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> I even tell my dealer to change my tires twice a year > I even drilled a hole my wall, and bought a 60 feet cable, at the cost of $300 What?! Is this guy

> I even tell my dealer to change my tires twice a year > I even drilled a hole my wall, and bought a 60 feet cable, at the cost of $300 What?! Is this guy completely oblivious to the way he spends his money? > Yep, I am one of the drooling mac fanatics. Oh. Well, there you have it.

fragmede 17y ago
That's actually more insightful than I first realized. You have to be oblivious to the vendor lock-in that results from Apple's control and the resulting costs. The 'no usb, no SD slot' complaint about the iPad? Thats because to get the 32 gigbyte iPad vs. the 16 gigabyte iPad is another $100. But I already have a 16 gigabyte USB stick, or a 16 gigabyte SD card I bought from Frys, on sale, for $40. Apple's going to charge me $100 for something I already have, and they're gonna charge me two times the price? If there was an SD slot, I could buy the 16 gigabyte iPad and use the SD card I already have, instead of buying the $600, 32-gigabyte iPad vs. the $500, 16-gigabyte version. It's a nickel-and-dime to the tune of 99-cents an app, and I don't like it. Nor can I really argue against the current success of the iPhone. If it costs me extra to get something that actually works, I'll actually get it, because it'll actually work. (edit: clarified '...charge me $100...')
- GHFigs 17y ago
  Apple's going to charge me $100 for something I already have, and they're gonna charge me two times the price? Could you explain what you mean by this? I don't understand how Apple fits in to your previous purchases.
  - mbrubeck 17y ago
    He's saying that Apple has a large markup on the flash storage options for the iPad, and if it supported USB or SD like most computers then they wouldn't be able to have such a price differential between models. (Or maybe they would; Apple has previously charged 2-3x market prices for RAM upgrades in build-to-order Macs, when users could save hundreds of dollars by buying their RAM elsewhere.)
    - GHFigs 17y ago
      That doesn't explain the relation to his previous purchases. I don't see the connection at all.
      - fragmede 17y ago
        I have a 16-gigabyte SD card. In order to have a 32-gigabyte iPad, I have to purchase the 32-gigabyte version for $600. If the iPad had an SD card slot, I could hypothetically purchase a 16-gigabyte iPad for $500 and use my previously purchased 16-gigabyte SD card.
        GHFigs 17y ago
        You've restated exactly the part that I do understand. What I don't understand is where you see a connection between your previous purchases and what Apple charges for what they produce. You specifically said that Apple would charge you for what you already have, but it isn't clear where that occurs.
        loup-vaillant 17y ago
        Literally, Apple don't charge him for what he already has. Just that assuming he wanted that 32GB IPad, it would be as if he were charged $100 for what it has. But literally, he would just have been charged $100 too much, compared to Apple adding this dammed SD port. This is akin to the different Windows editions. The basic edition is exactly the same as the pro edition, except for the restrictions, so they can justify the price difference.
        deleted 17y ago
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        deleted 17y ago
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        fragmede 17y ago
        Ah, I misunderstood your question then. The connection isn't to Apple's prices: they made it, they get to decide pricing (and features). The connection is between my previous purchase, and my next (considered) purchase and the connection there is me. Buying doesn't happen in a vacuum, though 'cost to me' is perhaps a better way of looking at it. The 'charge' occurs when Apple omits a card slot though it is their right to do so. This locks me into their pricing structure, which means I have to pay their prices. I already have 16-gigabytes that I could use in a device with an SD slot, but the lock-in requires that I pay their prices, and if I want the 32-gigabyte iPad, then I have to pay what Apple charges and I cannot use my previous purchase to offset that cost.
MrFoof 17y ago
>I even tell my dealer to change my tires twice a year >What?! Is this guy completely oblivious to the way he spends his money? Being a car guy, I can say that properly maintaining sports cars is not cheap. To the average person who loathes paying $300 for a set of all-season tires every 40K-50K miles, maintenance budgets for a high-performance car can be terrifying. I had to do long distance commuting in a Lancer Evolution MR for a while. The ultra-grippy tires would last about 10K commuting like a sane person. You could destroy them during a single track day at Watkins Glen. At $1300 a set (shipped, mounted, and balanced). And you still needed to maintain a good set of winter tires despite an absurdly complex torque-vectoring AWD system. And tires were not the biggest items on the maintenance budget. Even the cheapest sports car money can buy in the US, a Miata, tears through $800 sets of summer tires pretty handily. People aren't oblivious. Everyone has their priorities. Home. Cars. Technology. Food. Travel. Other hobbies. What some find ridiculous, others find normal, and vice-versa.

