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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > People do still wonder "Where did the computer go?"

People do still wonder "Where did the computer go?"
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ajprice
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Dec 12, 2009, 04:32 PM
 
I was in the local PC World today, as I went around, there were a couple of guys having a go on an iMac. When I got there they were impressed by the picture quality of the iSight webcam...
"Eh thats sharp innit?"
"Yeah its a nice picture"


They took a few pictures of themselves, had a few giggles, and carried on playing.
"Its a nice screen, wheres the base station?"
"Eh?"
"Where's the main bit of the computer? They've only got the screen out"
"Dunno"


So they start looking around the tabletop, then under it at the shelves.
"There it is"
"Nah, that'll be the power supply"


Looking around the back again, they spot a few iMac boxes on the end of the display table.
"They've only got a picture of the screen on the box, that must be it all in there"
"F***in' 'ell!"


They find a sales guy, and ask the question
"Where's the computer on those ones there?"
"They're all-in-one's sir, the computer is in the back of the screen"


They both stand there, trying to get their head around it.

It cheered me up!

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
Oneota
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Dec 13, 2009, 11:36 PM
 
I get that sometimes when I have vendors stop into my office to try to sell me something. They'll look at the 24" iMac sitting on my workbench and say "That's a nice monitor!" then look all flabbergasted when I tell them that's the entire computer. Makes me smile every time.
"Yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation.
     
iM@k
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Dec 14, 2009, 02:06 AM
 
Right before I left the wonderful world of retail, I had a sent a customer interested in switching to the Apple Store.

He came back to me and said almost the same thing (They had the displays out but no computers to look at).

He too was dumbfounded when I explained.
What, me worry?
     
CharlesS
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Dec 14, 2009, 02:30 AM
 
I've never understood this. I mean, everyone knows what laptops are, right? They're thin. Take off the screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc, and they're even thinner. Why is it so amazing that you could graft that on the back of a monitor?

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
Simon
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Dec 14, 2009, 04:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
I've never understood this. I mean, everyone knows what laptops are, right? They're thin. Take off the screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc, and they're even thinner. Why is it so amazing that you could graft that on the back of a monitor?
I agree. I actually recall when the iMac G4 was introduced Steve made a joke about how it was obvious that when you go to a flat-panel AIO you just take the motherboard and attach it to the back of the display. At the time he was boasting that they wanted something much better. And they came up with the lamp. Of course one two and a half years later they launched the iMac G5 which turned out to be exactly what they had joked about earlier.
( Last edited by Simon; Dec 14, 2009 at 10:21 AM. Reason: sigh)
     
P
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Dec 14, 2009, 06:30 AM
 
More like two years and a few months, but yes, you're right. The two examples of failed designs that he mentioned was a 17" format of the old iMac - deemed too bulky - and a flat display with the entire computer behind it - deemed a failure because the screen wasn't thin enough, and a vertical optical had to be slower than a regular, horizontal one. The first became the eMac and the second became the iMac G5/Core Duo, both of which sold much better than the iMac G4. I wonder what other designs they have recycled.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
imitchellg5
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Dec 14, 2009, 01:11 PM
 
Sometimes people who see my G5 say it's the noisiest monitor that they've ever heard
     
olePigeon
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Dec 14, 2009, 01:12 PM
 
Show them a Mac mini.
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you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
P
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Dec 14, 2009, 01:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
Sometimes people who see my G5 say it's the noisiest monitor that they've ever heard
That model demos best when turned off...

Also, people see the thickness and can certainly believe that there is a computer behind it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Simon
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Dec 14, 2009, 02:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
Sometimes people who see my G5 say it's the noisiest monitor that they've ever heard
I lol'ed.
     
Person Man
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Dec 14, 2009, 04:27 PM
 
When I first got my 17" iMac at my office in 2006, everyone said, "Oh, you got a new screen!" Then, when I upgraded three years later to a 24" iMac, they again said the same thing.

Today one of my colleagues came in, saying he was going to buy an iMac, and he wondered "where the rest of the computer was." So, it's the same thing all along
     
Love Calm Quiet
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Dec 15, 2009, 09:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by Oneota View Post
They'll look at the 24" iMac sitting on my workbench and say "That's a nice monitor!"...
I believe the officially recommended reply is, "Yeah, thanks. Comes with at free Mac!"
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GORDYmac
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Dec 15, 2009, 01:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Show them a Mac mini.
Yep, the Mac Mini screws up every one that comes in my home office. "Really? That's it, with that big monitor? Man, that must cost a lot of money." When I tell them it cost less than $600, and I used my old peripherals, they immediately want me to go to Apple.com and prove it.
     
imitchellg5
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Dec 17, 2009, 10:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by GORDYmac View Post
Yep, the Mac Mini screws up every one that comes in my home office. "Really? That's it, with that big monitor? Man, that must cost a lot of money." When I tell them it cost less than $600, and I used my old peripherals, they immediately want me to go to Apple.com and prove it.
It's funny how people still think Macs are ridiculously expensive. Someone in one of my classes was whispering about how he bet I'd spent $4k on my MBP.
     
EndlessMac
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Dec 18, 2009, 04:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
It's funny how people still think Macs are ridiculously expensive. Someone in one of my classes was whispering about how he bet I'd spent $4k on my MBP.
$4K?? LOL. I guess some people will believe anything they hear and never do any checks on facts. Even the highest Mac Pro isn't $4K unless you do all the upgrades. Your MBP isn't made out of gold is it?
     
Simon
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Dec 18, 2009, 04:39 AM
 
In all fairness, it's easy to spec out a MBP for 4K. Just like any other high-end PC notebook for that matter.

