4 ms·

Aw c'mon, Apple products don't count as "conspicuous consumption". They're fairly small and unobtrusive. Sure, they're a bit self-marketing (white earphones and

by hugh3 15y ago

Aw c'mon, Apple products don't count as "conspicuous consumption". They're fairly small and unobtrusive. Sure, they're a bit self-marketing (white earphones and big illuminated Apple logos on the back of your laptop) but that's not conspicuous consumption. Gucci is conspicuous consumption. Bugatti is conspicuous consumption. Diamonds in your teeth is conspicuous consumption. Personal electronics are just plain ol' regular consumption.

borism 15y ago
seriously? even if those personal electronics are priced at a hefty premium over their counterparts?
- ceejayoz 15y ago
  > seriously? even if those personal electronics are priced at a hefty premium over their counterparts? Which has ceased to be the case for Apple products for quite a while now.
- dextorious 15y ago
  There is no hefty premium over COMPARABLE counterparts. People just compare any junk say Dell with the same hardware specs (memory, processor, disk, chipset, etc) to a MBP. Open a Dell and a MBP though, and take a peek. Have the same money been spend on the Dells internal case design? Is the Dell assembled with the same attention to detail? Does the Dell sport various small and big innovations, from the mag safe adapter to auto-inverted Ethernet port, non protruding camera, lid magnets, etc? Does the Dell have a unique in industry machined aluminum "concrete" case design? Is it as light? Is it as thin? Is is as sturdy? Was even the industrial designer designing the Dell as well paid and respected by his peers as Ives? Oh, and does the Dell hold its resale value just as well? Now, if you take a high-end Sony or Lenovo laptop, with comparable construction, it's often the case that the Apple laptop is cheaper or same price. Oh, and regarding tablets, media players and phones, Apple completely smoked the competition in pricing. Wasn't the Samsung tablet for example like $799 for a version competing (badly) with the $499 iPad?
  - borism 15y ago
    People just compare any junk say Dell with the same hardware specs (memory, processor, disk, chipset, etc) to a MBP. you prove my point. To you computer isn't just a piece of commodity. It IS a status symbol, a thing to revere. I guess it is the same to me since I write this from my MBP.
    - hugh3 15y ago
      I really think you need to look up what "conspicuous consumption" means. It isn't just about buying a slightly better, slightly more expensive version of a product. It's about spending money purely for the sake of showing off how much money you can afford to spend.
    - achompas 15y ago
      I think he's making a point about components and the laptop's manufacturing: even if you do find a Dell with components that compare to a MBP, that Dell is made of cheap plastic with a WiFi antenna that works intermittently, comes with bloatware, etc.
      - dextorious 15y ago
        And features those nice Intel Inside, Windows 7, NVIDIA, Jeremy was here, etc stickers...
    - glhaynes 15y ago
      Appreciating a product for being well-made doesn't make it a status symbol. People can like quality products themselves, not just the showing-off of them.
    - mrtron 15y ago
      It isn't just a status symbol. That cheapens what Apple offers. My father was a mechanic who bought tools from a specific supplier that was regularly 3-5x more expensive than generic tools. The reason? They would last 10x longer and work twice as well. I see my MBP as a tool. It is worth the premium for quality.
- hugh3 15y ago
  Whether they are or not (and that's a very boring debate I don't wanna get into)... no, not unless the premium is huge and obvious. Wikipedia sez: "Conspicuous consumption is spending on goods and services acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth." That's not a very good description of why people buy Apple products. They're just not expensive enough or pointless enough to make a good target for your conspicuous-consumption dollars. This is what conspicuous consumption in the consumer electronics field looks like: http://www.goldphoneshop.com/ http://www.goldphoneshop.com/
- randomdata 15y ago
  We really don't know how much Apple charges for their hardware because they bundle their software with it, and they don't tell us how much the software costs either. If we assume Windows and OS X took similar developer efforts, the smaller market for OS X means it is going to cost a lot more than Windows in order to recoup the costs of development. That is simple economics. Looking to iOS, it has a much larger market and Apple's mobile devices are quite competitive price wise, which supports the software cost factor. You might find a higher sticker price on a Mac, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into OS X. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Mac in the first place.
  - borism 15y ago
    You might find a higher sticker price on a Mac, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into OS X. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Mac in the first place. You might find a higher sticker price on a Gucci, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into Gucci. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Gucci in the first place.
    - randomdata 15y ago
      Hey, why even buy a luxurious PC? Just throw some parts together and install Linux. There couldn't possibly be any reason to choose a difference operating systems except status, right?
veyron 15y ago
The same arguments about how apple products are not conspicuous consumption can be applied to gucci and bugatti. If you get a real pair of gucci shoes from the store (not from the department stores), you really feel like you are walking on air, and you can walk for miles in these dress shoes without forming boils on your feet. I don't have a bugatti yet :P But BMW and porsches drive effortlessly and brake effectively, which really help when a taxi cab tries to cut you off. Now, tying this back to apple, the macbook airs are lighter than most netbooks yet still perform better than many monster dell laptops. It's somewhat nonsensical to try to argue that apple products aren't as lavish as gucci or bugatti.
- hugh3 15y ago
  I refuse to take lectures on conspicuous consumption from somebody called "Veyron". Seriously though, I concede that there's a gradient from "sensible consumption" to "conspicuous consumption". I'd classify a Mercedes as "sensible" rather than "conspicuous", unless you plate it in gold like this guy: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/23/gold-fingers-mercedes-c63-spotted-in-where-else-dubai/ http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/23/gold-fingers-mercedes-c63... I also concede that Gucci shoes (which aren't that expensive or that ostentatious) aren't the best example. I was thinking more of a Gucci t-shirt. But I probably should have chosen a different brand.

