The people who argue about specs v. price are not the sort of people that Apple market to, which is something that MikeM hit on.
I work in a PC shop at the moment. I know, I know. Back, foul beast! Since I'm here alone today though I'm doing my accounts on my work PC and I have my MBP sitting next to me safe and warm in my case so I can swap once I've done the necessary.
The sort of PC shop we are though, we share a philosophy similar to Apple, in a way. We don't use crap gear. We don't load our PCs full of bloatware. We don't go for the cheapest options. We try and get the best value, best performance, best match for the customer who walks in the shop (all our systems are tailor made). And this is something that Apple does very well.
Anybody could buy an Apple computer and be VERY happy. They just might need to spend a little extra to get that - well, guess what, same with us.
Yes, the knowledgeable folk can go out and build their own PC. They can be their own support. Those that can't come to us, and we set everything up for them, so when they get it home, it works immediately. You pay more for that with us, you pay more for that with Apple.
There's something else too. You can deck out your home with kit all from the same manufacturer. Your hard drive fails? Go to the Apple store. Your Airport Base Station fails? Go to the Apple store. This, too, is something that is majorly overlooked. We get PC users come in with all manner of problems from all manner of manufacturers and the consensus is generally the same upon asking the question "have you tried telephoning <company>'s tech support?" "oh, they're completely useless."
Way I see it, what you get from Apple is a quality machine, indeed. That's only one part of it. They don't mess about with Celerons and AMDs for a very good reason: they want their machines to be smooth as anything because it keeps the customer happy and in turn means less 'aggro' for them!
The other part of it comes in when you take it home and it works right out of the box. Or when you upgrade your OS and you don't have to wipe it all and spend hours backing up your data. Or when something goes wrong and you can call one number, for anything. For me, if they are the sort of things that mean nothing to you, and you see things only in hardware terms, then maybe you won't be so content with splashing out the extra cash on an Apple.
If you consider your time 'free' then perhaps you would be more inclined toward a cheaper PC that you have to put a lot of effort into getting right. I don't consider my time free at all though; I work full-time and I don't want to have to work when I get home in order to get to a place where I can enjoy myself. I would rather spend a bit more money and just have fun.
It is so much more than a computer that you are buying. And the thing is, where I work, that is the battle I face every day, and people just don't want to listen. It's only when their £300 Dell fails or is riddled with spyware because no one told them better and they face shipping it to Ireland for three weeks that they think, 'maybe I should've bought it down the road'. But the simple fact is that those £300 PCs are killing us - PCs are disposable now, no one really cares about those extras anymore. Mac users
do and something I honestly commend Apple for is RRPs and having, well, a standard pricing/spec balance.