MBP 17", 3.06 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $4049

The difference with the Mac is there is simply no ultra-cheap low-end budget crap. There is no MB at $599. There is no iMac at $399. But at the high-end Apple doesn't stand out in any special way.
     
olePigeon
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Dec 18, 2009, 02:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
But at the high-end Apple doesn't stand out in any special way.
Can you name a single PC vendor out there (desktop or laptop) that sells computers made out of either 1/8" solid sheet of aluminum, or milled out of a block of aluminum for a unibody case?

Apple stands out, just not in a way that your average person cares. If someone's looking at the specs of a computer because they think of it as an appliance, they don't necessarily care if it's milled out of a solid block of aluminum. They'll take the cheap, plastic Dell because it's just as fast and cheaper.
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Simon
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Dec 18, 2009, 02:51 PM
 
Umm, I wasn't talking about design. It was a statement about prices of high-end hardware. Actually, I tried to make a point about the fact that Apple doesn't do low-end crap. So no offense but I really don't understand what you're talking about.
     
EndlessMac
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Dec 18, 2009, 03:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
In all fairness, it's easy to spec out a MBP for 4K.
You can also spec out a Windows computer for $4K also. The way imitchellg5 told the story it sounded like they naturally assumed all Macs were $4K which is why I thought it was funny. Of course if a person customizes their computers they can be very expensive. That's true on both Mac and PCs. My point was that some people will just make up these wild claims without checking on facts.

PCs do have those ultra-cheap low-end budget crap as you pointed out so Macs do feel expensive in comparison for those people but to pick such a high number as 4K just shows that some people are just going by what they have been told rather than finding out for themselves the truth. Basically it's the same way stereotypes and rumors start.
     
olePigeon
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Dec 18, 2009, 04:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
So no offense but I really don't understand what you're talking about.
The design is what makes Apple stand out in the high end when the difference in technical specifications are nothing meaningful.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
Simon
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Dec 18, 2009, 04:46 PM
 
Umm, yeah. Nobody ever questioned that.
     
imitchellg5
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Dec 18, 2009, 05:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
In all fairness, it's easy to spec out a MBP for 4K. Just like any other high-end PC notebook for that matter.

MBP 17", 3.06 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $4049

The difference with the Mac is there is simply no ultra-cheap low-end budget crap. There is no MB at $599. There is no iMac at $399. But at the high-end Apple doesn't stand out in any special way.
It's also easy to get one for $1200

I was just referring to the fact that people think Macs are still ridiculously overpriced. Whenever someone finds out you have a Mac, they never ask about the specs or anything, they always ask first about how much you payed.
     
Simon
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Dec 18, 2009, 07:12 PM
 
I still don't get what's so special. They ask what it cost because they already know what you got is good stuff. The only thing left to ask is the price. If your neighbor buys a Ferrari you don't ask if it's a good car. You ask how much he spent.

And anyway, who cares what other people think? Your computer, your choice. Their choice, their suffering.
     
turtle777
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Dec 18, 2009, 08:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Show them a Mac mini. an external DVD drive
Fixed for PC n00bs.

-t
     
turtle777
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Dec 18, 2009, 08:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
If your neighbor buys a Ferrari you don't ask if it's a good car. You ask how much he spent.
You do that ?

Sorry, analogy fail.

-t
     
reader50
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Dec 18, 2009, 10:20 PM
 
It's a decent analogy, except for the "neighbor buying a Ferrari" part. Maybe I live in the wrong neighborhood. No Ferraris parked nearby, though there is the occasional Corvette or BMW.

My boss once asked about my Macs. His first question: "how much does a Mac go for these days?" Since this was pre-Mini, the answer was unhelpfully high. He asks more technical questions today, after getting an iPhone.
     
turtle777
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Dec 19, 2009, 02:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
It's a decent analogy
I don't think so.

It's perfectly fine to ask about the price of a Mac.

Only a douche will ask the neighbor for the price of his Ferrari.

-t
     
Eriamjh
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Dec 19, 2009, 11:38 AM
 
I love the iMac G4 design. The current iMac is truly the ideal design, which perhaps the exception of the "chin". Today's iMacs are as thin as some displays without computers inside. Crazy.

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Wiskedjak
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Dec 19, 2009, 11:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by CharlesS View Post
I've never understood this. I mean, everyone knows what laptops are, right? They're thin. Take off the screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc, and they're even thinner. Why is it so amazing that you could graft that on the back of a monitor?
Nevermind the fact that there's absolutely nothing new about integrating the monitor and the desktop computer. It's been done on both Mac and PC platforms for over 20 years.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Dec 19, 2009, 12:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
. If your neighbor buys a Ferrari you don't ask if it's a good car. You ask how much he spent.


You MUST be Swabian!

     
Judge_Fire
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Dec 24, 2009, 06:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
Can you name a single PC vendor out there (desktop or laptop) that sells computers made out of either 1/8" solid sheet of aluminum, or milled out of a block of aluminum for a unibody case?
Nokia, actually. Having had too many letdowns with their phone build quality, I wouldn't expect too much, though.
     
turtle777
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Dec 24, 2009, 06:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by Judge_Fire View Post
Nokia, actually. Having had too many letdowns with their phone build quality, I wouldn't expect too much, though.
I don't think Nokia is universally considered a PC vendor.

-t
     
Judge_Fire
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Dec 25, 2009, 04:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
I don't think Nokia is universally considered a PC vendor.
The universe is a big place, but yeah, I guess not. The observation was submitted as a curiousity highlighting the fact that there is atleast someone other than Apple going for unibody,
     
   
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