5 ms·

It really does come down to status. Apple isn't really a computer company anymore, it sells "Luxury Goods" and gets the same sort of value boost you see in diam

It really does come down to status. Apple isn't really a computer company anymore, it sells "Luxury Goods" and gets the same sort of value boost you see in diamonds, Rolexes, and Armani suits. This isn't to say the components are trash, but if you removed the cachet of the brand, and the lock in afforded by OSX and iOS, you wouldn't see nearly the current stupidity.

noobermin 8y ago
As much as I think this is true, many people around me have macs, especially non-gamers and non-tech savvy people, so it's not that much of a niche.
- parrellel 8y ago
  It's not that it's a niche, it's that Apple's products are designed to be coveted. I'm saying uninformed people don't first buy Apple based on specs, they buy Apple because of brand recognition and 'fanciness'
  - noobermin 8y ago
    I agree with you by that definition of luxury, yes.
lotsofpulp 8y ago
How is it just status when Apple is the only vendor providing a device that just works with the least time spent fixing it or updating it or removing all the malware that came pre installed on it? My grandparents and uncles and aunts aren’t looking for status. They want to open their device, press FaceTime and see their grand kids. They don’t want to spend time fighting out which login to use on which service Google is experimenting with (duo/allo/hangout?). Hell I don’t even know. It’s not status when you they buy windows laptops for 10 years and they have a 50/50 shot of the sleep function working when they close the lid, but they see people with MacBooks just closing the lid and moving on. And never getting a blue screen. And never waiting for Windows updates to finish. There is a reason Apple has its reputation, and obviously since no one else an offer the seamless experience, they’re going to charge extra for it. But the amount of hours of life it has saved me is worth every penny. That’s how bad the Windows experience was for me and pretty much everyone I know.
- bigbugbag 8y ago
  I deal with this grandparents videocall situation, none have an apple product but android tablets and linux computers and it's working as intended. I also deal with how every macbook plugging the ethernet cable on my home network just crashes with the multilingual error message explaining that nothing can be done except turning off the macbook, no other device does this, apple device privilege I guess. Do I have to mention the number of ipad and iphone and macbook that are brought to me because something wrong during update happened and now the devices won't boot ? There are other vendor who do not pre install malware, and I would like to see fact supporting your claim that apple is the only one that... To me apple is just another vendor with their own shortcomings and issues but also a more successful marketing which managed to give their devices a social status marker.
  - lotsofpulp 8y ago
    My elders don’t even read English, I just don’t see how Google and Windows offerings are as usable as Apples. And in fact experience shows they weren’t, I tried and all the login and quality issues made me go out and set everyone up with FaceTime. Although their recent decision to hide the switch camera button was asinine, they mostly kept it clean and consistent and easy to use. Same with iOS. If I give the same elders a Windows or Linux or Android device, who knows what kind of malware they will click on when visiting their news websites or clicking WhatsApp links. But with iOS, I never have to worry about malware. All they have to do is go back to the home screen and kill the website or process. That’s not marketing, that’s creating software and hardware that meets a need. A need for privacy and security and usability with minimal hassle.
    - bigbugbag 8y ago
      My elders do not understand english either and requires fully localized software. I do not know about google or windows or apple offerings, I stay away from both. Does facetime allows to videocall outside of apple walled garden or is it an apple only feature ? As approximatively 1 person own an iphone among people they stay in touch with, this would be an issue. I gave my elders linux computers more than 10 years ago, they are 92 and 93 years now, and not a malware issue once. Claiming that apple popularity is based on merit alone and not on marketing is quite the extraordinary claim, so allow me to ask for some fact supporting this claim.

noobermin 8y ago

As much as I think this is true, many people around me have macs, especially non-gamers and non-tech savvy people, so it's not that much of a niche.

parrellel 8y ago
It's not that it's a niche, it's that Apple's products are designed to be coveted. I'm saying uninformed people don't first buy Apple based on specs, they buy Apple because of brand recognition and 'fanciness'
- noobermin 8y ago
  I agree with you by that definition of luxury, yes.

lotsofpulp 8y ago

How is it just status when Apple is the only vendor providing a device that just works with the least time spent fixing it or updating it or removing all the malware that came pre installed on it? My grandparents and uncles and aunts aren’t looking for status. They want to open their device, press FaceTime and see their grand kids. They don’t want to spend time fighting out which login to use on which service Google is experimenting with (duo/allo/hangout?). Hell I don’t even know. It’s not status when you they buy windows laptops for 10 years and they have a 50/50 shot of the sleep function working when they close the lid, but they see people with MacBooks just closing the lid and moving on. And never getting a blue screen. And never waiting for Windows updates to finish. There is a reason Apple has its reputation, and obviously since no one else an offer the seamless experience, they’re going to charge extra for it. But the amount of hours of life it has saved me is worth every penny. That’s how bad the Windows experience was for me and pretty much everyone I know.

bigbugbag 8y ago
I deal with this grandparents videocall situation, none have an apple product but android tablets and linux computers and it's working as intended. I also deal with how every macbook plugging the ethernet cable on my home network just crashes with the multilingual error message explaining that nothing can be done except turning off the macbook, no other device does this, apple device privilege I guess. Do I have to mention the number of ipad and iphone and macbook that are brought to me because something wrong during update happened and now the devices won't boot ? There are other vendor who do not pre install malware, and I would like to see fact supporting your claim that apple is the only one that... To me apple is just another vendor with their own shortcomings and issues but also a more successful marketing which managed to give their devices a social status marker.
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  My elders don’t even read English, I just don’t see how Google and Windows offerings are as usable as Apples. And in fact experience shows they weren’t, I tried and all the login and quality issues made me go out and set everyone up with FaceTime. Although their recent decision to hide the switch camera button was asinine, they mostly kept it clean and consistent and easy to use. Same with iOS. If I give the same elders a Windows or Linux or Android device, who knows what kind of malware they will click on when visiting their news websites or clicking WhatsApp links. But with iOS, I never have to worry about malware. All they have to do is go back to the home screen and kill the website or process. That’s not marketing, that’s creating software and hardware that meets a need. A need for privacy and security and usability with minimal hassle.
  - bigbugbag 8y ago
    My elders do not understand english either and requires fully localized software. I do not know about google or windows or apple offerings, I stay away from both. Does facetime allows to videocall outside of apple walled garden or is it an apple only feature ? As approximatively 1 person own an iphone among people they stay in touch with, this would be an issue. I gave my elders linux computers more than 10 years ago, they are 92 and 93 years now, and not a malware issue once. Claiming that apple popularity is based on merit alone and not on marketing is quite the extraordinary claim, so allow me to ask for some fact supporting this claim.