The role of expectations (or is Apple popular because it overcharges ?)

http://angrybear.blogspot.com/2008/02/expectations.html

 

Yes. ..........

 

It's like clothes. Some clothes are EXACTLY the same, it's the name that mean EVERYTHING to these people

 

I think Apple is popular because people think they are awesome. People hear through word of mouth that Apple is good. I dont see anything aesthetic in any mac product. I think they all look plain and bad. People hear from society that they are good because they are streamlined in looks. Well I say they are streamlined in performance. I dont care how powerful of a mac you have, my Voodoo will own it at anything, any day. People in general do not know know computers they think a pretty machine is a good one. Apple would have died if they didnt advertise so good. That is the only reason why i think they are still around.
I do not hate Mac's, I hate the people who have them who think macs are the best period.

K-TRON

 

Macs are the best.

 

My apple comment was just tongue in cheek

The thread topic is about the role of expectations.

 

QFT !!!!
Gotta rep you for that.

 

is that also your justification for spending around 10k on a laptop, so u can kill any mac any day?

 

I actually like MAC's they are easy to use and fun computer. I think OS X is okay but I still like Windows better. MACs are popular because they look cool perform well and Apple can advertise the **** out of its products.

However I wouldn't buy one I would do excactly like K-Tron find an idiot that thinks MACs are the most powerful computers on the planet and then systematically destroy them.

I wish that one just one virus came out for MACs because I hear everyday about how MACs are so safe from viruses. I just want one virus to take out all the stupid people who don't have any security on their computer.

 

Oh I have seen many guys who would buy anything Apple, the only reason why is because it's Apple....

 

I disagree with the premise that "Apple overcharges".

Macs are expensive, and may be popular as a result. But that is not the same as overcharging. Various other, less tangible features can legitimately drive up costs: expense of design, reliability, durability, and tech support.

And it may well be these less tangible features that drive Apple's popularity.

 

QFT!!!!
Gotta rep you for that.

Great post and QFT!!!!
Gotta rep you for that.

 

Well, I could have said the same about Lenovo (or Panasonic).

 

Well, I wouldn't put Apple and Panasonic in the same category. The toughbook is not for everyone, and the build quality of it is just way better than any other notebooks.
Plus, $5000 is not really expensive for a laptop that can withstand extreme environment and abusing.
Also, for the military, $5000 is nothing anyway....

 

Especialy for a laptop that can stop bullets

 

Rigggghht, thats why apples profit margins are the highest in the industry.

 

that's just a type of differentiation. if people aka morons don't know better, then who cares? let 'em pay that big bux for stuff like that and keep the economy flowing! if all people were rational, you would not see so much "stuff" being advertised on every corner.

i'd rep u back if i could, but seeing how i only seem to rep only the few chosen ones, it might take a while!

 

That is the point of this thread

 

But, you didn't. You spoke of Macs!

 

As a Mac owner, V, I'm just trying to lighten things up in this thread. These kinds are always end up as flame-bait no matter what the intentions of the OP.

 

I don't know if we can call a product that doesn't sell "popular"

If anything is popular rigth now, it's microsoft.

 

It's all about the bling factor. At my school the majority of laptops people bring to class are Macbooks. Most of the people I know don't own Macbooks, and they don't bring their laptops to class. What I gather from this is that Macbook owners want the whole world to know they own a Macbook... At least the younger Macbook owners. I've witnessed the same thing at Starbucks, though some people have Powerbooks.

 

I bought my MacBook because it was the cheapest 13" on the market at the time.

 

yeah i keep forgetting that the cheap MAC is a 13incher, i dont think you can get a cheaper 13inch, maybe the m1330

 

I like Apple. They make great products, and their support is awesome. I had a problem with my iPhone, and it took a matter of calling, scheduling an appointment with them, and then getting it replaced, and took me about 45 minutes, including the call / drive to the apple store.

 

I think this is to note that Apple is not the intention of this thread's theme...if this becomes an Apple discussion it doesn't belong in this forum. So please stay on topic guys .

 

I don't understand why people hate apple products so much. I do realize that you can get more bang for the buck with many other companies, but that's no reason to hate apple .....unless your just mad you can't afford one. LOL

Price does play a part in peoples psych though, making people seem as if they have more Luxury when they just have something differ. Not nessecary more productive or powerful.

I think 50% buy apple because it's cool, 35% buy because it's different, and 15% for misc: reasons.

 

Damn, I've never heard of Apple wines before.

All I ever had regarding wines are a couple of El Cheapo wine bottles from the local supermarket.

