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Why the Black MB isn't a ripoff, and why Integrated Graphics isn't so bad.

Sorry guys,

but $150 for the color is a rip-off. I am as consumer and regular Apple customer not happy with this kind of crap. And that's why I wouldn't buy the black model. But many will and thats fine with me because I don't really care about other peoples purchasing decisions.

MBP is a different story. Here the price difference is a little heavy as well but we will see a upgrade to Merom soon and then the difference will be quite alright again.
 
Of course it is!

my first post. sorry, if my english is not perfect. i´m from germany



The black macbook. It is a rip-off indeed. Ecpecially Apple is a company that isn´t emberassed to suck some premium-dollars from their customers.

I LOVE apple-hardware and AM spoiled by the great OS. But I am also rather critical when it comes to showing-off the hardware.
Excuse me, but you´ll never find more superficial people than in the mac-community. Apple knows this fact and is even eager to make this "i wanna be so fashionable"-behaviour en vogue.

I understand people who are complaining about this "blackbook"-price-policy. But they have to understand that quite a lot of Apple´s customers are fashion-victims who are willing to pay the price for a special piece of electronics. And Apple of course wants to make as much profit as possible.


best regards!
 
This is a pretty interesting thread. There seems to be 2 groups of thought:

1. The style tax disappoints me and seems somehow un-Apple.
2. People are vain and you're just upset because you want a blackbook too.

I definitely belong to group one and I definitely prefer the blackbook, so group two is half right. But then they start talking sales figures and hotcakes and miss the point. I say, Apple is walking a fine like between courting two groups (not necessarily the same as the last two):

1. The heart of the Apple community, who bought Macs when they were beige and would still buy them if they were beige.
2. People who follow a style trend, most of whom will remain about as loyal as a trend.

If you can't see how this style-tax is something of a slap in the face to the first group, then you are being obtuse. Many people in the first group are going to prefer the black book because it's NOT stylish in that it's not representative of the typical white-Apple-iPod-style. So Apple used the pricetag to make it stylish.

Apple basically said that for this round, we're going to take our core and most loyal group for granted because they aren't going anywhere and we're going to try to tap the tragically trendy for all we can.

That's my point. Now tell me about hotcakes.
 
I have been considering selling my iBook and toeing the Intel waters (the G5 desktop stays until we get Adobe UBs), but a black MB and AppleCare comes to $1582+ (educational). That's just too much for me to consider moving up, and quite honestly too much for what you get, in terms of included RAM, HD, and graphics.

I could buy the white for a reasonable price, but with black available, I don't want white. And without a pressing need to upgrade, I refuse to pay extra for black. So Apple has lost a short-term sale to me (I doubt I'm alone) with their 'style tax.'
 
milozauckerman said:
I have been considering selling my iBook and toeing the Intel waters (the G5 desktop stays until we get Adobe UBs), but a black MB and AppleCare comes to $1582+ (educational). That's just too much for me to consider moving up, and quite honestly too much for what you get, in terms of included RAM, HD, and graphics.

I could buy the white for a reasonable price, but with black available, I don't want white. And without a pressing need to upgrade, I refuse to pay extra for black. So Apple has lost a short-term sale to me (I doubt I'm alone) with their 'style tax.'
Click to expand...

Well, given your feeling, I guess you won't get a MacBook. Personally, I love mine and think it was worth every penny. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
milozauckerman said:
I could buy the white for a reasonable price, but with black available, I don't want white. And without a pressing need to upgrade, I refuse to pay extra for black. So Apple has lost a short-term sale to me (I doubt I'm alone) with their 'style tax.'
Click to expand...

the black ones are out of stock anyway because of high demand for it. :p
So I guess Apple couldn't care less for losing you in the short term.

I hope my blackbook will arive tomorrow. I have no problem paying for style, coming from a 12 '' PB that had a hefty style tax over the ibook, too.
 
mccldwll said:
Again, "[m]any, whether they buy black or not, will not be pleased about it being obvious that they have/had to pay $150 extra for nothing more than color. And that's not good." You may be happy but many are not, or this and other similar discussions elsewhere would not be taking place.
It...is...not...good...marketing...to...leave...a...bad...taste...in...that...large...a...segment...of...the...target...market. Period.
Click to expand...
The ellipses aren't necessary to make your point. A minority of an informal poll in a niche of a niche market is not a large segment by any stretch of the word. People who don't care about the issue won't respond to the poll, and people on MR reflect the "bleeding edge" of computer users for the most part. Creating envy is the goal of marketing, and your "bad taste" is nothing more than jealousy--it's not the black MB owners by and large who are complaining of exploitation, it's people who want the black one or feel threatened somehow by it. You don't target something for derision or outrage if it's inconsequential.

