Manipulators
Dammit, I said NO Mac vs PC wars…sheesh. Now you’ve done it. Actually, you don’t have to do it. There’s one waging on Slashdot right now due to a verifyiable idiot saying that one security flaw in OS X makes any assertions about its value totally without merit.
Anyway, the iPod is not overpriced. It may cost more than you may find palpable, but it is not overpriced. It sells expremely well, and performs well too. It is really a factor of economic. If it was overpriced, it would not sell, and it would either become extinct or eclipsed. Neither has happened. BMW’s may seem “overpriced,” but they, likely, aren’t going to go away any time soon either. This continues on to the Mac computers. They do seem a little pricey compared to the PC counterparts. But, yes, you pay a bit for the “glamour” and the other intangibles. We did the same on the Amiga once its pricing got outpaced by the PC market.
But, yes, there are many, many stupid things Apple does. Paying for the OS releases annualy, though not preferred, aren’t horrible, and aren’t hurting the company, and aren’t getting any loud objections from the Apple cult. No web petitions or the like protesting this exist that I have seen (ok, I don’t feel like researching this at the moment). However, these decisions they make lead to Apple constantly making money. Maybe their goal ISN’T to take over the world. The way BMW prices their cars, it certainly doesn’t look like their goal is to make sure everyone drives a Beemer.