I also once had wine at this fancy hotel/restaurant place, thought it was going to be a nice wine but it tasted just like El Cheapo one.

I was so dissapointed.

 

Anyway, to make it up I'm gonna get me an Irish cream bottle soon.

 

If I ever buy a Mac, it's to learn to compute on said platform. Experience in different fields never hurt .

 

I'd typically agree with that, but experience with OS X is probably never going to help you in the career world.

 

Unless you're not into the movie business and all that photoshop/web designing/etc bandwagon

 

I was talking about the grand scheme of things. There's an exception to every rule. I'd say Mac experience would also be useful if your career ambition is to work at the Genius Bar.

 

Unless your an IT or Network admin

 

OS X helps in that department? I thought Linux prevailed .

 

We'll you got to know(or at least should) your way around many OSs in that field. Especially if your freelancing on the side.

 

No, unix prevails. Do you not know that OS X is BSD underneath?

But to topic, I've never met anyone who's ever bought a Mac because it's "more expensive" thus better. But branding does sell. But I'd have to expand the original "..Apple popular.." to Alienware, IBM/Lenovo, and a lot of the other boutiques as well.

 

Doesn't Dell seems to have more of the niche of being the Brand Name & Costing a bit more?

 

should be " a brand name & costing a bit less"

 

Macbook - 1299
Vaio - 1699
XPS M1330 - 1652

I seriously am baffled by the insistence of Apple being expensive. That may have been true during the PPC days, but not anymore.

By the way, I bought my MBP because of OS X and its Unix underpinnings, its power/size ratio, the mag-safe adapter, and the open source community that is associated with OS X and Linux(most open source apps are interchangeable with a bit of work).

 

I didn't clarify myself.

What I meant was Dell is more expensive than most of the competition for no real reason at all. And more people buy Dells than the rest of names mentioned. Dell should have HP prices IMO.

At least Sony can throw it's Blueray and Visual technology at people.

I will agree ..... Pricing is getting better with Apple. Let me restate that: Apple's specs are catching up to it's pricing.

One of the main reasons I didn't get a Macbook last year was that it was limited to only 2GB. I might consider a Macbook for my next notebook now.

 

Or, back to the Supply/Demand curve:



See, lower prices don't always mean more sales. Of course, that supply/demand curve is just pure speculation from me, but so is your claim that Dell is more expensive for no reason at all, since it could be more expensive to cover supply costs.

 

Where are these S/D curves coming from? I'm pretty sure you're pulling them out of your ass

 

lol that's why I said it was pure speculation

But according to my econ professor that's how it works, whoever is in the equilibrium point is the one that sells the most. Of course, this is ECON 103, meaning I know nothing

 

With regards to the brand attractions, it is certainly no surprise brands put a bias on people. When people taste the branded wine they have a different mindset/expectations and they're going to react differently to it. Since it is branded and the other one isn't, they expect more. They look for flaws in the generic one. It's quite predictable when you think about it.

No offense but the supply and demand curves don't make any sense for this discussion. And HP and Dell wouldn't be plotted on the same graph, they would each need their own graph. Every company is going to have a different demand equation. For example, if company A raised its price by $10 it is going to have a different effect on their sales than if company B raised its price by the same amount. The demand line is usually not linear; for basic econ classes it is for simplicity. There's a whole bunch more I could point out but that's what you're paying to go to college for. One thing you'll learn is that oligopolies don't compete based on price, they compete based on features and other non-price things.

 

Good grief, not a day goes by that i don't see a thread with Apple bashing.

 

Also, Dell is a more of a household name then lets say HP. And because of this, non tech geeks(like my parents) will immediately think of Dell when they want a new notebook. This means a lot of people are going DIRECTLY to what they know, and that would be Dell(or any highly marketed/household name) instead of comparing other brands. People also have more trust for household name companies.

Apple products are more known as something to treat yourself to, rather than purchasing as a need. (I will be treating myself to a mac, sooner or later)

 

I would get a MBP if they had accidental damage as part of their AppleCare Protection Plan

 

Alright, this thread is entrenched enough into Apple discussion that it warrants a move from Off Topic to Apple forum. Nothing bad has happened yet, but just a reminder to everyone to please try to keep the discussion under control .

 

People have nothing to do other than periodically post nonsense in apple forum, talk how crappy and expensive macs are, im sick of this. The fact that everyone talks trash about apple, is one's acknowledgement that apple is top contender in PC industry, no matter how much u hate Apple that is the fact that u have to deal with.