BigZaphod: Apple does everything themselves so they can offer a complete, cohesive, unified package that their customers want. The PC vendors always seem to be

BigZaphod: Apple does everything themselves so they can offer a complete, cohesive, unified package that their customers want. The PC vendors always seem to be looking for an easy way out so they only have to do half as much work. ZeroGravitas: Apple package these things together well, and I believe that's an important skill and adds value This smells like violent agreement to me. The R&D that goes into packaging, component selection, and materials is exactly the sort of investment that low-margin PC manufactures avoid on the hardware side.