Obviously Apple is trying to turn the iPhone 5C into the plastic Macbook of 2006 - the best-selling laptop ever. The MacBook was also more expensive than the c

Obviously Apple is trying to turn the iPhone 5C into the plastic Macbook of 2006 - the best-selling laptop ever. The MacBook was also more expensive than the competition, however consumers (even students) paid up. Arguably the price difference wasn't as extreme, but I'd be surprised if Apple didn't lower the price to $499 or less, and announce a white+black models of 5C very soon. However, I'd argue that the main reason consumers bought the Macbook was not the Apple brand, but the vast gap between OS X and Windows XP. They bought into the operating system, and that's what drove sales of other Apple products from then on, because after all, that iPhone/iPod works better with a Mac. Fast-forward to now, Apple's competitor isn't MS Windows. It's Android, which doesn't cost a premium the way Windows did, and is arguably not inferior to iOS. OS X was more "open" compared to Windows, and not just due to its Unix underpinnings. It didn't come with pre-packaged software and DRM restrictions, but it did come with better software. It didn't force you to consume content the Microsoft way, it embraced developers creating great apps like VLC without charging them. No more. iOS is a walled garden, even more so than Windows ever was. Sure Google isn't a saint in that regard, and yet Android encourages competition. It has no issue with Amazon's Kindle app selling e-books. It has no issue with developers writing apps to replace "core functions". It knows that selling 10 units with a 10% margin is better than selling 1 unit with a 20% margin. It's thinking long-term. I still love Apple for its design and attention to product detail, but if their greed and hubris continues to escalate, history may just repeat itself.