6 ms·

That's quite a price premium to pay for 5 minutes extra work!

by jiggy2011 12y ago

qq66 12y ago
I once paid $100 to a car mechanic for a job that took him about 5 minutes. The reason I did it was that I didn't know how to do it myself, so I paid whatever it took to get the job done. "Grandma" here is similar.
toomuchtodo 12y ago
I bought my grandmother an iMac refurbished: http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop Very pleased, saved ~$200 off list. Still get a warranty.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  Always buy refurbished directly from Apple. You get a full year of AppleCare warranty attached to the purchase and can buy more years of AppleCare after that. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals When a new model launches, that's the best time to buy refurbs on the older stuff. The older Macbook Airs are going for 35-40% off list right now.
  - JohnBooty 12y ago
    I've had nothing but good experiences with this - bought several refurb Macs from Apple and each one has been indistinguishable from a new machine. I always extend my warranty as well. The only downside is that Apple will charge sales tax, which can be substantial on a $1,000 or $2,000 item. Last time I bought a MBP it was actually cheaper to get a new one from Amazon because they were discounting it. (That was before Amazon started charging sales tax in my state, obviously - otherwise it would have been a wash)
  - chenster 12y ago
    Ditto that! All my Apple products are refurbished. Working great and 20 to 50% off.
  - judk 12y ago
    Only if you like to upgrade frequently. Otherwise your prev gen refurbished will run into non-support for the next OS or hardware innovation.
    - joezydeco 12y ago
      Perhaps for iOS devices, but the desktop stuff can run for a long time on older hardware. I'm personally using a refurbed Early 2008 iMac that runs Mavericks just fine. It needed more RAM and hard drive space, but that was nothing that I couldn't have purchased when I bought the machine.
  - simoelalj 12y ago
    http://www.refurb.me/ http://www.refurb.me/ is monitoring service for the official Apple refurb store. Because it's hard to know when the product that you want to buy will become available. RefurbMe will alert you by email or SMS to go buy it on the Apple Store.
randallsquared 12y ago
It's not the five minutes of extra work; it's the cognitive overhead of knowing how to do this stuff. Talk to someone who knows nothing about computers, sometime. You'll find all kinds of misconceptions and worries. "What if I plug it in wrong and break it?" tops the list, usually.
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  The plugs on the back are pretty difficult to get wrong, I'm sure everyone knows somebody who is capable of plugging in wires for $1000 per hour!
joezydeco 12y ago
Believe it or not, some people don't want the clutter of extra cables and another box on the desktop to get tangled up in the other stuff. They'll pay the extra to have a clean setup on their desk. Apple knows some people treat PCs like furniture. That may make you grind your teeth, but at least you have the option.
JohnBooty 12y ago
Surely, if you examine your own life, you will find many instances where you trade time for money. Do you mend your own socks instead of throwing them out? Change your own oil in your car? Sweep your own chimney? Grow your own food? Roast and brew all of the coffee you drink? Come on.
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  I do a few of those, but it's a matter of cost benefit. Growing all your own food would probably cost more than buying in many cases. You have to be extremely rich to value your time in the thousands per hour.
  - JohnBooty 12y ago
    > You have to be extremely rich to value your > time in the thousands per hour. You and I can simply add a monitor in a few minutes, but it's not five-minute job if it's not a process you're familiar with. There are a lot of questions. - What monitor do I even buy? - What's a good monitor brand? - Do I have to buy an Apple-branded monitor? If not, do I have to look for "Mac compatible" or something on the box? - I have to buy cables? - What cables do I need? (The customer will probably need an adapter, at least, as most monitors do not include a Mini-DP connector/adapter) - Can I just use my TV? And so on and so forth. It's a lot more than just the physical act of plugging a monitor in. Again, it's so easy for us, but you if you work in the tech industry you really need to think outside of your own head sometimes. Imagine if car manufacturers expected us to manually adjust the fuel/air mix in the engine because it's just a "five minute job."
  - hatbert 12y ago
    You could start by estimating the time cost correctly. You're assuming that the time required to select the right monitor is zero, that the time required to understand the various connection standards is zero, etc., etc., etc. The only cost you're counting is the act of unboxing and plugging it in. Maybe you and I keep track of this stuff professionally or as a hobby, but most "grandmothers" don't. Quick: What's the best lock-in amplifier for rejecting mains interference. What? You don't know what dynamic reserve means? Jeez, you're such a dummy. Think about how you would go about buying a piece of technical equipment outside your domain of expertise. That's what a "grandmother" is doing when he/she is buying a monitor.

