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marden · Oct 30, 2006, 06:36 AM

Originally Posted by Mallrat

I don't know which comment is funnier

a) get a higher paying job
b) you are the exact type of consumer Apple doesn't want

Priceless.

I love Apple, but man are some of you guys out there, what's the word I'm looking for:

ASSHOLES

I mean, I'm an asshole too, but I mean you guys are major dicks.

And someone said Apple will only make $5 dollars on each notebook. I have no idea what their profit margin is on their systems, but I don't think it's as high as you think. they sell cars for 10,000 dollars and the dealer might only might a few hundred dollars profit if they are dealing with a savvy consumer.

Do you think they make 200 bucks off each iPod? Please. They probably make like 10 to 20% of the price and their goal is to sell as many as they can to make a profit.

So of course they would never make money with a cheaper laptop.

Look, I understand Apple probably has 5% interest in keeping up with the PC guys, but they did make a 2 button mouse and iPod work for PCs.

So this isn't Apple circa 1987. This is 2006.

And seriously, why do some of you get so mad at the idea of a $500 dollar laptop.

You make it sound like I demanded it from the heavens. I was saying, in order for Apple to survive, they'll need to make cheaper laptops or they may loss even their 3% hold of the market.

Either way, I'm working on that better job now. It invovles kicking your ass for 500 bucks an hour. What a dick.

(I said this all in a joking manner before you call the police)

Funny post, Mallrat!

harrisjamieh · Oct 30, 2006, 07:05 AM

What some people don't realise is that Apple are a higher end computer manufacturer. Its like saying why don't BMW or Mercedes make a car for under �10k. Why don't Bang & Olufsen make a TV for under �1k.

Its because they don't need to, and they don't want to. By making a $500 laptop, Apple will be cheapening their brand. You saw all the bashing Apple got when they put GMA950s in their MacBooks and Minis... imagine what garbage a laptop half the price of a MacBook would be. It would be nothing more than a Celeron M pile of crap with 256 RAM and a 30 GB HD. It would have an awful 1024x768 screen and would just generally be a pile of crap.

marden · Oct 30, 2006, 08:59 AM

I think Apple should concentrate it's efforts on creating a $600 iPod.

Hash · Oct 30, 2006, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

What some people don't realise is that Apple are a higher end computer manufacturer. Its like saying why don't BMW or Mercedes make a car for under �10k. Why don't Bang & Olufsen make a TV for under �1k.

Its because they don't need to, and they don't want to. By making a $500 laptop, Apple will be cheapening their brand. You saw all the bashing Apple got when they put GMA950s in their MacBooks and Minis... imagine what garbage a laptop half the price of a MacBook would be. It would be nothing more than a Celeron M pile of crap with 256 RAM and a 30 GB HD. It would have an awful 1024x768 screen and would just generally be a pile of crap.

Explain 79$ shuffle existence

Gossamer · Oct 30, 2006, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Hash

Explain 79$ shuffle existence

It's an mp3 player designed for people that don't need/want a screen. It definitely has a purpose, it's still built to high standards, and it's cheap because it's missing what Apple has deemed is not necessary for this niche. The shuffle works extremely well for some people, and doesn't cheapen Apple's name. A Celeron M with 256MB of RAM, a 30GB HD, and a crappy screen would just cause Apple trouble.

SSharon · Oct 30, 2006, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

What some people don't realise is that Apple are a higher end computer manufacturer. Its like saying why don't BMW or Mercedes make a car for under �10k. Why don't Bang & Olufsen make a TV for under �1k.

Well some of us do. I posted almost this exact message on the first page.

Getting people to like the company name with ipods is not the same as having crappy computers. As it is people think Apple drops support for models too soon. If we had a laptop with specs similar to the B series by dell we would have to drop support before Leopard even comes out.

I want good value like everyone else, but I don't want to sacrifice quality to get it.

Y3a · Oct 30, 2006, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by Mallrat

I don't know which comment is funnier

a) get a higher paying job
b) you are the exact type of consumer Apple doesn't want

Priceless.

I love Apple, but man are some of you guys out there, what's the word I'm looking for:

ASSHOLES

I mean, I'm an asshole too.

TRUE!!

And since you admit you are one, why should we care?

dale · Oct 30, 2006, 01:59 PM

With Microsoft preparing to charge $300 per copy of windows VISTA - PC laptops will Need to start at $500.

Oh, but then these laptops will not be powerful enough to run VISTA!

itai195 · Oct 30, 2006, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by Mallrat

And seriously, why do some of you get so mad at the idea of a $500 dollar laptop.

The reason people may get mad is because you make unsubstantiated statements like the following:

I was saying, in order for Apple to survive, they'll need to make cheaper laptops or they may loss even their 3% hold of the market.

I can't see Apple making a quality $500 laptop today. Maybe down the road, but I strongly doubt that they want to slap some cheap components together and put out a low quality product just to hit the $500 mark, that's not their business model.

Hash · Oct 30, 2006, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

Well some of us do. I posted almost this exact message on the first page.

Getting people to like the company name with ipods is not the same as having crappy computers. As it is people think Apple drops support for models too soon. If we had a laptop with specs similar to the B series by dell we would have to drop support before Leopard even comes out.

I want good value like everyone else, but I don't want to sacrifice quality to get it.

I think you mistake quality for specifications. Low end computers can be of good quality (eg sony vaio) or even Mac Mini and Macbooks

Hash · Oct 30, 2006, 03:28 PM

Back to the topic, I too cannot see Apple making 500$ notebooks. However, one reason is that notebook market is very much expanding right now, so it makes sense to capture profitable high and mid end markets. When these markets will be saturated, a cheap notebook by Apple a la original ibook is quite possible, though maybe not at 500$ price. Witness ipod strategy (same for desktops and notebooks) - release first the most expensive one; then a middle one, and at a last a cheap one. BTW, makes me think that we will see cheaper desktops (not imacs) soon..