Are people starting to lose interest in Apple?
- Thread starter thedoc46
- Start date
- Status
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2003
- Posts
- 1,387
- Location
- Aberdeen
I see what you mean. My lack of clarity is probably due to be desperately trying not to use the term “eco system”, which I despise with a passion. What I mean is that I already have an Apple TV and a MacBook pro, which the iPhone integrates beautifully with. This is worth a lot to me, but if you don’t have these devices or use they the way I do it may not be to you. I agree there is a strong element of intrenchness (can’t think of a better word), I just don’t want to learn how to use a new system. This can be a good and a bad thing for companies. While it can drive sales, if a tipping point is reached it can also decimated them as people move on to the next greatest thing.
The only thing I think we can be certain about is that in “x” years Apple will not be top dog, someone will have over taken them. Maybe Apple will then come back, maybe not. Companies move up and down the food chain, just look at Sony. In the end I don’t care. All I want is good products and a price I think is worth it. This cycle drives innovation and pushes prices down (for a set feature set), which is good for the consumer. I think I’m starting to sound like a right wing free market evangelist, so I’ll shut up now.
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2003
- Posts
- 1,387
- Location
- Aberdeen
I think this says it all
And again the cycle repeats.
Yep, I know what you mean. It does work and it does work well.
It's just a choice of which one you want to go for. Google, windows, apple.
I do enjoy OSX, and it's why I use it, but with a Hackintosh (Not sure if it's aloud here but I do not see why not seems it's legal)
I brought Mountain Lion from the appstore and installed it on my built PC with 2nd hard parts. i5, 8gig ram, 4tb storage, 128ssd, dedicated gpu, mix of a mac mini / mac pro I guess.
And I'm sure once the aTV3 is jailbroken I will get one of those too (Refuse to pay the price for an atv2 that does not even support 1080p)
And totally understand why someone like you (That already has all the gear) will continue to do so, as im sure it would probably cost more to make the change then upgrade the odd hardware now and again.
On the other hand...
These are the reasons people dont like apple fans with silly comments like that
Last edited:
Well people can be defend apple all day and say the prices are due to components being matched but I think the screen shot I posted sums it up nicely.
I put a £35 8gb upgrade kit in my mbp nearly 2 years ago and have had no problems at all. People will soon catch on, and laptop/desktop manufacturers will start to build equally attractive hardware at a reasonable price and that's when apple will start to fall.
Some have started with the laptop clones but are charging similar prices and they obviously have win7/8 on there so at the moment they are not really competitive. It will happen though, just like it did with the iPhone.
I get you, thanks for clearing that up. I thought we were talking about purely internal memory which is why I was scratching my head a bit.
It's overwhelmingly option 2 - profit - but I wouldn't call out Apple specifically on that point. At least, not to the degree others might.
I think you missed my point. The living room is a space shared with my wife and it's decorated as such. An iMac doesn't look as offensive as a tower case + screen + wires, it's also very quiet with a small foot print on the small desk. I'm by no means a fan boy, this is my first mac, I work in IT and use my Windows laptop all day.These are the reasons people dont like apple fans with silly comments like that
I didn't 'just' buy it because it looks the way it does, but it does fit my needs.
So why not something like http://store.vizio.com/ca27ta5.html
Actually that does look pretty damn sexy lol.
Only messing about btw.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 May 2004
- Posts
- 5,322
- Location
- Middlesex
Most android phones don't use expandable storage? You're basically limiting yourself to the galaxy S range and thats it. (The s4 is coming at £630 sim free at CPW).
They're about the only range of phones that still use expandable storage.
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2003
- Posts
- 1,387
- Location
- Aberdeen
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you, the purchasing process is much more complex than you make out, which I believe you are fully attributing to ignorance on behalf of the purchaser?
From the shot you posted up Apple are asking £160 for an upgrade, which can be purchased for £40 ish elsewhere and self-installed? So for £120 a person upgrading with Apple:
1) Does not need to open up their expensive new toy. Remember despite this being quite easy, most people would not be prepared to do it.
