You had a semi level-headed, rational argument until your last sentence, which jumped you solidly into troll territory. And that's too bad.
I suppose I'm a brainwashed sucker if I buy, say, a Tag-Heuer instead of a Casio? And I imagine only a moron would pay $5 for a sandwich at the deli when he could easily make his own from home for a buck.
Those are very, very different comparisons. Does a Tag-Heuer have the same components as the Casio?
I have a computer with components SUPERIOR to the iMac and it cost less. I have a nVidia 9500GT with 512MB GDDR that is not up to the GT130, but is a lot cheaper and has the ability to use SLI. I have more memory that I would argue is of higher quality (yes, I'm a Kingston honk). A larger HDD. A Lightscribe DVD burner that I don't believe you can even GET on the iMac.
Put a MacBook Pro and your $700 HP in front of someone and tell them they can take either, absolutely free. They'll pick the MacBook Pro 99/100 times. Guaranteed. So there must be some premium value in there somewhere, no?
Not really. There's premium perception, but that doesn't necessarily mean something is premium. But to say the price is immaterial is ridiculous. And we're not talking about going from a stripped down Chevy Cavalier all the way up to a BMW 300. It's not like going from non-automatic locks, cheap cloth, AM/FM radio, and crankable windows with a 130hp engine to a decked out in leather with sunroof, DVD entertainment system, auto everything, and 220hp engine vehicle THAT INCLUDES MAINTENANCE.
The difference between the two is that they are very similar under the hood, one just has a nicer design with the sheet metal with one or two added bells and whistles. It's not like comparing a Mercedes to a Chevy. It's like getting a reskinned Chevy that doesn't look as dull and adding climate control.
So let's say for that in a car you only need add $2500 to a $20000 price tag. That's a 12.5% premium. Fair enough.
The $1750 MacBook is a 250% premium. Hardly equivalent and clearly a rip off.
You pull that MacBook Pro out next to the HP and say I can have the MacBook for $1000 versus the $700 and I'm there, but I think given the price of hardware these days that much above that is just being a sucker. I could even see $1200, but $1750?
And I love how much they charge to upgrade things for you if you customize from Apple direct. $50 for a 70GB bump on your hard drive. $1000 for 4 more GB in memory. I realize the 4GB modules are expensive, but I could get 8GB for under $650 on New Egg and Apple can do better than that. They could at least give you credit for the two 2GB modules they'd just use on another machine.
Reality is that you do not set these in front of people and say "pick one and it's free". If you could upgrade your car to leather with climate control at no cost then you would, but for most people cost comes in to play.
And I can afford to pay the extra Apple wants, but its not worth it. Maybe it was more worthwhile in the past, when Tiger hit and was clearly superior to XP. But, as I've said, Windows 7 changes the game a bit. The OS is easy on the eyes, stable, quick, and even has innovative features that Apple doesn't have (is trying to in Snow Leopard, but they do a poor job imitating the great Aero Peek feature).
Apple's hardware is pretty, but that's not why they've picked up users. Apple's stuff has always looked better. Frustrations with Windows coupled with greater Mac exposure drove growth, but what if those Windows frustrations largely end? What if the perception is that Microsoft has leapt ahead of Apple in the OS game? The added value is then minimized.
I can make the same "brainwashed sucker" argument regarding people who are willing to put up with Windows (at any price). In fact, a Windows user should steer clear of the "brainwashed" accusation entirely. Those who live in glass houses...
I've been in both camps, so I'm far away from being brainwashed. And I will say that Windows 7 is superior to Leopard and is superior to the builds of Snow Leopard I've had access to. Frankly, I've had less problems with this RC of Win7 than I had with my last iMac that fried due to Apple's cheap capacitors and unwillingness to do anything about it, unlike the PC manufacturers out there. The illusion of superior quality, of it being a Mercedes, was gone - but I knew that when my white iBook G3 had repeated video issues due to poor engineering back when I first switched, but Apple did bend over backwards to fix it then. They've since not been so good there and clearly use the same cheap parts that HP, Dell, etc all use.
I've been using Win7 for over two months with ZERO problems. Everything works. Everything moves quickly. It's TRULY 64 bit, unlike OS X until Snow Leopard arrives. It's a great OS and credit is due for MS really working hard on it.
I too have built my own PCs in the past. I'm done with that garbage. A Mac is worth every extra penny to me. And apparently to millions of others as well.
Good for you, but more of us find them to be rip offs. You can have your little niche. I expect many will abandon the Mac when they have to finally replace their machines and they look at the price and then look at Win7. Apple's marketshare will continue to diminish for the desktops and laptops as it has recently. They'll still be profitable and Mac people will still love them, but their chance to truly grow their market significantly will have been lost due to ridiculous bonuses to their head honchos, their ridiculously high profit margin, and their arrogance to think they can dictate terms to consumers.
If you enjoy it then stick with it. That's fine. Apple needs people like you to keep giving them margins of over 20% on machines. As P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute."
Paying a little bit more for a laptop or desktop means you're going for superior design quality and the name. Paying 200% over competition means your a sucker.
Let's say a base Toyota Camry with an I4, CD player, etc costs $20K. Would you pay $50,000 for a Toyota Camry with Leather, Nav, Climate Control, and a Moon Roof? That's essentially what you do when you pay $1749 for the MacBook Pro versus the $700 HP. Sure, the MacBook has better specs, but $50,000 for a loaded Camry? Not even Toyota is dumb enough to charge that much for one. Why? Because I guess Mac users don't buy Toyotas. If they did Toyota would jack the price up because they might go for it. After all, it's "premium product."
Maybe I should get Apple's mailing list and buy a car dealership. At least I know I could sell you a $50,000 Camry.
