Hate Apple or the world? (pricing)

That article only takes into account for the cost of the hardware. Licenses, employee salaries, R&D costs, administrative costs, marketing costs etc. all have to come out of that price as well.

I don't have any actual beef with Apple, I just think they are a pretty boring. I like the way they look, but a lot of their interface stuff has been simplified to the extent that it's almost condescending. I have also had a couple of really shitty experiences with Apple products breaking just weeks after the warranty expired, leaving me with faulty products and extortionate repair costs. Oh, and I fucking hate their smug marketing campaigns.

I have an Ipod 5th Gen Video.  I like it.  I had something else before it.  It was harder to work with than my Ipod 3rd Gen.  When my 5th Gen breaks, I'll probably get an Ipod Touch.  I'm too lazy to learn something else now and all my songs are in Itunes.  I won't switch to Macbook for the same reason.  Pure laziness.  I don't hate Apple any more than I hate Microsoft which is nil. 

@mrv321: Few people want to use websites to get troubleshooting for their computers. They'd rather go to a brick & mortar. Apple has stores nearly everywhere that you can drive to and get free troubleshooting. I've never seen nor heard of Loco's, link to their website?

There are some people who, yes, believe it or not, can't actually figure out how to set up user accounts. Or rather, they don't want to. For these people, they'd rather just go to the Apple store and get it all set up there. Not everyone enjoys figuring out how to do something for themselves.

As to the antenna issue, that was a design flaw, not a result of poor materials or construction (per se). It wasn't an error on the manufacturer's part, it was an error on the designer's part. Still Apple's fault, but not because the hardware was shoddily made.

All companies have a small percentage of hardware failures. They're called factory defects. As a show of good service, most companies (including Apple) replace defective products for free. My mom got an iMac with a defective hard drive (it wouldn't spin up to the proper speed). The hard drive was replaced at no cost to us, and the only hassle was from loss of data. This could happen anywhere. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Apple's products are remarkably better-made than other companies. I'll tell you that they're well-made.

I'm actually going to admit that my statements on most of the OS stuff are largely wrong. In all likelihood, there are few noticeable differences between Ubuntu, WIndows, and OSX with regard to how they function for a normal user. However, that's not to say that everything is instantly solved. The interoperability with other devices (read: iPods, iPads, iPhones) that Apple provides are quite useful, alongside the free desktop support that they provide. That free desktop support means that you walk into a brick-and-mortar, as said before, and they'll help you fix your problems and get the computer set up. Most people want their computers to run themselves, and neither know nor care how to alter even the most basic system settings. Having someone else help with that is the easiest way to avoid it.

Some of  the Apple price is brand. This is true. But the same can be said for any large, famous company. Apple provides good products and superb services. Even iTunes support is good (and thus you get one of the advantages of going with a company that uses first-party software for many things; convenience and compatability). There are plenty of justifiable reasons to use OSX.

better question is why do people "hate" things they dont care for. Isnt it possible to not buy the products without trying to start some internet crusade about how rotten a company is for not tailoring a product to your needs? 

I don't have any actual beef with Apple, I just think they are a pretty boring. I like the way they look, but a lot of their interface stuff has been simplified to the extent that it's almost condescending. I have also had a couple of really shitty experiences with Apple products breaking just weeks after the warranty expired, leaving me with faulty products and extortionate repair costs. Oh, and I fucking hate their smug marketing campaigns.

I just got a new Samsung Galaxy S II android phone and it's fucking sexy. Haven't had a single problem with it so far, and it makes me wonder why people get so hyped about the iPhone considering there are so many sleek, not to mention cheaper, alternatives.

B.

I would do the same.

I hate Apple. But they're undoubtedly marketing geniuses. You've gotta give them credit for that.

@mrv321: As to the whole smart phone market thing: Android has the single most fractured userbase I've seen in a long time. Many people are still using Android 2.2 because of custom OEM mods that haven't been updated. There are probably at least 100 different android phone models, compared to 4 iPhone models. Android phones work with every major carrier in the U.S., while iPhone only uses 2. The differences between user experience of the different custom versions of Android (motoBlur, Sense, stock, etc. etc.) almost make it into a separate program visually. I'd be shocked if Android weren't the leading smart phone OS, and the fact that Apple was in first for years while only being on one carrier is quite amusing.

