks $100(1) upgrade that costs $10 on the
>> market, how much do you figure you pay for the 640 GB HD that you can't
>> escape buying with a Pro?
>
>
> Not all 640 gig drives are made the same. Some are tested/warranted for
> longer operations, some have firmware to notify the OS of problems, some
> don't. Oh, and some have better performance than others too.

Oh, yes, absolutely! And if there are any drives that made themselves a
reputation for better performance, it's the Samsung that Apple uses.

Man, I wonder how come Apple doesn't hire you. You could explain why
Apple drives are so much better than the low technology drives that
NewEgg sells. Instead of flocking to NewEgg'S site, Maccies would run to
Apple's site and pay 3 or 4 times the price for those invaluable pieces
of top machinery.

But, on the one hand, one wonders if would be worth investing in your
salary since Apple's HD never fail:

<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=apple+disk+OR%C2%A0%22hard+disk%22% C2%A0OR%C2%A0%22hard+drive%22+OR%C2%A0%22disk+driv e%22%C2%A0OR%C2%A0HD+OR%C2%A0DD+failure+OR%C2%A0fa il&aq=f&oq=&aqi=>

On the other hand, Linux users could grab the disks and get a stronghold
on the server market where Apple is the leader at the present time. It's
a known fact that with cheap diagnostic tools such as fsck, Linux's
servers market share is on the verge of collapsing.

> So comparing the disks sold by Apple with disks sold at the computer
> store equivalent of wallmart is comparing apples with oranges.

All you say makes so much sense, JF and I agree so much with you. I hope
all Mac users will step forward and hail me for having at last
understood what makes Macs' value. Asking $100 instead of $10 on an
upgrade is certainly totally justified. Jooby has higer margins not
because he's swindling you, but because he's cut wages from 25¢ to 12¢
in this sweat shops.

> Yes, Apple products have higher markups, but the markups are not as bad
> as you make them out to be.

I believe they're totally justified. I hope all you Maccies will stop
buying from NewEgg from now on!

On 12/14/2009 12:09 AM, isw wrote:
> In article<hg42ql$d34$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Arnold Wheeland<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Was: Mac Pro PCI port access cover problem?
>>
>> Warren Oates was answering to Priam:
>>
>>>> Don't be so stupid. That's self-evidednt. When you buy a Mac Pro,
>>>> you know _not_ to populate the drive bays until you get it home and
>>>> you can buy them from Directdial. Apple will rob you blind in this
>>>> regard
>>
>> Warren, if Jobs asks $100(1) upgrade that costs $10 on the
>> market, how much do you figure you pay for the 640 GB HD that you can't
>> escape buying with a Pro?
>>
>> (1) Upgrade from a 640GB HD to 1 TB on a Mac Pro.
>>
>> Same when you buy memory or a monitor: you buy elsewhere because Apple
>> is so awfully expensive.
>
> In the particular case of monitors, pretty much any one that has the
> same color accuracy as an Apple-branded one will cost close to the same
> amount.

"A support thread on Apple's Web site has 81 pages of comments and
complaints from users with various iMac display issues.

"Computerworld is reporting on a new Web site that has been setup by Web
designer Scott Pronych to track the problems of the 27-inch iMac. The
Web site tracks problems from flickering displays to hard drive failures
and even has a category for those with no issues."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10414512-37.html

"Canadian Web designer Scott Pronych built the tracking site after he
received a 27-in. iMac with a shattered screen, saying he wanted to
document the display problems. By digging through Apple's support forum
and taking reports directly from others via a form on his site, Pronych
has identified more than 600 users who have had issues with their new
machines.

"A thread on Apple's support forum dedicated to the flickering screen
problem boasts nearly 1,200 separate messages and has a view count of
over 173,000, making it easily the most-read of those on the iMac forum."

<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142199/Graphics_issues_force_Apple_to_delay_iMac_orders_r esellers_report>