>At the gas tank integrated oil companies make about 7 cents per gallon This has to be the figure for what the owner of the gas station makes, which in some in

>At the gas tank integrated oil companies make about 7 cents per gallon This has to be the figure for what the owner of the gas station makes, which in some instances is the oil company itself, but in many instances is a franchisee. Some states actually have price controls on gas to protect small "mom and pop" stations from "integrated" competitors(!) So, Exxon, et al. are making a hell of a lot more than $.07 per gallon of unleaded gas, not to mention the fact that gasoline is just one product that comes out of a barrel of oil. I think people do see Apple as greedy, but even more people perceive thier products as non-commodity, luxury goods and think Apple is justified. A lot of people also identify with the Apple brand on a personal level. I don't think anyone thinks of themselves as an Exxon or BP person. Millions of people think of themselves as "Apple people."