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> Fuck competition. Become one with your inner troll What a morbid way of looking at things... and it's not terribly accurate, either. You can make a very goo

by maratd 13y ago

> Fuck competition. Become one with your inner troll What a morbid way of looking at things... and it's not terribly accurate, either. You can make a very good buck on volume, even with fierce competition and extremely tight margins. So you can't charge a whole lot for the toll because there are a dozen other bridges? Boo hoo! Have you thought of selling coffee to your clients as they pass? You can easily make up margin on the up-sell or cross-sell. Something that anybody who worked in consumer electronics retail already knows. And that type of retail is extremely low-margin and competitive. The guy across the street and on the internet has the same exact widget as you. This is something that Netflix isn't doing. Yet. And there's quite a bit of margin there. Oh and here's a little bit of insight, once you have a "bridge" you can point it at any "island". It's super easy, almost like copy and paste. How many countries have access to Netflix? There's plenty of opportunity in volume and you serve the greater good. Not every company has to be a hipster love fest like APPL, where you pay through the nose for substandard hardware. That's just as crass as children refusing to wear anything but brand name clothing. Volume capitalism is beautiful because it mercilessly lowers the price of goods, allowing access to all. And you can make quite a profit too!

d23 13y ago
> So you can't charge a whole lot for the toll because there are a dozen other bridges? Boo hoo! Have you thought of selling coffee to your clients as they pass? If nothing else, I've gotten some fantastic imagery out of this conversation.
mbreese 13y ago
You had me right up until calling Apple a hipster love fest with substandard hardware. This adds nothing to your argument and just makes you sound grumpy (as in get-off-my-lawn type of grumpy). The crass children comment just reinforces this picture. I personally find their hardware to be high quality, and most of their margins come from the supply side. But that's beside the point. True - you can make money on volume, but when you are in a race to the bottom in terms of price, something invariably suffers... it's usually quality. So, if you want to make money selling cheap crap, go right ahead - profit is profit. Just don't assume everyone wants to be in that business.
- maratd 13y ago
  > You had me right up until calling Apple a hipster love fest with substandard hardware. Alright, alright. The hardware itself is, of course, not substandard. You're paying for the brand, so it's just overpriced. Yes, build quality is wonderful on the Air, but my Samsung Series 9 has similarly wonderful build quality. You're definitely paying for the brand. That's why everything they sell has a prominent Apple logo stamped on it. If it wasn't for that logo, people wouldn't fork over the kind of money they do. Yes, they built up their brand on good service and quality, but then, every luxury brand does that as well. Now, somebody has to be the luxury brand and somebody has to make "cheap crap" as you say. That's fine and there's nothing wrong with that. But please don't pretend that Apple is for the masses. It makes about as much sense as saying everybody should drive a Ferrari. My point was that not every business needs to be run like a luxury brand to make money. Look at Samsung and many others as an example. You can make plenty of money on volume, up-selling, and cross-selling, as well as expanding internationally.
  - fusiongyro 13y ago
    > But please don't pretend that Apple is for the masses. Not every Apple product is for everyone, but they have done a very good job of creating a product line diverse enough that anyone can afford something. Minimum wage laborers are certainly seen sporting iPods. iPads are still the most popular kind of tablet. If you can afford X for a product you want, if you put in the effort/take out a loan, you can afford 1.5X for a product in the same class. We're not talking about cars, where the luxury brands can easily exceed the expense of commodity brands by factors of ten or a hundred. > If it wasn't for that logo, people wouldn't fork over the kind of money they do. Yes, they built up their brand on good service and quality, but then, every luxury brand does that as well. The fact that other luxury brands do something similar vis-a-vis service and quality doesn't mean you get to slyly deduct it from reasons to buy Apple. Buying Apple gets you a pretty thoroughly integrated positive experience. The logo certainly has value, but it's a lot more than just the logo. Expect to see Apple remaining in their market position for as long as it takes their competitors to develop an appreciation for the advantages these non-technical and semi-technical efforts bring.

by maratd 13y ago

d23 13y ago

> So you can't charge a whole lot for the toll because there are a dozen other bridges? Boo hoo! Have you thought of selling coffee to your clients as they pass? If nothing else, I've gotten some fantastic imagery out of this conversation.

mbreese 13y ago

You had me right up until calling Apple a hipster love fest with substandard hardware. This adds nothing to your argument and just makes you sound grumpy (as in get-off-my-lawn type of grumpy). The crass children comment just reinforces this picture. I personally find their hardware to be high quality, and most of their margins come from the supply side. But that's beside the point. True - you can make money on volume, but when you are in a race to the bottom in terms of price, something invariably suffers... it's usually quality. So, if you want to make money selling cheap crap, go right ahead - profit is profit. Just don't assume everyone wants to be in that business.

maratd 13y ago
> You had me right up until calling Apple a hipster love fest with substandard hardware. Alright, alright. The hardware itself is, of course, not substandard. You're paying for the brand, so it's just overpriced. Yes, build quality is wonderful on the Air, but my Samsung Series 9 has similarly wonderful build quality. You're definitely paying for the brand. That's why everything they sell has a prominent Apple logo stamped on it. If it wasn't for that logo, people wouldn't fork over the kind of money they do. Yes, they built up their brand on good service and quality, but then, every luxury brand does that as well. Now, somebody has to be the luxury brand and somebody has to make "cheap crap" as you say. That's fine and there's nothing wrong with that. But please don't pretend that Apple is for the masses. It makes about as much sense as saying everybody should drive a Ferrari. My point was that not every business needs to be run like a luxury brand to make money. Look at Samsung and many others as an example. You can make plenty of money on volume, up-selling, and cross-selling, as well as expanding internationally.
- fusiongyro 13y ago
  > But please don't pretend that Apple is for the masses. Not every Apple product is for everyone, but they have done a very good job of creating a product line diverse enough that anyone can afford something. Minimum wage laborers are certainly seen sporting iPods. iPads are still the most popular kind of tablet. If you can afford X for a product you want, if you put in the effort/take out a loan, you can afford 1.5X for a product in the same class. We're not talking about cars, where the luxury brands can easily exceed the expense of commodity brands by factors of ten or a hundred. > If it wasn't for that logo, people wouldn't fork over the kind of money they do. Yes, they built up their brand on good service and quality, but then, every luxury brand does that as well. The fact that other luxury brands do something similar vis-a-vis service and quality doesn't mean you get to slyly deduct it from reasons to buy Apple. Buying Apple gets you a pretty thoroughly integrated positive experience. The logo certainly has value, but it's a lot more than just the logo. Expect to see Apple remaining in their market position for as long as it takes their competitors to develop an appreciation for the advantages these non-technical and semi-technical efforts bring.