Mac users' elitism

I'm bored and intrigued so I tried to work out the price of a Mac Pro from NewEgg (Mac Pro = $2500)

Processor = $1360 (2xXeon 5150)
Ram = $165 (ECC, DDR2, 667Mhz etc.)
Graphics = $70 (7300GT, 256MB etc.)
Hard disk = $70 (250GB, sata, 7200rpm etc.)
Motherboard = $100 (Just at random can be had for less/more depending)

That adds up to $1755. I know I missed out Optical drive, keyboard, mouse, case, OS but surely all of that doesnt add another $750?
 
Jet said:
What has supply and demand got to do with value for money? Nothing in these circumstances.
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I agree. Where did I say otherwise?

Jet said:
All i'm talking about is value for money. OSX is better value for money when compared with Windows, imo. Hence the link I pointed to proves (to an extent).
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That link was crap. It only talked about stuff built into the OS. This is something you constantly seem to be ignoring - the third party ecosystem. You really need to acknowledge such a thing before continuing. I realise OSX's is almost non-existant which could be contributing to the difficulty.

Jet said:
E.g. a Kia saloon may be more value for money than a BMW 3 series but BMW still charges more. Demand doesn't always come from value for money.
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Didn't say it did :/

Jet said:
I don't believe third parties develop for Microsoft because of its brilliant development tools. They do it because they can reach more customers and I don't think it's good value for Microsoft to increase the price because of this.
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It's both - the existing ecosystem and the development tools. You don't really hear much about it in this market - but look at the console war. Plenty of big name game studios have said in public that the reason they prefer (and thus target) the Xbox 360 is because of its development tools.

Jet said:
Microsoft should charge what it costs to develop the product, not what other companies do afterwards.
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If only the world was so simple...

Jet said:
Take an action man (lol) as an example. Would you think it was good value for money if the manufacturers increased the price because some other company made some great accessories? I wouldn't. I would rather pay for the cost of the product only.
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If the Action Man accessory was really cool and I wanted it a lot then I would stump up the cash for the figurine - yes. I may not like it, sure, but that's how economics work. The idea is to charge the most you can get away with, without turning away too many customers.

Jet said:
As I said before Windows is priced in a similar way to iPods. iPods are priced high because of their demand. The cost to make them is a lot less.
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That's right.

Jet said:
Same with Windows imo.
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Now that's where the OS vs physical product comparison runs out. Windows didn't cost ~£150 (retail price) to produce, that's for sure.

Jet said:
Therefore iPods aren't great value for money because you pay a premium for the look.
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Nope, you're paying a premium because they're in high demand.

Jet said:
Windows isn't great value because you pay for Microsofts monopoly of the market and everyone thinks they need it. Not because its good value for money with loads of great features. Unlike OSX.
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There comes that opinion again. I'm trying desperately to keep this in the realm of factual content.

Jet said:
It seems you think demand is linked to value for money which is sometimes the case but not when comparing OSX and Windows.
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I said (and plenty of economics books will back me up) that demand is linked to the product's ecosystem.
 
UKTopGun said:
I'm bored and intrigued so I tried to work out the price of a Mac Pro from NewEgg (Mac Pro = $2500)

Processor = $1360 (2xXeon 5150)
Ram = $165 (ECC, DDR2, 667Mhz etc.)
Graphics = $70 (7300GT, 256MB etc.)
Hard disk = $70 (250GB, sata, 7200rpm etc.)
Motherboard = $100 (Just at random can be had for less/more depending)

That adds up to $1755. I know I missed out Optical drive, keyboard, mouse, case, OS but surely all of that doesnt add another $750?
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Very rough estimates:

Case = $200 (Including all the nifty features such as blanking plates, hard drive bay holders etc. – It's a high-quality case and I'm sure it costs a lot to manufacture)
Power supply = $100
Assorted hardware accessories (HSF, case fans etc.) = $50
Keyboard & Mouse = $70 (Retail prices lifted directly from the Apple US store)
Optical drive = $50
Operating system = $160 (Retail OS X price)
iLife package = $100 (Retail price)

That's $660 right there, and I'm sure I've missed some stuff off. I believe your estimates for the motherboard and hard disk are a bit off, too, considering the Mac Pro utilises rather "upper-crusty" hardware aimed at the professional market
 
To get QuickTime to play full screen you just need a little AppleScript love...

