What does $2550 get you?
in [Mac Systems]
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From: BreadWithSpam on 29 Jul 2010 13:32 Michelle Steiner <michelle(a)michelle.org> writes: > In 1990, I was working for Apple, and they had an "Own a Mac" program for > employees. For a one-time only, an employee could get a Mac Plus for free .... > So I got a IIfx for a few hundred bucks. It replaced a Mac SE. > I doubt that car dealers gave such deep discounts to their employees. While I don't have numbers, I'd have to similarly doubt, however, that car dealers marginal cost per unit is as low, as a proportion of normal retail, as Apple's products were. By way of example, whenever Apple comes out with a new product, iSuppli comes out with a cost breakdown. The iPhone 4, in theory, costs Apple about $200. iPad, about $260. For the parts. Obviously, Apple's actual costs are vastly higher - there's all the pesky research, design, engineering, software development, plus a smidge of marketing, not to mention administrative and assembly costs. But most of those things are relatively fixed, rather than marginal costs. Apple could therefore quite comfortably give employees discounts of, say, half the price of any given such device and not be taking a cost or loss on it. And if they want to induce Apple employees to actually buy and use the products, offering a discount to allow them to get the devices for less than cost may only actually cost Apple a tiny bit. I don't think car companies have anywhere near the kinds of margins and flexibility, nor do they have similar proportions of fixed versus marginal costs. It's an, er, Apples to Oranges comparison. That all said, wow, a IIfx for a couple of hundred bucks was truly a steal. I think I still had a MacPlus in 1990. I was eyeing the IIsi but didn't replace that MacPlus until 1991 when I got a Powerbook 140. -- Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
From: Walter Bushell on 29 Jul 2010 19:42 In article <yobr5imxkg6.fsf(a)panix1.panix.com>, BreadWithSpam(a)fractious.net wrote: > > Obviously, Apple's actual costs are vastly higher - there's all the > pesky research, design, engineering, software development, plus a > smidge of marketing, not to mention administrative and assembly costs. > But most of those things are relatively fixed, rather than marginal > costs. Apple could therefore quite comfortably give employees > discounts of, say, half the price of any given such device and not be > taking a cost or loss on it. And if they want to induce Apple > employees to actually buy and use the products, offering a discount to > allow them to get the devices for less than cost may only actually > cost Apple a tiny bit. You forgot support costs, defective hardware and such. -- All BP's money, and all the President's men, Cannot put the Gulf of Mexico together again.
From: Walter Bushell on 29 Jul 2010 19:42 In article <dfmanno-D79C7D.20342728072010(a)news.albasani.net>, "D.F. Manno" <dfmanno(a)mail.com> wrote: > In article <270720101534567683%nospam(a)nospam.invalid>, > nospam <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: > > > Tim Okergit wrote: > > > > > You should see what half this price can get you in the PC world! > > > > half the performance/specs. > > And Windows. TBF, you could load Linux or BSD on the thing. -- All BP's money, and all the President's men, Cannot put the Gulf of Mexico together again.
From: D.F. Manno on 29 Jul 2010 20:21 In article <proto-CC34C6.13423829072010(a)news.panix.com>, Walter Bushell <proto(a)panix.com> wrote: > D.F. Manno wrote: > > nospam wrote: > > > Tim Okergit wrote: > > > > > > > You should see what half this price can get you in the PC world! > > > > > > half the performance/specs. > > > > And Windows. > > TBF, you could load Linux or BSD on the thing. You could, but it will come with Windows whether you like it or not. -- D.F. Manno dfmanno(a)mail.com "I want my country forward." (Bill Maher)
From: Paul Sture on 1 Aug 2010 08:55
In article <dfmanno-7D34C5.20215529072010(a)news.albasani.net>, "D.F. Manno" <dfmanno(a)mail.com> wrote: > In article <proto-CC34C6.13423829072010(a)news.panix.com>, > Walter Bushell <proto(a)panix.com> wrote: > > > D.F. Manno wrote: > > > nospam wrote: > > > > Tim Okergit wrote: > > > > > > > > > You should see what half this price can get you in the PC world! > > > > > > > > half the performance/specs. > > > > > > And Windows. > > > > TBF, you could load Linux or BSD on the thing. > > You could, but it will come with Windows whether you like it or not. I recently came across a place which will supply PCs without an OS. Not all of them, but on selected models yes. This is no doubt down to the brave few who doggedly took this issue through the courts. -- Paul Sture |