I don't have any actual beef with Apple, I just think they are a pretty boring. I like the way they look, but a lot of their interface stuff has been simplified to the extent that it's almost condescending. I have also had a couple of really shitty experiences with Apple products breaking just weeks after the warranty expired, leaving me with faulty products and extortionate repair costs. Oh, and I fucking hate their smug marketing campaigns.

I just got a new Samsung Galaxy S II android phone and it's fucking sexy. Haven't had a single problem with it so far, and it makes me wonder why people get so hyped about the iPhone considering there are so many sleek, not to mention cheaper, alternatives.

Apple hate makes no sense to me. It's a company. Buy their products if you like them, don't buy them if you don't. Who cares? 

If I ever need another MP3 player I just hunt down old iPod Nanos on ebay.

@example1013 said:

@mrv321: As to the whole smart phone market thing: Android has the single most fractured userbase I've seen in a long time. Many people are still using Android 2.2 because of custom OEM mods that haven't been updated. There are probably at least 100 different android phone models, compared to 4 iPhone models. Android phones work with every major carrier in the U.S., while iPhone only uses 2. The differences between user experience of the different custom versions of Android (motoBlur, Sense, stock, etc. etc.) almost make it into a separate program visually. I'd be shocked if Android weren't the leading smart phone OS, and the fact that Apple was in first for years while only being on one carrier is quite amusing.

Apple choose not to release their phone on more than one carrier for such a long time, how is that anyway Androids fault? Apple choose not release their OS to other manafacturers, how is that Android fault. You also have FREEDOM on Android, you can update your phone, flash it, custom roms... etc. The stock experience is fine for most people, the power users have THE CHOICE to install custom ROMS.Apple was first for years, they lost it. Becuase they are stubborn and don't allow openness at all. It's APPLES fault.

@mrv321: when I say desktop support, I mean an actual person to troubleshoot. It's what I do at my job (that I'm not working at right now). They have techs at the stores who do that. Loco may be a good service, but face-to-face is often more convenient. Apple also has a good staff for e-mail and phone support, so it's more the 3 options that are useful.

The point I'm making with interoperability with the iPhone is that you can buy the two devices and they function perfectly together. You've got a smartphone that integrates seamlessly with the desktop. I'd imagine this is similar to what we'll see when Chrome OS comes out, with Android phones having native support built into the OS.

And as I've been saying, reliance on someone else isn't necessary, it's convenient. I'm not saying that people can't do things on their own, I'm saying many don't want to. They don't want to bother learning how to do this and that.

iTunes is in need of a redesign to accomodate sharing iPods. There are issues with the whole system, to be sure. It's definitely outdated, because it was designed back in what, 2001? But the concept itself (native support for a mobile device and a single unified system) is a really good idea.

Medion may very well be better than Apple. I'm not making a comparison judgment other than that it's not cheap, easily broken shit (except for the iPhone 4, but that's still not cheap, easily broken shit, it's expensive, easily broken shit).

@mrv321: Headphone jacks are a problem, this is true.

And I'm not denying that Apple products work poorly with non-Apple products. That 'd be a poor business decision! But they work great with other Apple products, which is the point. The analogy of tires to a car doesn't really work, because the car doesn't really work without the tires. An iPod isn't essential.

Look, I'm not trying to list universalities here. I'm trying to generalize the average experience with Apple across all their products into posts shorter than a page long. There are problems with the company and the stuff they make. That's true for every company. Hell, I almost was going to get a new computer because the headphone jack is wired directly to the logic board, and I got the tip of a 3.5mm plug stuck in there when it broke off of my earbuds. A new logic board costs $1200, which is about as much as a new computer.

