Apple to start behaving like Microsoft?!

[energyman]

Apple always used their own connectors forcing people to buy expensive apple crap or even more expensive adaptors. One of the many reasons why nobody should buy stuff from the white plastic factory.

[Thetargos]

Has it ever occurred to you that Apple doesn't want a bigger market share? Is like if you suddenly saw Ferrari selling family economy cars... Is NEVER going to happen. That is actually part of what makes Apple, Apple. They portray themselves as the Rolls Royce of the personal computing industry. They're luxury items even at their most basic configurations. Kind of Audi if you will (the A3 is nothing but a Volkswagen Golf in steroids), their basic models are fairly standard, but unique in some ways... That's what Apple is, has always been, and why shot down the clones. They're aspiration items, everybody likes their stuff and everybody feels cool just to use the stuff... As stupid as that is, it has worked out pretty well for them, as for other "brands" in many other areas (clothing, shoes, cars, why personal computers would have to be different?).

[Sacha]

That's fine but the problem is they aren't luxury items. There's nothing special about their products except the luxury pricetag. Generally their products lack features whilst a real luxury item excels in features.

What you are talking about is actually companies like AlienWare. AlienWare sold unique designs, exceptional features and powerful hardware with bleeding-edge technologies. Check out a real luxury computer.

Apple, on the other hand, uses average consumer hardware and markets their products towards every day consumers. They compete against Dell. They market their product as being elite (by being expensive) but they still want poor people to buy it (and they do).

You're kidding yourself if you think they aren't going for marketshare.

Edit: You're also going off-topic and side-tracking the point of this topic. Apple behaving worse than Microsoft. Is that agreement then?

Regardless of whether they are after marketshare or not, that does not give an excuse to create a port that is worse than an existing standard port and force their users to use it with the option of paying money so they can actually use it.

Unless, by your meaning of they aren't after marketshare, you mean: they are trying to get people not to buy their products at all.

[Thetargos]

Yes, then again, there's nothing luxury in a Versace shirt (cutton fabric? Loop of the loom t-shirts also have that!!)... You know what I mean, is marketing something as special items based solely on manufacturing and, well marketing. Don't tell me that Apple shoots for the Average Joe Six Pack type of client... They don't... But indeed that is another whole matter.

Bottom line is that YES Apple is worse than Microsoft simply because they target a very specific profile of user, or should I say profiles of users? The result is the same, they exercise strong-arm tactics on resellers and even clients due to these profiles. And in doing this, yes, they're much worse than Microsoft, tighter, less flexible, etc, etc.

Like I've said before, I like their products purely by aesthetics, I despise Apple as a company.

Edit

Oh, and by the way, Alienware are only awfully powerful computers, with some interesting designs, but THIS is truly a Luxury computer, have you seen an Alienware like this? I certainly have not. I almost forgot, you can order yours here

Edit 2

See any non Apple product with as much "bling"?... Some interesting designs, certainly, but nothing as "fancy".

[Sacha]

Yes, then again, there's nothing luxury in a Versace shirt (cutton fabric? Loop of the loom t-shirts also have that!!

I guess they have luxury marketing like Versace. Apple's designs are nothing special though. Gold-plating something doesn't make a good design, heck - it's just plating. Must I remind you that Apple did not gold-plate that machine, it's a different company. So yes, non-Apple. Most of Apple's products are no more appealing than my blank white wall. If I stuck an Apple logo on my wall and took a picture, you could mistake it for the back of a MacBook or maybe an iPod zoomed in.

Edit: Oh yeah and they actually do market and sell to Joe-Six Pack. I have seen more Joe-Six Packs with iPhones than anyone else. What about you? I'm pretty sure that's their market. The iPhone is the #1 selling phone in the US market afterall.

Besides, this is off-topic.