People are sheep
February 28, 2006The new Mac Mini is a rip-off, especially in the Netherlands. They ask €649,- for the damn thing. You loose a maximum of 80MB of your main memory (says the Apple website), and that the videocard isn’t what it should have been (a higher-end Radeon). You’ll get a Core Solo processor– if you want the Core Duo, be prepared to shell out a staggering €879,-! They still have the utterly archaic 5400RPM harddisks.
They raised the price dramatically for the low-end model by €150,- :| That is completely unjustified. I’m sorry, but this completely silences the Mac-is-not-expensive-camp– at least on the proper side of the Atlantic. On the other side of the big blue, they only raised the price by $99,-. Apple, please explain the differences in price raise?
And don’t get me started on the ridicoulous iPod HiFi. €369,- for something that can’t even play any of my CDs. And that’s the problem with this thing– it cannot play any CD, even though that is still by far the biggest medium for music. Why would you pay €369,- for something with such limited functionailty, while for that same amount you can buy a much better-looking JVC, Sony, Pioneer, etc. HiFi set to which you can just hook your iPod up by analog cable, or even by optic cable?
And you know what the even bigger problem with the iPod HiFi is? It will sell like a nude video of Paris Hilton. People are sheep.
What I find more disgusting is the new “leather case” for the iPod. Now, this is the REAL rip off, from all the products announced today by Apple. A hundrend bucks for a freaking ipod case?
Now, on the sharing memory thing, I don’t agree with you. This is supposed to be an entry level machine, and so graphics sharing memory is a must, in order to bring costs down. You can select on the BIOS to use less RAM if you want to. I don’t think there is a problem with this. Besides, don’t even think buying a Mac today with less than 1 GB of RAM. I am sure everyone can spare 32 or 64 MBs of RAM on a 1 GB RAM system.
My beef is mostly with the lack of a microphone jack (requires external USB sound card to get a microphone jack or an expensive USB microphone — which are very rare), and the fact that they still use laptop drives instead of desktop drives. Laptop drives bring the overall performance of the system 2x DOWN of what it could possibly do!
I agree with you on the European price. It’s ridiculous to be asking so much money from the Europeans, when the salaries are so much smaller than in the US.
And I agree with you for the boombox. Ridiculous product, and a ridiculous price. I found an iPod boombox at Geeks.com the other day for $75 and it was just fine for what one would want to do with such a product. Why buy the Apple one?
Comment by Eugenia — February 28, 2006 @ 9:46 pm
Here you are: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=IMPLUS&cat=MP3
Why buy something that it’s 4x more expensive but it doesn’t have 4x the quality or features in it?
Comment by Eugenia — February 28, 2006 @ 10:04 pm
iPod Hi-Fi is just about the stupidist thing I’ve seen from apple lately.
Comment by mikesum32 — March 1, 2006 @ 12:30 am
eugenia, how is it a disservice to charge for this? who cares what the price is if you aren’t interested in buying it? i just don’t see how it is a ripoff if you aren’t going to buy it…
the market will decide, with people being sheep or not.
Comment by darthstupid — March 1, 2006 @ 3:09 am
Sorry pal, but Apple is not “just a corporation”. It has a following. And many of these followers are shareholders too. When releasing a product that it’s 1800% overpriced (like the leather case is), it looks a lot like Apple is taking its customers for IDIOTS. It doesn’t matter if I am going to buy this or not. I own a Powerbook, a dual G4 Powermac, an iPod, legal Apple software, iSight and other Mac accessories. I am already an “Apple camper”, I am already a customer who obviously wants to buy more from that company. But when I am presented to such a price of that ipod case, I feel that I am being MOCKED by Apple.
It doesn’t get any worse than that.
Comment by Eugenia — March 1, 2006 @ 4:13 am
mocked by apple? wow. i’d hate to be a company selling products to you in fear of mockng my customers.
the point is that you and no one else have absolutely any obligation to purchase these products. if apple is taking people for idiots then let them be taken because they are after all idiots.
is it not silly to accuse apple of wrongdoing for pricing too high and being labeled ripoff artists? and many corporations do have followings and many of them sell products at what some might consider ridiculous prices.
for instance the psp is an expensive gadget that seems to be designed by a committee of baboons. yet amongst many it has a huge following despite it’s obvious faults (crappy battery life, slow loading time, sorely lacking quality games, etc.).
do people call the psp a ripoff because it costs $250 and obviously needed some work to smooth out the rough edges? no. people either buy it or they don’t (or they rant/rave about it or the ds online).
get over yourself.
Comment by darthstupid — March 1, 2006 @ 6:03 am
The PSP is NOT an expensive gadget, neither it has a crappy battery life or loading time. You either obviously have never used a PSP, or you are a complete jerk, or simply stupid, as your nickname suggests.
