AussieReaper wrote:
Defiance wrote:
Capitalism teaches us that your product is worth whatever people will pay for it.
Morality teaches us that an unfair exchange is a form of lying, and wrong.
All of the Apple products in the past 5 years have been overpriced, besides the OS tbh. I'm not trying to claim it's explicitly malicious or cruel, but certainly a bit dishonest to jack up the price on your product because of how it's supposed to make you look instead of any real quality.
You're not understanding that this is always the case with new products. Prices are high upon initial release, especially the markets for technology heavy products. Go buy an ipod that was released two years ago and tell me it's overpriced. As soon as the next generation or upgrade is released the prices of the now outdated model falls significantly. If it didn't operate that way, they would be run out of business.
And it would be a morally wrong enterprise if Apple withdrew previous models from the market and only sold the latest and most expensive, but they don't do that. You've still got the choice to be a lagger and buy an older model for a cheaper price, so how is Apple the bad guy in that scenario?
You can put a price tag on uniqueness, innovation and "how it's supposed to make you look instead of any real quality" and nearly every designer label or marketing body does that.
I'll agree that it is morally wrong if you can prove that Apple overcharge their products. You can't, because only the consumer market can determine if a product is overpriced and if it is they do not buy it. Apples sales figures say otherwise.
I can recall reading an article where products from Apple, and I think others, were taken apart and all the components were priced. The cost of the components themselves was low compared to other devices, and the retail price was higher. This suggested a gross markup, and explicitly showed how much money you're forking over that doesn't go in to the physical device you're purchasing. However, I can't find this article now, so I can not prove this.
However, I invite you to configure a Mac Pro. How much is the standard bare bones system? $2500. For that, you get a 2.66 Ghz quad core Xeon, 3 GB of RAM and an nVidia GT 120, which is apparently a rebranded 9500 GT. This includes a KB/Mouse, but no monitor. To put it one way, I spent $550 last year on a CPU, Mobo, RAM, graphics hard and hard drive. My system is comparable, if not better than, the $2500 Mac.
Now look at some configuration options. How much does it cost to upgrade to a 2.93 GHz Xeon? $500. How much does it cost to upgrade to 16GB RAM (DDR3, 1066)? $1850, on top of what you're already paying. How much does a 4x4GB kit of DDR3, 1066 RAM on Newegg cost? $800. How much to add a TB drive, around $100 on Newegg, to your Mac Pro? $300.
Now, that is just disgusting. Ignoring everything else, I won't buy a product from Apple on those grounds alone. I would have to ask: What is someone paying for when they are charged $1200 more the necessary just for RAM (considering you're paying 150 or so for the first 3 GB, then 1850 to bump it up)? It sure as hell isn't the component itself, and it's not difficult to pop in 4 sticks instead of 3.
Last edited by Defiance (2009-10-17 22:31:39)
