[AppleGirl1990]

In my economics class we are discussing the realistic possibility that 15 years of good fortune and an upward market are coming to an end. Should a recession occur, what effect will if have on Apple's flagship computer, i.e., the MacPro? Obviously the most expensive to acquire: simply adding more ram, upgrading the graphics card and increasing storage space will make this computer cost upward of $7,000.

Could this be a reason Apple didn't include the BTO of a Blu-ray disc that so many of us wanted? That would have increased the cost by at least $400

[Thraxes]

If I were Apple I would try to strengthen the market penetration outside of the USA. Has the advantage of getting paid in stronger currencies and being more detached from the looming financial crisis in the USA that will likely get much worse in 2008. I know a few financial analysts that work for large investment companies and all of them say that this is the tip of the iceberg. Any business that is overly dependent on the US economy should either start battoning down and/or try to get as much business outside the dollar zone as possible.

The big question though is: How bad will the knock-on effects be in other economies outside of the dollar zone? Nobody can say for sure.

Anyway, the MacPro is not really a consumer computer. In broadcasting and print - the main stomping grounds of a MacPro - high prices are the norm rather than the exception so consumer pricing sensibilities don't count as much. I rather think that the exclusion of a BD drive is a technical decision and not one of economics: No Mac based BD authoring software - all solutions currently available are Windows based. No protected video path - makes the AACS licensing authority a bit jumpy, especially after what happened to the unprotected PowerDVD app which quite readliy gave up a master key and opened the gates to BD and HD-DVD ripping. So the two main uses for BD are currently not available in MacOS, why try and sell a BD drive?

[cms]

My, what a big sig you have, my dear. Better sort it pronto before the mods get shirty........

[mduell]

Originally Posted by AppleGirl1990 

In my economics class we are discussing the realistic possibility that 15 years of good fortune and an upward market are coming to an end. Should a recession occur, what effect will if have on Apple's flagship computer, i.e., the MacPro? Obviously the most expensive to acquire: simply adding more ram, upgrading the graphics card and increasing storage space will make this computer cost upward of $7,000.

The Mac Pro already costs >$7,000 with decent RAM/GPU/disk upgrades.

Originally Posted by AppleGirl1990 

Could this be a reason Apple didn't include the BTO of a Blu-ray disc that so many of us wanted? That would have increased the cost by at least $400

A BTO option adds nothing to the base price.

Also, your sig contains a hotlinked image (you took it from another site and they don't allow that) and is way too long anyway for the forum rules.

[AppleGirl1990]

i removed the image out of my signature. If i cannot pull images from other websites, how do you guys have images? it's gotta be hosted on an external site, right?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by AppleGirl1990 

i removed the image out of my signature. If i cannot pull images from other websites, how do you guys have images? it's gotta be hosted on an external site, right?

They're from sites (in many cases our own) that allow hotlinking.

Your sig still isn't forum rules complaint.

[MacosNerd]

I don't think apple was trying to make the computer recession proof by not including blue-ray.

Also we were already in a recession when Bush started his first term in 01, so we haven't had 15 years of good fortune. Of course the housing market lessoned that and helped us climb out of it. Now the housing market and high credit debt is dragging the economy down.

[zerostar]

Having been in the design industry for many years and having knowledge of recession buying, most advertisers increase output during a downturn or recession, we have always had to upgrade to meet demand every few years and a recession has and will not stop that. That is in design & print production anyway, maybe someone can chime in on other industries?

Also, the middle class is sucking wind right now, but as much as they are hurting the upper class feels no pain and is the ones these systems are designed for/used by.

[Tesselator]

Originally Posted by AppleGirl1990 

In my economics class we are discussing the realistic possibility that 15 years of good fortune and an upward market are coming to an end. Should a recession occur, what effect will if have on Apple's flagship computer, i.e., the MacPro? Obviously the most expensive to acquire: simply adding more ram, upgrading the graphics card and increasing storage space will make this computer cost upward of $7,000.

Could this be a reason Apple didn't include the BTO of a Blu-ray disc that so many of us wanted? That would have increased the cost by at least $400

I dunno what Apple is or isn't doing but we're already in the recession and many (including Mr.
Alan Greenspan) say within 2 or 3 years we will be in a depression far worse than anything we have
seen the the history of the USA. Yes, Alan Greenspan actually said that it was a VERY real possibility
and "almost a certainty". Some people (conspiracy theorists) who have been watching the market
and what the USA has been doing (for the past 4 to 6 years) even claim that this is by design and
is a move to eliminate the US middle class and thereby the power they hold in opposing the "New
World Order", the American Union, and the looming one world government these "elites" are
attempting to establish.