If the PSP with its Mhz CPU, 3D graphics card, MD and MSD slots, Wifi, 32 MB of RAM and beautiful LCD screen costs $250, and a PIECE OF SKIN costs just more than 1/3 of that price, then there is something really, REALLY, wrong with that piece of skin. Maybe it is indeed created by skin of dragons: http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7002/ipodcasejoke3km.jpg
We are consumers. We do have the right to CRITIQUE these new products that are rubbed against our faces and eyes all day long through the TV or the web or spam. If they don’t want us to critisize them, then they should not do press releases or advertise their products. Sorry, but I (and others) will never stop commenting on good or bad products.
Comment by Eugenia — March 1, 2006 @ 7:21 am
For that much money I’d like to see a different kind of leather.
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/human-skin-laptop-bags
Comment by mikesum32 — March 1, 2006 @ 8:05 am
right, the psp has great load time and battery life. it would seem you either play simplistic games (like lumines) or haven’t tried any competing game system or you simply have a lot of time on your hands and don’t care about having to buy a second battery to get a few days (rather than hours) of play time in (yes i’m bitter about this but it still isn’t a “ripoff” as i knew of these issues).
the psp has battery life that is a fraction of the life of the gb, gba, gba sp or the ds. it is similar to the atari lynx, turbo-grafx express, game gear, neo geo pocket or wonder swan in that it is technically better than the ds but you are constantly swapping in batteries if you continually play the system… but that is getting off the main point.
companies can charge whatever they want to charge. if you don’t like it don’t buy it. you can bitch about it all you want. that seems to be what the internet was made for.
however, the difference is that insisting it is a ripoff doesn’t make it a ripoff. a ripoff is not getting something you paid for (if you want to get semantic it means “to ROB; CHEAT; DEFRAUD; STEAL”). if folks who bought the leather holder feel they got what they paid for then they aren’t ripped off, no matter how much it cost to make or how much they paid for it.
you think there is a big difference between designer shoes and a cheap pair of nike’s? you think versace makes stuff out of leather from golden calves? no. same stupid leather used for no-name walmart shoes. people are willing to pay a lot for some things because they have a perception of value. you may disagree with this perceived value but if they are deluded into thinking it has that value ($99) then it has that value. at least to those people. don’t get me wrong, i don’t think these things are worth $99 but i know others do and they will therefore sell and those folks will likely be very happy with them.
btw, i have absolutely no problem with critiquing, i just think your phrasing should be different… try “i don’t think this is worth $99 bucks” instead of “apple is ripping people off”.
yes, there is a difference, subtle perhaps but important. the difference is one makes you sound like you are making a critique and the other sounds like you are a blowhard.
Comment by darthstupid — March 1, 2006 @ 9:01 am
> you can bitch about it all you want. that seems to be what the internet was made for.
Yup, and that’s exactly what I do.
> or haven’t tried any competing game system
I also own a recent Gameboy. The gameboy has a 50 Mhz CPU with 256 KB RAM with a DSTN screen. The PSP has to power a 3D gfx card, a 250 Mhz CPU and 32 MB of RAM, and on top of that, a 4.1″ TFT screen and WiFi. If you think that you need the same battery power for both systems, you are in denial. The PSP has a 1800 mAh battery, and that’s the best it can have for that size. It is ALREADY a big battery. And in my experience, the PSP delivers a solid 5 to 6 hours of 3D gameplay, and that’s a *very* good battery life.
If your PSP doesn’t deliver that, then you have a deffective device.
>yes, there is a difference, subtle perhaps but important.
Maybe for you. Not for me. At least not for my non-native english tongue.
Comment by Eugenia — March 1, 2006 @ 9:13 am
you think there is a big difference between designer shoes and a cheap pair of nike’s? you think versace makes stuff out of leather from golden calves? no. same stupid leather used for no-name walmart shoes.
Nonsense. People buy a Versace dress because they are one-of-a-kind. They are exclusive in the sense that only few of one model of dress are made. It’s similar to cars; you pay a lot more for a Ferrari than for a Toyota, yet Toyota is the better car (Toyota is the most reliable brand in the world). Why do you pay more for the Ferrari? Part is better performance, but that doesn’t account for everything. The biggest part is rarity: the rarer a good, the more expensive it gets. Same goes for the Versace dress.
This leather case is a mass-product. It’s not rare, it’s not a limited production run, everyone can get one. For most Ferraris, you actually have to be invited to buy one, because only a few hundred of each model are made. This stupid leather case is in no sense different than competitor’s cases alse made out of leather, yet Apple is purposefully pricing these things so high because it knows there are enough stupid people out there who wil shell out the €99,- (yes, it’s even more expensive here).
You are ripping of ANY customer when you ask this kind of money for such a pointless mass product.
Comment by Administrator — March 1, 2006 @ 9:23 am