And to your earlier response that nobody needs black, that's not really true. Many don't give a wit about color, but want/need the smaller 13" form factor, and need the more subdued/professional/business look.
Click to expand...
So you're saying a black MacBook looks more professional than a PowerBook did or a MacBook Pro does? Or than an iBook looks unprofessional? I think you're out of touch with client behavior, then. Unprofessional are hobbled-together no name PCs and milk crate desks, or the latest Toshiba covered in stickers with AOL ads and Centrino product briefs. A nice Apple computer in a solid color looks professional, even if it's not black.
 
-M7- said:
I have no problem paying for style, coming from a 12 '' PB that had a hefty style tax over the ibook, too.
Click to expand...

you might not have been aware, but the 12" PB also had a better graphics card, much larger hard drive, audio in, monitor spanning, was lighter and smaller, and longer battery life (among other things).
 
w8ing4intelmacs said:
you might not have been aware, but the 12" PB also had a better graphics card, much larger hard drive, audio in, monitor spanning, was lighter and smaller, and longer battery life (among other things).
Click to expand...

yes, but I could have done all my stuff with the ibook. I got the PB just for its style. And I had a lot of fun with it, so in the end it was all worth the extra money. If I save some $$$ but dont totally enjoy the product, I would not want it at all.

btw. the ibook had a far better battery life than the 12'' PB. The spanning was available via a hack and I never needed the better graphics.

When you think about it... with the current line of macbooks you dont get artificially crippled maschines like with the ibook before. You get a lot of power for a very good price. For the geeks that want the special something... I think there are a lot of people willing to pay 150 extra, if the inventory of the blackbook is any indication.
 
I find it laughable people think they have a right to the black macbook. You always have to pay more for more in-demand features, it's just this time instead of being combo vs. superdrive it's white vs. black. Black is in very high demand.
 
celebrian23 said:
You guys need to lighten up.
Click to expand...

my weight aside :), a dvd burner is more expensive and has more functional ability than a combo drive (dvd reader) which justifies a cost difference. it probably doesn't cost apple any money to use black plastic over white, let alone $150.

personally, i don't think it's a big deal (although I think the white looks better). i just find it funny that people are willing (even eager) to spend $150 for a color.

:) :p
 
Well I think it's funny too. I like the black more, but I'm not paying that premium. I simply feel as though there isn't a problem with charging more for black than white.
 
-M7- said:
yes, but I could have done all my stuff with the ibook. I got the PB just for its style. And I had a lot of fun with it, so in the end it was all worth the extra money. If I save some $$$ but dont totally enjoy the product, I would not want it at all.
Click to expand...


Here we have the fashion-victim I spoke off. Apple loves you, boy! ;)

btw

I had the 12 PB, too. But I wanted the DVI badly :D
 
Atey said:
Here we have the fashion-victim I spoke off. Apple loves you, boy! ;)

btw

I had the 12 PB, too. But I wanted the DVI badly :D
Click to expand...
Then you payed +500$ just for DVI... You think that was better than paying 150$ for style?

So? At least I'm honest to myself. I think a lot of people are paying for style. Some are aware of it and some try to deny it. Why are all the people complaining about the black costing more? Because they want one! They are fashion victims too, but they have not yet realized it and dont want to pay extra.

I think this was a smart move by Apple. If you worry about the company they will sell the black one like crazy. = more money for Apple, Yay!
 
-M7- said:
Then you payed +500$ just for DVI... You think that was better than paying 150$ for style?

So? At least I'm honest to myself. I think a lot of people are paying for style. Some are aware of it and some try to deny it. Why are all the people complaining about the black costing more? Because they want one! They are fashion victims too, but they have not yet realized it and dont want to pay extra.

I think this was a smart move by Apple. If you worry about the company they will sell the black one like crazy. = more money for Apple, Yay!
Click to expand...

i paid $2400AU for style. My 12" with 1.25gb does everything i need my laptop to do. But the BlackBook is so cool. Who cares about paying extra for fashion....They should raise the price even higher, they'd still sell
 
-M7- said:
Then you payed +500$ just for DVI... You think that was better than paying 150$ for style?
Click to expand...

Ok, I wanted the better graphics, better performance and the better keyboard, too. The casing was a very cool addition indeed. You know, there were at least differrent specs and features, not just a different paint.

Don´t get me wrong: I like the blackbook more than the white one because of the matte finish. I´m going to buy this baby actually. STILL I find the premium-price quite impudent.

There are for certain people out there who like the blackbook for just the MATTE finish but cannot afford the 150 bucks-gift to Apple.
 
good reason to go with the black...

My girlfriend and I spent quite a bit of time and two separate visits to the local apple store evaluating the glossy screen at different angles and we came to the conclusion that the black macbook simply has less glare than the white one at a number of angles due to the fact that the white keyboard simply reflects more light onto the screen then the black one depending on where your light source is.
 
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