Forums | MacLife

I came to that conclusion a long time ago.
I no longer use Apple.

Example?

MB38 wrote:

Example?

RAM

Example?

1) Like the new unibody Macbooks?  Great.  Pay an extra 300 over base.
2) Want some firewire with that?   Pay an extra 700.  (I'm not counting the white MBs because they will be obsolesced in a year.  If they are not, that's another example.)
3)  Want the best screen with that laptop?  Pay for a MBP or  MBA
4) There was something with AT & T and the pricing where I thought, "That's just to make more money"
5) Look how they priced the iPhone.  They charged a premium at first and then brought the price down after they had exhausted the pool of "gotta have" ers.
There's more examples but I can't think of them right now.

You know what the demarcation point was?  It was the stinkin' iPod.  Before the iPod, when all Apple made was computers, you got a solid and fair upgrade every time there was a revision of the computer line. It was easy to pay the "Apple premium" because the improvement was clear.   After the iPod blew up on them they got fancy with their pricing and features. And greedy.

I'd like to know what the sales figures are for the new unibooks.  I know Apple is having a great quarter for laptops.  But I know Apple reduced their laptop production order for the future quarter.  I'm wondering if a lot of their sales this quarter are the older laptops being blown out now.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fanboy.  I know Apple is about profit.  But one way to keep your profit up is to keep your customer's  goodwill.  I have to say, they're losing a bit of mine.  I like browsing the local Apple store but when it's buying time I'm starting to think I'm going to get some degree of shafting.  That's not good for me or for Apple.

I also think they stretch it too far. Every time it's to the absolute max hurt point before you drop purchasing.

Other example btw: they are being small with stuff like the combo drive in the entry MB (yes it's changed, but not long ago, and that's how they do.) All their products are premium, so when even that you buy one from them isn't good enough, no, you have to buy the most expensive, they will criple the "entry" level. smurf that.

So we're all saying Apple is and has been a rat for a long while now?  I trace it back to the iPod phenomenon.  That is when I recall things getting "creative".

Maybe I'll buy a new Macbook anyway.  I've always leaned over the barrel with a smile in the past.  But the MBP seems the best deal and I'm feeling like wellfleation on that one.....a little forced.

ScifiterX wrote:

1: All manufacturers including Apple have pulled crap like this for years. It just not always been so noticeable.

Yeah - that's why I like to build my own PCs.
Even then it happens.

Know how hard it is to find a decent priced motherboard with 8 ram slots?
They use to be fairly common back in the 32 bit days. Even the SE/30 had 8 ram slots.
Now - to really take advantage of full RAM capabilities of 64-bit. If you pay through the nose for 2GB sticks you can get 8GB out of them, but to buy cheaper 1GB sticks - you have to pay through the nose for a motherboard that has more than 4 slots.

When I bough my A7N8X - the serial port and extra USB headers ports were included in the box.
With my M2N - they no longer include them, fortunately the mobo headers did not change so I was able to re-use my old ones rather than need to buy them at an outrageous price.

Cases now typically come with junk fans, if you buy a case that comes w/ power supply and fans - the power supply is often junk and the fans almost always are junk. It use to be cases with PS & Fans at a decent price were decent deals. Now you are better off buying a bare case with nothing and buying your PS and fans separately.

The SATAII cables that came with my case were junk. They worked, but they looked cheap. And they were WAY too long for the case - I ended up buying cables of higher quality and shorter length.

Peanut Butter - last jar of peanut butter had a huge dimple in the bottom. Same size jar as my previous jar, but when I looked at the label, those sons of bitches reduced the quantity in it - but put a huge dimple in the bottom so it looks just the same on the store shelf.

I think something between the mini and the pro tower should also include form factor myself. While I do like the all-in-ones they aren't exactly one size fits all but then again neither is a tower, a mini, a shuttle type unit, a laptop, a net book, or ay other type of computer.

When I was like 12, I remember if you wanted to buy an Apple computer, you went to some stuffy location in the city and pompous old guys with suits almost quizzed you on whether you actually thought you wanted one of their computers or you were just in the wrong place. And in 1984 dollars, what would the price of a Mac be today? They set the bar pretty high when they started, and today it feels like everybody is at least slightly familiar with MacOS. What this thread is describing is capitalism, and there is a general consensus that may we as a group want a different kind of system driving innovation.

I have finally given up on Apple myself.
Somewhere over the last 8 years or so Macs have gone from being computers for people who were too smart to use Windows to being the bailout for those who are too stupid to make Windows work.
That is a significant paradigm shift.
And that shift is reflected in a whole new generation of revoltingly submissive fanbois who will bend over backwards to justify Apple's product manipulations. One needs only look in on discussions about Apple dropping FW to see that is bold relief.
To be an Apple user now you have to be a genuine follower, the sort who is eager to toe the line and suck it up.

Pariah wrote:

To be an Apple user now you have to be a genuine follower, the sort who is eager to toe the line and suck it up.

In all fairness, that has worked really well for Microsoft. As well as a few other organizations I can't name outside of minithink.

My PowerBook came with a DVI-VGA adapter. So, Mac laptops did indeed come with them at some point. If they indeed stopped, I don't know when that was.