Why I think Apple Comps are great deals

[Peyton]

Imagine; me and a couple friends shopping for furniture for my new place.

I want modern, cool, black/silver/white furnishings with colorful artwork to make it all pop. OK, so I go to a nice store (I love to spend money I think is actually of value and is EXACTLY what I want; conversly, I hate spending money on things that 'will work' but not quite what I had in mind.)

Anyway. I went to my local Drexel Heritage and bought a bed two sofas (all in black), a bookcase among other things (end tables, coffee table, dinning table)

and realized I could have got an amazing Mac for that much. Take the bookcase, it looks much better in person, but it costs more than the 17 inch iMac by about $300.

When I think about all the time and meticulous energy put into the iMac (OSX, software, hardware design etc) Apple comps look like incredible deals.

Especially because it can really change your life (or perspective at least) when my book case will sit there and look cool.

I know a lot went into the bookcase too, but I just really felt like Macs were actually cheap when paying for the furniture.

Any luxury car owners? $700 for a heated seat package. Basically the same thing as a heated blanked ($50) and put into a chair. Still costs about as much as a mini.

Anyway, just my opinion, just a different perspective.

 

[lamina]

Very interesting perspective indeed. I am thinking a lot like you are, except that I'm still in university. When I go out drinking, I think to myself "instead of going out and getting drunk tonight, I could have bought a sweet wireless mouse".

Which is why I'm somewhat of a hermit lately.

The worst though is my tuition bill. "Jeez... instead of spending $15,000 this year on school, I could have bought myself a totally souped-up quad-core PowerMac with 16GB of memory, huge hdd, etc"

Of course there is no need for such a computer (for me anyway), but it kinda puts everything in perspective. Perhaps there should be a universal currency called Macaroons, outlining how many mac products you can get for a certain amount of 'real-world' money.

I think I drank too much coffee this morning.

 

[Josias]

Ha!

I like your opinion.

 

[katie ta achoo]

The worst though is my tuition bill. "Jeez... instead of spending $15,000 this year on school, I could have bought myself a totally souped-up quad-core PowerMac with 16GB of memory, huge hdd, etc"

my train of thought:
I could spend $15k for my bachelor's at university of Houston, then $15k/year somewhere else for my grad school, then take that education, earn a 7-figure income, and buy several souped-up PowerMacs.

 

[Compatiblepoker]

If I knew what I know now I would never have gone to college. Sad but true in my case. I don't know how much college actually helped my do anything except for how to live in the "real world"

 

[miloblithe]

So Macs are great deals because they cost less than things that are extremely expensive?

 

[QCassidy352]

So Macs are great deals because they cost less than things that are extremely expensive?

my thoughts exactly.

katie, just curious - what do you plan on doing that pays a 7 figure income?

 

[katie ta achoo]

my thoughts exactly.

katie, just curious - what do you plan on doing that pays a 7 figure income?

CFO of large technology related company.

 

[Demon Hunter]

If I knew what I know now I would never have gone to college. Sad but true in my case. I don't know how much college actually helped my do anything except for how to live in the "real world"

Yeah. Higher education isn't what it used to be. With my degree in Psychology, I'll be qualified to flip burgers.

That's why I'm going to grad school, but when I'm done with my Bachelor's... that's 60k. Yeah.

 

[coffey7]

the Macs are way over priced but since I'm rich I don't care.

 

[itcheroni]

my train of thought:
I could spend $15k for my bachelor's at university of Houston, then $15k/year somewhere else for my grad school, then take that education, earn a 7-figure income, and buy several souped-up PowerMacs.

So what will you use in the mean time?

7 figures! How you doin?

 

[DaveP]

Katie, let us know where you get that sweet $1,000,000+ job out of school. We'll all forward our resumes.

Though I will say college is very much a good thing. However, a lot of people get liberal arts degrees because they don't know what they want to do. And a liberal arts degree generally isn't very career oriented, as opposed to engineering for example.

 

[TheMasin9]

lucky...

the Macs are way over priced but since I'm rich I don't care.

wish i was in your boat...

 

[p0intblank]

the Macs are way over priced but since I'm rich I don't care.

Well you're an open-minded person!