fragmede 17y ago

That's actually more insightful than I first realized. You have to be oblivious to the vendor lock-in that results from Apple's control and the resulting costs. The 'no usb, no SD slot' complaint about the iPad? Thats because to get the 32 gigbyte iPad vs. the 16 gigabyte iPad is another $100. But I already have a 16 gigabyte USB stick, or a 16 gigabyte SD card I bought from Frys, on sale, for $40. Apple's going to charge me $100 for something I already have, and they're gonna charge me two times the price? If there was an SD slot, I could buy the 16 gigabyte iPad and use the SD card I already have, instead of buying the $600, 32-gigabyte iPad vs. the $500, 16-gigabyte version. It's a nickel-and-dime to the tune of 99-cents an app, and I don't like it. Nor can I really argue against the current success of the iPhone. If it costs me extra to get something that actually works, I'll actually get it, because it'll actually work. (edit: clarified '...charge me $100...')

GHFigs 17y ago
Apple's going to charge me $100 for something I already have, and they're gonna charge me two times the price? Could you explain what you mean by this? I don't understand how Apple fits in to your previous purchases.
- mbrubeck 17y ago
  He's saying that Apple has a large markup on the flash storage options for the iPad, and if it supported USB or SD like most computers then they wouldn't be able to have such a price differential between models. (Or maybe they would; Apple has previously charged 2-3x market prices for RAM upgrades in build-to-order Macs, when users could save hundreds of dollars by buying their RAM elsewhere.)
  - GHFigs 17y ago
    That doesn't explain the relation to his previous purchases. I don't see the connection at all.
    - fragmede 17y ago
      I have a 16-gigabyte SD card. In order to have a 32-gigabyte iPad, I have to purchase the 32-gigabyte version for $600. If the iPad had an SD card slot, I could hypothetically purchase a 16-gigabyte iPad for $500 and use my previously purchased 16-gigabyte SD card.
      - GHFigs 17y ago
        You've restated exactly the part that I do understand. What I don't understand is where you see a connection between your previous purchases and what Apple charges for what they produce. You specifically said that Apple would charge you for what you already have, but it isn't clear where that occurs.
        loup-vaillant 17y ago
        Literally, Apple don't charge him for what he already has. Just that assuming he wanted that 32GB IPad, it would be as if he were charged $100 for what it has. But literally, he would just have been charged $100 too much, compared to Apple adding this dammed SD port. This is akin to the different Windows editions. The basic edition is exactly the same as the pro edition, except for the restrictions, so they can justify the price difference.
        deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
        fragmede 17y ago
        Ah, I misunderstood your question then. The connection isn't to Apple's prices: they made it, they get to decide pricing (and features). The connection is between my previous purchase, and my next (considered) purchase and the connection there is me. Buying doesn't happen in a vacuum, though 'cost to me' is perhaps a better way of looking at it. The 'charge' occurs when Apple omits a card slot though it is their right to do so. This locks me into their pricing structure, which means I have to pay their prices. I already have 16-gigabytes that I could use in a device with an SD slot, but the lock-in requires that I pay their prices, and if I want the 32-gigabyte iPad, then I have to pay what Apple charges and I cannot use my previous purchase to offset that cost.

MrFoof 17y ago

>I even tell my dealer to change my tires twice a year >What?! Is this guy completely oblivious to the way he spends his money? Being a car guy, I can say that properly maintaining sports cars is not cheap. To the average person who loathes paying $300 for a set of all-season tires every 40K-50K miles, maintenance budgets for a high-performance car can be terrifying. I had to do long distance commuting in a Lancer Evolution MR for a while. The ultra-grippy tires would last about 10K commuting like a sane person. You could destroy them during a single track day at Watkins Glen. At $1300 a set (shipped, mounted, and balanced). And you still needed to maintain a good set of winter tires despite an absurdly complex torque-vectoring AWD system. And tires were not the biggest items on the maintenance budget. Even the cheapest sports car money can buy in the US, a Miata, tears through $800 sets of summer tires pretty handily. People aren't oblivious. Everyone has their priorities. Home. Cars. Technology. Food. Travel. Other hobbies. What some find ridiculous, others find normal, and vice-versa.