Re:How about making them cheaper? (Score 1)

Clearly you didn't watch the WWDC keynote address. The workstations and servers are cheaper than comparatively equipped Dells. And if you add the webcam and a few other things the Mac has to a Dell notebook, the price of comparable MacBooks and MacBook Pros is about the same. It's one advantage of using the same underlying Intel hardware...

That's great if I want a workstation that costs thousands of dollars. Or a webcam in my notebook. But if I don't want those things, why should I have to pay for them? Fact is, I can always build the computer I want for much less than what it would cost to get the computer I want from Apple. Or from Dell, for that matter.

When was the last time you put together a PC from scratch? I spec'd out a bunch of system components recently, and when I added up the retail prices of all the things I needed (case, keyboard, mouse, display, drives, etc.), the Dell and Apple prices were pretty hard to beat. Don't want to pay for the camera, display, or keyboard that come with some of the Mac's? Get a Mac Mini and add the pieces you do want. Or one of the bare-bones Dells. At $599 and $499 respectively (with the Dell actually including the case, display, keyboard, and mouse), I'd actually bet you would be unable to meet or beat those prices by buying components separately.

Besides, you sound like a guy who likes to mess around with computers any way. But what about for things you don't enjoy cobbling together, like your TV or car? Does it really bother you so much that your TV wasn't as inexpensive as it could have been because it came with a remote, an antenna circuit you'll never use, a sleep timer, and the option to display the menus in French or Spanish? I'll also bet that your car came with OEM air-conditioning, an audio system, tires, and wheels that substantially raised the price of the vehicle over what it could have been. And as far as the car accesories go, these are things you'd probably go and add as after-market items anyway, so why hassle with after-market brands when you can get it built right into the car and guaranteed to work with the controls on the steering wheel?

P.