If I bought an extended warranty on all the products I have bought that offer it... I would be out of pocket thousands. In recent memory I have had zero products that have failed beyond the normal warranty. In fact I end up throwing out or selling countless products because they just won't die and I want a new one! Some people enjoy the fuzzy feeling they get when they buy the extended warranty. The way I look at it is the odds are REALLY good that if your electronic item (Mac for example), makes it past the normal warranty it will last anyway until you tire of it. There are always examples of how a warranty saved your butt, sure, but do the math over purchasing ten years of extended warranties. The fact is (as stated above) that companies make huge profits on the extended warranties, not only becuase the products tend to last anyway, but that many people just lose the receipt and/or forget about the warranty 3 years down the line anyway, or will just go out and buy a new one, because they just want a shiny new model instead.
There have been such ridiculous warranties that have been offered to me in the past, for example:
I bought a vacuum cleaner. Part of the exented warranty "feature" was I could bring it in once a year for a "free" cleaning where they would just take the motor housing off and blow it out, and no doubt tell me that I need to buy a new belt at the same time. First of all, who on earth would drag there dusty vacuum back to the store on a Saturday and then have to pick it up a couple days later?
Same with a reciever I bought from an electronics store, I could bring it back for a cleaning. Like I was about the disconnect the dozens of cables and drag it out of my entertainment centre.
An extended warranty that included a "stain warranty" on a new expensive mattress I bought. I don't want anyone knowing about my mattress stains, thanks.
The ridiculous warranties offered by radio shack, I bought a small digital camera case for $15 and they offered an extended warranty for $4. What? What can go wrong with a Lowe Pro camera case? The camera inside would have to be destroyed and the case would still be ok.
Cars? Don't even get me started. Telling you that they won't warranty a claim because you didn't keep every receipt of maintainance and supply them with copies.
Bottom line is, take care of your stuff, do the math over five or ten years. Just remember, they aren't offering you the warranty for your own benefit, they do make huge profits on this stuff.