 

[GyroFX]

wow 7 figure income straight outta college? you must be on something...maybe after 15+ years going through all levels of AR/AP...maybe then, if you're lucky enough, you might get paid 450k -600k...in a HUGE company, and it's gotta be a fourtune 500 at least. I don't see how any company will dish out 1 mil + to someone straight outta grad school...let alone 100k. You need the experience these days, need to be trusted, need to have connections, need to be good at what you're doing. If the average jane/joe can get 100k jobs straight outta college, then damn...i don't know what to say. In any case, best of luck to you, it's not easy out there, unless your family is running the firm/company etc.

 

[miloblithe]

A lawyer from a top school can make over $100,000 straight out of college.

Back to the original post though, it's also important to consider that high-quality furniture is meant to last for 20, 50, 100 years. A computer is lucky to go strong after 4.

 

[GyroFX]

ooops, i meant 1 mil straight outta college. yeah, the really good lawyers can get 100k outta college but they've gotta be really good and out of a good college. I know lawyers that get paid 3 mil + yr...but they've been doing it for a while and made partner

A lawyer from a top school can make over $100,000 straight out of college.

Back to the original post though, it's also important to consider that high-quality furniture is meant to last for 20, 50, 100 years. A computer is lucky to go strong after 4.

 

[QCassidy352]

A lawyer from a top school can make over $100,000 straight out of college.

A lawyer can make $125K (base salary before a [substantial] bonus) straight out of law school at pretty much any major firm in a big city. By definition a lawyer can't be "straight out of college."

It is certainly possible to make 6 figures straight out of college, however. I have several friends who went in to investment banking (JP Morgan) and are getting paid over $50,000 first year. Oh yea... that's over $50,000 in bonuses. As in, not including base salary. So we're talking waaay over $100,000 right out of undergrad.

Of course, that also involves working six and a half days a week and selling your soul, so on balance, it doesn't seem like all that hot a deal.

 

[Peyton]

Back to the original post though, it's also important to consider that high-quality furniture is meant to last for 20, 50, 100 years. A computer is lucky to go strong after 4.

VERY good point. Although I don't tend to like to look at the same furniture for years and years on end, I get what you're saying.

My point was, the engineering/design/R&D hours FAR out paces the bookcase price.

And to the poster that said 'so they are cheap when comparing to something more expensive' ... well, yes, but as a functional perspective, bookcases aren't exactly that functional. I mean, the floor can hold whatever I wanted to put in the bookcase.

I don't know, it just seems that one big turn off to Apple products to some people is that they seem too expensive, and over the weekend I've learned that really, relatively, functionally, they aren't.

 

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

A post just to show us you're shopping at Drexler?

My Powerbook was a terrible deal compared to my Ikea!

 

[miloblithe]

...Although I don't tend to like to look at the same furniture for years and years on end, I get what you're saying...

Your parents are very generous.

 

[Peyton]

Your parents are very generous.

Well, they are, but I pay for most everything myself now. Including furniture

 

[dmw007]

An interesting perspective Peyton.

I tend to think about the same thing every year when I cut a check for my car insurance.

 

[ddrueckhammer]

A lawyer from a top school can make over $100,000 straight out of college.

Back to the original post though, it's also important to consider that high-quality furniture is meant to last for 20, 50, 100 years. A computer is lucky to go strong after 4.

Lawyers who make over $100,000 out of law school also have to have very strong GPAs from Ivy League or at least the top Tier 1 schools. Also, most of these people work close to 80hrs/week.
If you take into account the hours they put in, they aren't making any more money than a lot of graduates. This is part of the reason I will never be a Lawyer or a Doctor. Good luck to those of you who have those aspirations but I find Engineering far more interesting with the potential of being more lucrative than most fields...

 

[Peyton]

Interesting there is so much talk about lawyers here,

my dad is a lawyer, has been for 20 years, and he immediately went into private practice, works about 6 hours a day (9AM-3PM) some times till 5PM if theres a depo or something, and has never made less than 100k. many times more in fact so its not unbelievable, and no, he didn't go to an ivy league law school. Private practice doesn't really require a great GPA either.

Before you start to think he must have had a rich dad or something, well he did, but he took out a loan after college to pay for his office etc and did it himself. (he also has a partner which helps.)

And before someone starts thinking I'm a spoiled kid who doesn't know the value of a dollar, like my dad, I work for every dollar I get. I'm not trying to come off preachy, I just know how some skepics* around here work