For example the gold price has gone from $200 an oz. to $900 (today) in just four or five months.

As I understand it this will eventually drive the prices of imported goods sky-high. How Apple will
deal with that I cannot guess. Microsoft is posed to deal with it much better as they outsource
very much of their operations already.

[red rocket]

Originally Posted by Tesselator

Some people (conspiracy theorists) who have been watching the market and what the USA has been doing (for the past 4 to 6 years) even claim that this is by design and is a move to eliminate the US middle class and thereby the power they hold in opposing the "New World Order", the American Union, and the looming one world government these "elites" are attempting to establish.

For example the gold price has gone from $200 an oz. to $900 (today) in just four or five months.

As I understand it this will eventually drive the prices of imported goods sky-high. How Apple will deal with that I cannot guess.

The Illuminati plan is flawed, however, stuck in an outdated US‑/Western European‑centric mindset that completely ignores economic developments in the Orient. Just take a look at the guest lists of Bilderberg Group meetings, they're like some 18th century colonialist powers revival.

As has already been pointed out, the MacPro isn't exactly a consumer computer, its primary market is the production/mind**** industry. As long as there are consumerist proles whose attention needs to be diverted from revolting against the master class, there will always be a market for machines that facilitate producing the brainwashing materials, whether they're located in high‑security guard towers directly above the drones or in buoyant Far‑Eastern business complexes where all far‑seeing businesses will likely migrate to completely, is ultimately of little relevance to Apple's future success in the Pro segment.

[FozzieUK]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Your sig still isn't forum rules complaint.

But what about red rockets sig? above my post, that would seem offensive to a lot of people?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Tesselator 

For example the gold price has gone from $200 an oz. to $900 (today) in just four or five months.

It's always fun to make up data to support conspiracy theories, but the price of gold hasn't been under $648/oz in the last 6 months and hasn't seen $200/oz in the last 10 years (low $253/oz).

Originally Posted by FozzieUK 

But what about red rockets sig? above my post, that would seem offensive to a lot of people?

The signature rules have nothing to do with offensiveness. Other forum rules deal with offensive content in posts, but redrocket has had that sig for a long time so I assume the mods don't find it offensive to others.

Signatures
Our current signature rules give you two options:
1. an image (200x50px max, 10KB max, non-animated) and up to one line of text, OR
2. no image, and up to four lines of text.
In either case, blank lines do count, and lines must be of reasonable length so they don't wrap on most screens (think 900px browser window width). Text should not be larger than the default size (no use of the SIZE tag). The SPOILER tag should also not be used in your signature.

[Tesselator]

mduell Wrote:
It's always fun to make up data to support conspiracy theories, but the price of gold hasn't been under $648/oz in the last 6 months and hasn't seen $200/oz in the last 10 years (low $253/oz).

Yeah, oops... I meant $400. Anyway it's spiked radically in the last 6 months and that's really
the point I was trying to make. Sorry about the misinformation! Here's the graph for those
interested:



In a stable economy (one that wasn't crashing and about to burn) this graph would be fairly
level - almost a straight line with just a few ups and downs.


The signature rules have nothing to do with offensiveness. Other forum rules deal with offensive content in posts, but redrocket has had that sig for a long time so I assume the mods don't find it offensive to others.

Signatures
Our current signature rules give you two options:
1. an image (200x50px max, 10KB max, non-animated) and up to one line of text, OR
2. no image, and up to four lines of text.
In either case, blank lines do count, and lines must be of reasonable length so they don't wrap on most screens (think 900px browser window width). Text should not be larger than the default size (no use of the SIZE tag). The SPOILER tag should also not be used in your signature.

I dunno, the sig seems fine to me. I'm a "God" person but I think I know what he means by
those icons and the way it is with "religion" in the western world one would have to be really
full of themselves to take offense to it. (IMO)

[henjin]

Originally Posted by zerostar 

Also, the middle class is sucking wind right now, but as much as they are hurting the upper class feels no pain and is the ones these systems are designed for/used by.

Well I guess I'm upper class then! I bought one several days ago. The rich folk I know buy iPhones and little notebooks like the MacBook Air. They don't do much that need a tower...

Good luck with the recession, this one is going to be truly nasty. I've never been so worried.

[cms]

Originally Posted by henjin 

The rich folk I know buy iPhones and little notebooks like the MacBook Air. They don't do much that need a tower...

A very accurate assessment...!