codo said:
1) Being so ballsy about product releases - No one actually cares that much.
This does remind me of another point too. Distinct market segmentation.
That's actually very annoying if you are aware of what they are trying to pull, think about it next time when you look at their line again.
Unlike the rest of the industry where a cheap PC and a top of the line "super" PC both can come in the same stupid looking standardised tin can casing, for Apple's offerings they practically restrict you right down to every component that they can. Heck, in fact in the very early days you can't even upgrade your Apple without making Steve a bit richer.
Which brings to the next point, fixed price points.
Do you know the real secret why people are always holding out for the next product rev? Well, you haven't heard it anywhere else! The secret is really because.... Apple products sell at a fixed price point.
Really, that's all there is basically.
Think about it. Say I am in the market for a laptop. So I come onto Apple's website, and decided that the top 2.0Ghz MBP is too pricey for me. No worries! I just spec a 1.83Ghz model, and click checkout for the win! 5 days later I receives my laptop, and Apple adds a new Core 2 based machine in the line up. Do I care? Nope, I wouldn't have gotten it anyway.
On the other hand, right now everyone is probably muling over how exactly do the features that come with the MBP justify an almost 90% increase in price over the MB (in fact I will even go as far to say that anyone buying a MBP today, fully aware of what might come out in WWDC, either did that on a) a stolen credit card b) his boss' credit card c) not his own credit card). Herein comes the trouble, there isn't all that much really. Besides the current models run rather warm, have no DL drives, and dings easily. Who is to say there wouldn't be a new carbon-fibre based design to bring the MBP to new heights in design? Or that perhaps Merom ones will run cooler? Or perhaps DL dvd burners?
Either way people all are looking for that extra something to sweeten what is already not-so-sweet a deal. In short, if people actually have choices, we'd all just buy what we need and be happy with it. If we are told what to want OTOH, we wait for revs and place our orders straight after, with a gleeful feeling that we've gamed the system and gotten extra value for our money (we didn't, we are still suckers, but that feeling helps).