Ubuntu and such are also good options for OSes, but they don't provide the same experience as Apple, which is some pretty good stock programs that sync up the computer to the other devices, and such. There are issues connecting a device to more than one computer (in fact, you can't sync an iPod with more than one). Ubuntu looks to me to be a fine OS. I've used  Apple products for years, though, and I have no trouble dealing with them. I enjoy plugging in my iPod and syncing up my music. I enjoy playing around with the iOS and Mac OS SDKs. I enjoy running games on WIndows. It's a viable service. I'm not going to sit here and call Apple the hands-down best company product-wise (although I might support-wise), but the products are certainly good, and coupled with the services and support, are worth the price to me.

I haven't used any Linuxes. I really have had no need to. I run desktop support at the office I work at, which means I spend all my time with Windows there, and I have both Windows 7 and OSX on my laptop.

@gamefreak9: To be fair, the issue with taking a half an hour to update 50,000 songs is a hardware bottleneck that just can't be overcome. That issue is due to the fact that the USB port simply can't transfer songs at a faster rate, and thus has little to do with iTunes itself.

Apple is fine. I don't see why I'd ever need an iPad though.

They are a business charging what their user-base will pay for.  The only ones to blame for the price of Apple products are the users.  If they didn't buy those products at that price the price wouldn't be that high.  It's pretty simple really.

I still use my iMac that I bought in 2005, and it works perfectly. So I'm pretty sure it's been a good investment. 

OP is a spastic.

@PrivateIronTFU: 

I'm using the same desktop i've been using for 15 years, mines a better investment. You missed the point GTFO. 

i would say hate on apple. i don't have any of their products because i have other stuff for that. instead of an ipod i have a sansa view, that i only used when i worked. i'm a CD guy. yes, i still buy CD's from like amazon, best buy. i don't see a point in buying an expensive computer when there are PC that are cheaper.

I don't really care about what people think about the company, they make good products. I like my iPhone 4 and the iPods that I owned before it. I'm not interested in the Mac platform though because I prefer Windows. People just like hate on Apple because it's popular and it's easy to generalize Apple consumers as hipster douches. Reminds me of how the CoD players are all generalized to be stupid stoners and douchebag jocks. 

Apple makes high quality products, but unfortunately, they overprice it.

Apple makes great looking quality products. I own an iPhone 3GS and a MacBook Pro that I lug around everywhere. The service at the store in my city has been the best customer service I have ever gotten when it comes to getting answers and getting the problem fixed. I'll happily buy another Apple product.

Not saying this to hate or anything its just an observation(since we are o apple topic), it probably has to do with the fact that they are more... into fashion than other people, but i think 90 per cent of the gay people i know(i know alot) prefer macs, and the 10 per cent just haven't been gay as long. 

Can I hate both?

Although right now kinda vexed with apple due to the sorry tech support system they have setup. Noticed a problem with the current version of itunes on vista & going to support asks for the stupidest thing ever seen when having technical issues with a free piece of software: hardware serial #. Can't continue without that & last time I checked, software doesn't have a hardware serial#. Stupid geniuses at apple hard at work doing opposite of common sense.

My iPod is from 2004. It still works fine. It is black and white and has 20 gigs of memory for music only.
It looks like this one. It's about a half inch thick. But iPods are a quality product. I've had it for 7 years and it works perfectly.

The iMacs do look very very sexy. 

I didn't buy my iphone to make a fashion statement... i bought it because it's a nice phone.

I think that Apple is evil. REALLY evil.

Their products are pretty cool, yo

example1013 has been exposed to the reality distortion field.

I used to think they were overpriced. Actually I still think they are very overprice, but they are also pretty awesome in many respects. I love my Macbook. 

I don't hate Apple so much as the people who feel everything Apple makes is leaps and bounds beyond anything else (but I don't hate those people as much as just find them annoying at times). Apple is raking in dough off of saps who think they have the best product and won't listen to anyone who says otherwise. Good for Apple. That is why they are a successful business. Also, they do have some really cool tech and ideas. A lot of those things end up being done better by another company. That is what competition is all about. I guess it's my friends who annoy me most because I went from Blackberry to HTC and refuse to shell out the money for an Apple. They are kind of over-priced, and I don't want to have to spend the time to figure out how to use their desktop computer. Did I mention they are over-priced? I can't afford anything Apple makes.

I really want to vote for C but I can't help but think it's a double entendre.