by hugh3 15y ago

borism 15y ago

seriously? even if those personal electronics are priced at a hefty premium over their counterparts?

ceejayoz 15y ago
> seriously? even if those personal electronics are priced at a hefty premium over their counterparts? Which has ceased to be the case for Apple products for quite a while now.
dextorious 15y ago
There is no hefty premium over COMPARABLE counterparts. People just compare any junk say Dell with the same hardware specs (memory, processor, disk, chipset, etc) to a MBP. Open a Dell and a MBP though, and take a peek. Have the same money been spend on the Dells internal case design? Is the Dell assembled with the same attention to detail? Does the Dell sport various small and big innovations, from the mag safe adapter to auto-inverted Ethernet port, non protruding camera, lid magnets, etc? Does the Dell have a unique in industry machined aluminum "concrete" case design? Is it as light? Is it as thin? Is is as sturdy? Was even the industrial designer designing the Dell as well paid and respected by his peers as Ives? Oh, and does the Dell hold its resale value just as well? Now, if you take a high-end Sony or Lenovo laptop, with comparable construction, it's often the case that the Apple laptop is cheaper or same price. Oh, and regarding tablets, media players and phones, Apple completely smoked the competition in pricing. Wasn't the Samsung tablet for example like $799 for a version competing (badly) with the $499 iPad?
- borism 15y ago
  People just compare any junk say Dell with the same hardware specs (memory, processor, disk, chipset, etc) to a MBP. you prove my point. To you computer isn't just a piece of commodity. It IS a status symbol, a thing to revere. I guess it is the same to me since I write this from my MBP.
  - hugh3 15y ago
    I really think you need to look up what "conspicuous consumption" means. It isn't just about buying a slightly better, slightly more expensive version of a product. It's about spending money purely for the sake of showing off how much money you can afford to spend.
  - achompas 15y ago
    I think he's making a point about components and the laptop's manufacturing: even if you do find a Dell with components that compare to a MBP, that Dell is made of cheap plastic with a WiFi antenna that works intermittently, comes with bloatware, etc.
    - dextorious 15y ago
      And features those nice Intel Inside, Windows 7, NVIDIA, Jeremy was here, etc stickers...
  - glhaynes 15y ago
    Appreciating a product for being well-made doesn't make it a status symbol. People can like quality products themselves, not just the showing-off of them.
  - mrtron 15y ago
    It isn't just a status symbol. That cheapens what Apple offers. My father was a mechanic who bought tools from a specific supplier that was regularly 3-5x more expensive than generic tools. The reason? They would last 10x longer and work twice as well. I see my MBP as a tool. It is worth the premium for quality.
hugh3 15y ago
Whether they are or not (and that's a very boring debate I don't wanna get into)... no, not unless the premium is huge and obvious. Wikipedia sez: "Conspicuous consumption is spending on goods and services acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth." That's not a very good description of why people buy Apple products. They're just not expensive enough or pointless enough to make a good target for your conspicuous-consumption dollars. This is what conspicuous consumption in the consumer electronics field looks like: http://www.goldphoneshop.com/ http://www.goldphoneshop.com/
randomdata 15y ago
We really don't know how much Apple charges for their hardware because they bundle their software with it, and they don't tell us how much the software costs either. If we assume Windows and OS X took similar developer efforts, the smaller market for OS X means it is going to cost a lot more than Windows in order to recoup the costs of development. That is simple economics. Looking to iOS, it has a much larger market and Apple's mobile devices are quite competitive price wise, which supports the software cost factor. You might find a higher sticker price on a Mac, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into OS X. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Mac in the first place.
- borism 15y ago
  You might find a higher sticker price on a Mac, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into OS X. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Mac in the first place. You might find a higher sticker price on a Gucci, but it is a pretty safe assumption that the added cost is to get you into Gucci. Which just so happens to be the only reason why you would consider purchasing a Gucci in the first place.
  - randomdata 15y ago
    Hey, why even buy a luxurious PC? Just throw some parts together and install Linux. There couldn't possibly be any reason to choose a difference operating systems except status, right?

veyron 15y ago

The same arguments about how apple products are not conspicuous consumption can be applied to gucci and bugatti. If you get a real pair of gucci shoes from the store (not from the department stores), you really feel like you are walking on air, and you can walk for miles in these dress shoes without forming boils on your feet. I don't have a bugatti yet :P But BMW and porsches drive effortlessly and brake effectively, which really help when a taxi cab tries to cut you off. Now, tying this back to apple, the macbook airs are lighter than most netbooks yet still perform better than many monster dell laptops. It's somewhat nonsensical to try to argue that apple products aren't as lavish as gucci or bugatti.

hugh3 15y ago
I refuse to take lectures on conspicuous consumption from somebody called "Veyron". Seriously though, I concede that there's a gradient from "sensible consumption" to "conspicuous consumption". I'd classify a Mercedes as "sensible" rather than "conspicuous", unless you plate it in gold like this guy: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/23/gold-fingers-mercedes-c63-spotted-in-where-else-dubai/ http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/23/gold-fingers-mercedes-c63... I also concede that Gucci shoes (which aren't that expensive or that ostentatious) aren't the best example. I was thinking more of a Gucci t-shirt. But I probably should have chosen a different brand.