2) A guarantee that the memory will work, if it does not Apple will resolve it
3) A fully encompassing guarantee. No issues about warranty if there is a problem as the whole system was sourced from Apple.
4) And the absolute biggy (in my case anyway), time. In most cases the time will be minimal, but many people just don’t want to take the risk and want a nice simple approach. Apple then capitalise on this and charge a hefty premium.
5) Lazyness. It’s also a biggy. In many ways it is probably the deciding factor, we are by our nature lazy creatures. All companies exploit this. We know it and they know it. It’s almost an unwritten contract between our unconscious selves and companies.
To me that is worth a premium. Apple have always charged significant premiums for memory upgrades, I don’t see why this is ever going to change? It’s their business model and it seems to be working. They will eventually fall from grace (I say this as all companies eventually do), but I doubt it’ll be due to such a minor and longstanding issue. The biggest risk to me is a rival “system” reaching critical mass. I don’t count Android at the moment as I get the impression it is still very fragmented. But the day will come and to be honest if anyone knew how, the last place they would be is posting it on an internet forum. Nope, they’d be out making a hell of a lot of money.
Last edited:
I fear you're wasting your time with the well reasoned posts, the mindless hate is far too strong.
The S3 is an end of life phone at the moment, with the S4 just being released. Not sure on the price of that but the cheapest you can get the HTC One for is about £490, generally it's even more... A few percent different...
As for the iMac comparison, we've been through this, your spec just wasn't correct, have a look at the spec I provided... That was just a little cheaper, yet still in a bigger box...
By all accounts Apple aren't the only guilty party doing this. Sony are in on the act as well with the Vita's proprietary memory cards; on pretty much equal weighting as Apple for both of the reasons you've stated.
I think this thread has proved that certain individuals are singling out Apple in particular, when so many other companies can be just as guilty of profiteering as Apple are.
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2003
- Posts
- 1,387
- Location
- Aberdeen
I fear you're wasting your time with the well reasoned posts, the mindless hate is far too strong.
You might be right. These little boxes of magic really do bring out strong emotions
Hopefully one thing eveyone can agree on is that we live in great times with regard to technology. In the smartphone world we have Samsung, LG, Apple and others all producing great phones. Some are better than other at certain things, but none are slouches. You only have to take a look back to what we were using 6 years ago so see the leaps that have been made. I'm quite excited about what is on the horizon next, thought I must admit I'm struggling to see what the next big leap will be.
You might be right. These little boxes of magic really do bring out strong emotions
Hopefully one thing eveyone can agree on is that we live in great times with regard to technology. In the smartphone world we have Samsung, LG, Apple and others all producing great phones. Some are better than other at certain things, but none are slouches. You only have to take a look back to what we were using 6 years ago so see the leaps that have been made. I'm quite excited about what is on the horizon next, thought I must admit I'm struggling to see what the next big leap will be.
Yep, spot on!
The thing with the Mac mini is (and this is coming from someone who wouldn't buy one) it is significantly smaller than any ITX machine someone can build at home. It'll also probably be quieter than most. The new intel NUC(??) device would be a pretty direct comparison I think and that's around £250 from memory, but I think that doesn't include a HDD or operating system, so I doubt it will come out much cheaper.
NirK, the reason I'm very anti "apple are overpriced" as it were is because I have two apple products. I have an i7 MacBook Air and an iPad mini. The MacBook Air was the fastest ultra book at the time, and not much more than the competitor (series 9), but had a better screen. It was also significantly cheaper than the similar form factor Sony Z series... The iPad mininis more expensive than its direct competitors (both of which are sold at near cost to attract people) but it has a much better screen than the Nexus 7 and is significantly thinner... As someone using it for checking photos when I'm travelling a bigger non 16x9 screen is significantly better than 16x9 which also gimps Internet browsing...
So yes, personal choice comes into it, alongside form factor, which is the overriding factor for most people buying kit. I agree though, there are a lot of apple users (in this forum as well) who are rather evangelical about their brand, most in this thread however, aren't. I buy the kit that suits me best at the time, brand doesn't matter.
- Status