That's quite a price premium to pay for 5 minutes extra work!

qq66 12y ago

I once paid $100 to a car mechanic for a job that took him about 5 minutes. The reason I did it was that I didn't know how to do it myself, so I paid whatever it took to get the job done. "Grandma" here is similar.

toomuchtodo 12y ago

I bought my grandmother an iMac refurbished: http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop Very pleased, saved ~$200 off list. Still get a warranty.

joezydeco 12y ago
Always buy refurbished directly from Apple. You get a full year of AppleCare warranty attached to the purchase and can buy more years of AppleCare after that. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals When a new model launches, that's the best time to buy refurbs on the older stuff. The older Macbook Airs are going for 35-40% off list right now.
- JohnBooty 12y ago
  I've had nothing but good experiences with this - bought several refurb Macs from Apple and each one has been indistinguishable from a new machine. I always extend my warranty as well. The only downside is that Apple will charge sales tax, which can be substantial on a $1,000 or $2,000 item. Last time I bought a MBP it was actually cheaper to get a new one from Amazon because they were discounting it. (That was before Amazon started charging sales tax in my state, obviously - otherwise it would have been a wash)
- chenster 12y ago
  Ditto that! All my Apple products are refurbished. Working great and 20 to 50% off.
- judk 12y ago
  Only if you like to upgrade frequently. Otherwise your prev gen refurbished will run into non-support for the next OS or hardware innovation.
  - joezydeco 12y ago
    Perhaps for iOS devices, but the desktop stuff can run for a long time on older hardware. I'm personally using a refurbed Early 2008 iMac that runs Mavericks just fine. It needed more RAM and hard drive space, but that was nothing that I couldn't have purchased when I bought the machine.
- simoelalj 12y ago
  http://www.refurb.me/ http://www.refurb.me/ is monitoring service for the official Apple refurb store. Because it's hard to know when the product that you want to buy will become available. RefurbMe will alert you by email or SMS to go buy it on the Apple Store.

randallsquared 12y ago

It's not the five minutes of extra work; it's the cognitive overhead of knowing how to do this stuff. Talk to someone who knows nothing about computers, sometime. You'll find all kinds of misconceptions and worries. "What if I plug it in wrong and break it?" tops the list, usually.

jiggy2011 12y ago
The plugs on the back are pretty difficult to get wrong, I'm sure everyone knows somebody who is capable of plugging in wires for $1000 per hour!

joezydeco 12y ago

Believe it or not, some people don't want the clutter of extra cables and another box on the desktop to get tangled up in the other stuff. They'll pay the extra to have a clean setup on their desk. Apple knows some people treat PCs like furniture. That may make you grind your teeth, but at least you have the option.

JohnBooty 12y ago

Surely, if you examine your own life, you will find many instances where you trade time for money. Do you mend your own socks instead of throwing them out? Change your own oil in your car? Sweep your own chimney? Grow your own food? Roast and brew all of the coffee you drink? Come on.

jiggy2011 12y ago
I do a few of those, but it's a matter of cost benefit. Growing all your own food would probably cost more than buying in many cases. You have to be extremely rich to value your time in the thousands per hour.
- JohnBooty 12y ago
  > You have to be extremely rich to value your > time in the thousands per hour. You and I can simply add a monitor in a few minutes, but it's not five-minute job if it's not a process you're familiar with. There are a lot of questions. - What monitor do I even buy? - What's a good monitor brand? - Do I have to buy an Apple-branded monitor? If not, do I have to look for "Mac compatible" or something on the box? - I have to buy cables? - What cables do I need? (The customer will probably need an adapter, at least, as most monitors do not include a Mini-DP connector/adapter) - Can I just use my TV? And so on and so forth. It's a lot more than just the physical act of plugging a monitor in. Again, it's so easy for us, but you if you work in the tech industry you really need to think outside of your own head sometimes. Imagine if car manufacturers expected us to manually adjust the fuel/air mix in the engine because it's just a "five minute job."
- hatbert 12y ago
  You could start by estimating the time cost correctly. You're assuming that the time required to select the right monitor is zero, that the time required to understand the various connection standards is zero, etc., etc., etc. The only cost you're counting is the act of unboxing and plugging it in. Maybe you and I keep track of this stuff professionally or as a hobby, but most "grandmothers" don't. Quick: What's the best lock-in amplifier for rejecting mains interference. What? You don't know what dynamic reserve means? Jeez, you're such a dummy. Think about how you would go about buying a piece of technical equipment outside your domain of expertise. That's what a "grandmother" is doing when he/she is buying a monitor.