I’ve watched Apple rise and fall several times over the past 15+ years of using their computers. Interesting times were happening when Mac’s were almost going the way of IBM, and clones were taking up a significant market share, back in the late 1990′s. The clone licensing was revoked because one of the core values of Apple Computers has always been an emphasis on the quality of the user experience, and this quality was reinforced by the closed box unity of hardware and software. With the return of Steve Jobs, Apple rebranded itself with the “Think Different” campaign, equating their machines with the same creative genius as Picasso and Einstein, firmly taking the reigns of creativity as a customer-enabling selling point and running with it.
Apple was very smart in their early years, focusing on education and creativity as their core user base. Get the kids using Apple in school, they’ll have positive experiences, and will likely remember that brand when it comes time for them to use computers later in life. Since working with Xerox on the protocols for LaserWriters, they’ve always had the edge in desktop publishing. Apple Computers are largely today’s standard for audio and video work, simply due to a history of reliability and consistency, essentials for meeting deadlines and maintaining flow. By strategic placement in most Hollywood movies, and the subsequent iPod/iPhone phenomena, Apple permeated popular culture, and eventually, the high cost of the brand became a status symbol as well as an indication of quality, much like BMW.
I believe strongly, that today, Apple is using the excess profits from the sale of Mac computers to develop and market the iPhone and iPod platforms and offer them with much smaller profit margins then if there wasn’t the massive cash cow of computer sales backing it up. This wouldn’t be possible without selling customers less computer for their money. You can see in the price comparison below (see Appendix A + B ) that customers pay at least $1000 just to put a computer together. This is a minimal example of what is known widely as the Apple Tax. In a similar strategy to entering the education market to get brand impressions early, entering popular culture with advertising dollars is another way to get impressions. You can’t be exclusive and ubiquitous at the same time. This saturation of branding by pouring excess profits away from their core competency has unfortunately resulted in a dilution of what Apple represented, quality and creativity, the antithesis of planned obsolescence.
This critical disconnect can be seen in Apple’s One to One program. One to One offers setup and training to customers at retail locations for $99/year, plus whatever trainers cost (no way to find out). In the years leading up to this, Apple offered several paths by which dedicated customers can become certified consultants or trainers. Anyone who has worked in a creative vocation knows that a backup source of revenue in the lean times is to do training and consulting. It is similar to how the opening of the Apple Retail stores forced the closure of many smaller distributors. One to One injects itself at the point of sale into this income stream for thousands of people who have invested thousands of dollars and years into Apple Computers. Since all One to One classes take place at Apple Stores, it creates additional opportunities for revenue. With the One to One program, Apple betrayed it’s most dedicated customers for additional chances to sell consumer electronics.
This is corporate behavior at it’s most reprehensible, and certainly not in line with something that I once considered “insanely great”.
Appendix A: NewEgg build of most expensive components available to come close to specs, but exceed it with Blue Ray and Video Card. (I don’t know if this will work or not! I’ve only built one box, and this was more for rough price comparisons) Note, I’m not including much in terms of hard drive space, keyboards or mice, since these costs are negligable compared to the box itself.
SILVERSTONE ST1500 1500W Power Supply
$399.99LG Blu-ray Burner Model BH08LS20
$249.992 x Intel Xeon X5570 2.93GHz LGA 1366 95W Quad-Core Server Processor
$2,939.982 x Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Server Memory
$259.98Intel S5500BC SSI CEB-leveraged Server Motherboard
$399.99SAPPHIRE 2GB Radeon HD 4870 Vapor-X Video Card
$249.99ABS Canyon 695 Full Aluminum Super Tower Computer Case
+
Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive (bare drive)
-$100.00 Combo
$659.98Grand Total: $5,159.90
Appendix B: Similar Build of Mac Pro
Two 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8GB (4x2GB)
640GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MBGrand Total : $6,199
