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Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

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Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#131

Post by nikster »

cdavid wrote: post #62
cheald wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having just recently priced laptops, I didn't have this experience. A 13" MBP is $1200 for the bare-bones options (4GB RAM, Core 2 Duo, 250GB 5400 RPM SATA). It weighs about 4.5 lbs. They want an additional $400 for an extra 4GB of RAM (wtf?) A Dell Inspiron 14" with the same specs clocks in at $665 at 4.9 lbs (which is still under the 5lb "ultraportable" mark). A Lenovo U350 with similar specs clocks in at $700 and…

If you consider that CPU, ram and hard drive is the only thing that matters in a laptop, then yes, apple is definitely overpriced. But mac unibody, battery indicator, magnetic connector, pluggable power unit (to change the type of connector for different countries), etc... have a cost, and I would gladly pay a few more bucks for it. Last, I got two PC laptops: both were broken beyond repair after 3 years, whereas my…

"The only PC laptop that were not crap in my experience were lenovo, but surprise, those were expensive as well"

It's a mystery! At least it seems a mystery to many people here. Correlation between price and quality - who'd have thought!

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#132

Post by netcan »

napierzaza wrote: post #118
netcan wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry has changed and is continuing to change into a world that suits Apple better. Getting in early and big (eg iphones & ipads) is letting them influence the change even more in their favour. What caught my eye in this article was: "Nobody knows what kind of CPU they have in their phones." That's a world that suits Apple. Interestingly, PCs are unique in that people take an interest in components. Do people…

Untrue, if you care you know. Cars for car enthusiasts. Espresso machines for espresso enthusiasts. Apple is targeting the lowest common denominator with their tiers. But it works because their vertical approach works better than what you get with Windows anyhow.

Sure. Every category has enthusiasts, some more than others.

But even people who are really into espresso machines don't know that much about it's components. Part of this is because computer components can be quantified relatively easily. Part of it is because even moderate PC users probably have more vested in than espresso enthusiasts.

Another part is vestigial deriving from the history of computers similarly to cars. Cars and computers started out under resourced and hard to use. Because they were so useful people used them anyway. But, you had to know quite a bit about them to answer your questions and make a good choice (can it run my software?) and to fix them when they inevitably failed.

Enthusiasts might know where the engine was developed, when and by who, but most people don't. Lots of people know that a VW uses the same parts as a Seat and that the golf is roughly the same car as the ibiza, just more expensive.

People still buy VWs, Mercedes, Toyota, etc. Very few people say the Audi a3 is a great car, just replace the transmition and door handles. T

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#133

Post by mattmaroon »

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #119
mikeklaas wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? The new nook has a 16-color e-ink screen. They don't even ship a frackin' web browser because they admit the experience is clunky.

Actually the new Nook is not an e-ink display, it's a 1024x600 LCD, and it does come with a web browser. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371521,00.asp http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/26/nook-color-first-hands-on...

But other than both halves of his argument being incorrect, I can see why parent's comments get upvoted and mine down.

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#134

Post by cheald »

nikster wrote: post #126
cheald wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen a lot of MBPs. I've used them. They're really nice. I don't dispute that at all. My Fedora/Win7 laptop has a backlit keyboard, stunning display, and a great industrial design with an aluminum body. The trackpad is dodgy and the battery life isn't as good as an MBP's, but it also has two batteries that are user-swappable. It doesn't run OS X. It also has HDMI out and a Blu-Ray drive, two "premium" features y…

There's usually a lot of selective perception involved in things like this. When you say "X may not be as nice" - that may be irrelevant to you, or hugely relevant to the next person. The point is, it's not the same. Last time I had a forum argument with a guy who said he could build me a Mac Pro equivalent Dell for half the price. I went to Dell's website - no way. Best I could do was something like $50 less on a $3…

Mine's an HP Envy 17. I don't typically like HP's notebooks, but this one was too tasty to pass by. I priced out just about everything out there for a new mobile dev workstation, including custom builds, and this one rang all the right bells.

http://bit.ly/d4oj8G

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#135

Post by cheald »

makmanalp wrote: post #108
cheald wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen a lot of MBPs. I've used them. They're really nice. I don't dispute that at all. My Fedora/Win7 laptop has a backlit keyboard, stunning display, and a great industrial design with an aluminum body. The trackpad is dodgy and the battery life isn't as good as an MBP's, but it also has two batteries that are user-swappable. It doesn't run OS X. It also has HDMI out and a Blu-Ray drive, two "premium" features y…

What laptop is that, may I ask? I'm in the market for a new one.

See my reply to nikster on this thread. :)

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#136

Post by [deleted] »

cletus wrote: post #75
cheald wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having just recently priced laptops, I didn't have this experience. A 13" MBP is $1200 for the bare-bones options (4GB RAM, Core 2 Duo, 250GB 5400 RPM SATA). It weighs about 4.5 lbs. They want an additional $400 for an extra 4GB of RAM (wtf?) A Dell Inspiron 14" with the same specs clocks in at $665 at 4.9 lbs (which is still under the 5lb "ultraportable" mark). A Lenovo U350 with similar specs clocks in at $700 and…

And this, ladies and gentlemen, just proves Gruber's argument that many people buy PCs based on bullet point specs having never seen the enclosure. With MacBook Pros you get: - a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; - a high quality display; - significantly better battery life than any Windows lapt I've ever seen (due in part to software admittedly); - the best trackpad I've seen on any laptop ever (seriously.…

[deleted]

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#137

Post by flomo »

protomyth wrote: post #27
kemiller wrote: post #12

Another factor here is that mobile devices are all a tier or two down from personal computers in terms of the raw number of dollars. Seems like a 15% premium is something people will consider paying if it only amounts to $30, but might not if it's $300. This was especially true in the early days of the PC revolution. The Mac 128K sold for $2495 at the time, which is more than $5000 in today's dollars[1]. I can't find…

Cost isn't everything, even in 1984. The PC wasn't the price leader of the era, check the market share and price of a C64.

In 1984, my buddy received a $2500 Mac 128K for his birthday. I got a $800 Apple //c.

To this day, I believe I recieved the better gift, at the time. The original Mac, while "groundbreaking", was not only overpriced, but pretty useless.

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#138

Post by Yaggo »

siglesias wrote: post #80
cletus wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, just proves Gruber's argument that many people buy PCs based on bullet point specs having never seen the enclosure. With MacBook Pros you get: - a backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; - a high quality display; - significantly better battery life than any Windows lapt I've ever seen (due in part to software admittedly); - the best trackpad I've seen on any laptop ever (seriously.…

Don't forget iLife.

Anybody have an idea what would cost an equivalent software for Windows? (Offering similar usability, high quality templates/samples/tutorials etc. Actually it wouldn't surprise me if no such a thing exists for Windows.)

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#139

Post by thomasz »

napierzaza wrote: post #117
jrockway wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was back when flash was new and exotic, right? Every music player on the market is flash-based now, and so are many computers. Samsung's Wikipedia page says that Apple accounts for about 2% of their sales.

Ugh ____ has 95% of the music player market. Fill in the blank.

In revenue or in units shipped?

Re: Daring Fireball: Apple's Pricing Advantage

#140

Post by dagw »

napierzaza wrote: post #117
jrockway wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was back when flash was new and exotic, right? Every music player on the market is flash-based now, and so are many computers. Samsung's Wikipedia page says that Apple accounts for about 2% of their sales.

Ugh ____ has 95% of the music player market. Fill in the blank.

I'll answer "No one". Most numbers I can find place Apple in first place with around 75%.
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