'tell application "QuickTime Player" to present movie 1'

There you go, no need to get the Pro version. I have the Script Menu visible in the menu bar, so all I do is open the file a file in QuickTime, select the 'go fullscreen' script and off it goes.

HTH
 
_NoName_ said:
To get QuickTime to play full screen you just need a little AppleScript love...

'tell application "QuickTime Player" to present movie 1'

There you go, no need to get the Pro version. I have the Script Menu visible in the menu bar, so all I do is open the file a file in QuickTime, select the 'go fullscreen' script and off it goes.
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Fantastic, works a treat :)

For the record, two minutes ago I had no idea how to create an AppleScript, make the AppleScript icon visible in the menubar and place a user created script in the appropriate folder. With a little help from Spotlight, and the downright simple OS X interface all that has changed :)
 
Al Vallario said:
Fantastic, works a treat :)

For the record, two minutes ago I had no idea how to create an AppleScript, make the AppleScript icon visible in the menubar and place a user created script in the appropriate folder. With a little help from Spotlight, and the downright simple OS X interface all that has changed :)
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Great :) Now if someone could teach me how to make a half-decent CAD workstation out of one I'd be a convert.

But they can't.

Because it isn't possible.

:D
 
NathanE said:
It's both - the existing ecosystem and the development tools. You don't really hear much about it in this market - but look at the console war. Plenty of big name game studios have said in public that the reason they prefer (and thus target) the Xbox 360 is because of its development tools.


I said (and plenty of economics books will back me up) that demand is linked to the product's ecosystem.
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I know demand is linked to 3rd party apps, that's obvious. The question is whether Microsoft should exploit that demand by charging more. If Windows gave great value for money it wouldn't do that. I'm not arguing the economics, just the moral stance of Microsoft.

Take the Xbox 360. It's good value for money looking at what you get. Hard-drive. wireless controllers, next-gen console, etc. Wii is good value, it's cheaper, innovative etc. Imagine if there were loads of great games for Wii. It wouldn't be good value for money if Nintendo charged £400 to take into account games that they had nothing to do with.

Sure they could charge that amount and demand would still be high but it wouldn't be great value for money.

PS3 has a huge demand but it is widely regarded as poor value for money. Because you get little more practical stuff above Xbox 360.

There is a huge demand for Windows but I don't think it is good value for money because you don't get as good an OS compared with OSX imo. My opinion has nothing to do with economics.
 
Al Vallario said:
Fantastic, works a treat :)

For the record, two minutes ago I had no idea how to create an AppleScript, make the AppleScript icon visible in the menubar and place a user created script in the appropriate folder. With a little help from Spotlight, and the downright simple OS X interface all that has changed :)
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Just done this too. Awesome.

That makes half this thread a moot point though lol.
 
NathanE said:
Nope, you're paying a premium because they're in high demand.
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True, look at Creatives though, I think it could be seen as a mixture, they look good and cost not that much less than iPods, maybe if they advertised more they could charge more because of higher demand?
 
NathanE said:
...r prior statements) - Windows costs more because it is in higher demand. If somebody needs to run some software that is only available on Windows then they will need to buy a Windows PC. Apple iPod's are nothing like a monopoly so that comparison is pointless.....
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So 70% (approx) isn't a monopoly? Even apart from market share.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/03/apple_sued_for_itune.html

These are too big companies out to make a buck. One is as bad as the other. Get over it.
 
$loth said:
True, look at Creatives though, I think it could be seen as a mixture, they look good and cost not that much less than iPods, maybe if they advertised more they could charge more because of higher demand?
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To the average Joe, (unless they want a radio) the iPod is simply the more attractive, and fashionable product. Being better doesn't come into it. I know someone who has an iPod he was given as present. Only problem is he doesn't own a computer. :D
 
while we are comparing laptop specs, I'm actually on the lookout for a laptop thats going to be ~ £1000 (my boss has a macbook pro)

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0GHz, 4MB Cache / WXGA (1280 x 800) X-Glass / NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 256MB / 1GB DDR2 667MHz (512MB x2) / 120GB 5400rpm SATA / 8x +/- Dual Layer DVD Writer / 3 years warranty / vista upgrade

for £999.

Nothing on the apple site comes close to that, unless of course i'm being a plank and someone could show me :p
 
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