I don't disagree. Where we part ways is whether it is Apple's responsibility to make that choice easy. I expect Apple to act in the manner that makes them the most money, always. They are not my friend or my advocate. It's up to me to make my own determinations—from whether Apple products in general are a good choice, do I need an iPad at all, which model iPhone, do I want a laptop or a desktop, and so on. When Apple was small and struggling, a hyper-simple product lineup made some sense: In effect, they did need to make it easy in order not to turn away the few customers they had. Now, Apple is much larger. Their brand has tremendous momentum. They have the luxury of not coddling a few customers, but extracting as much money from them as possible. Remember how we celebrate Apple's profitability? Most profits in the smartphone sector? Most profits in the smartwatch sector? Most profits in computing? How exactly do you think they get there—by having a one-size-fits-all product lineup? No, by diversity and upsell, upsell, upsell.
Waiting for Apple to make it "easy" is begging to be fleeced. Stop assigning greater good to companies who's job it is to make the most money possible. Can we reflect with some hint of sadness that Apple obviously sees a broadening (and adding confusion to) their product lineup as the best way to accomplish its profit goals? Perhaps. But that doesn't change the on-the-ground thought process: How do I decide what to buy. Again, I need to figure it out, not Apple on my behalf.
p.s. I appreciate our debate! Clearly we feel very differently about the state of Apple's product matrix (and its base motivations), yet we're finding a way to represent our opinions respectfully. Cheers to you.
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