Why do you say that they will not have a worthwhile tablet competitor for quite some time? Dozens of them were shown at CES.
Is that just some kind of "nobody could possibly be as good as Apple" sort of thing?
A netbook without a keyboard and bolted on touchscreen display is not a worthwhile iPad competitor. Also, the larger the number of "iPod killers" the lower the chance of any of them getting traction, because at the end of the day the user will choose the "proven" option - the iPad.
The main drawback of all tablets - there is no good tablet OS yet, iPhone OS not withstanding.
The main drawback of all tablets - there is no good tablet OS yet, iPhone OS not withstanding.
The more I see and the more I think about it, the less interested I am in the tablet form factor. ISTM that it has many inconvenient aspects, such as the inability to keep the screen at a proper viewing angle without having to hold on to the damn thing.
And the lack of a proper keyboard seems like a huge inconvenience.
There are many other downfalls with respect to Apple's specific implementation, but I'm starting to wonder about the whole category.
Response to Fine Tunes post: "Component costs are just the beginning"
Thanks for injecting a voice of sanity here. I find these "how much should it cost" articles very silly because they add up what they think is the fair market value of the parts and say "that's what it should cost." Rarely do bloggers mention the R&D (which you did) or other obscure concepts like marketing, distribution, and that evil word - profit.
I wonder how many of the people who decry Apple's pricing as too high would feel if they spent years developing a device or program, only to have critics say they should cut the price to the bare bone.
Bottom line: Its a free market. Buy what you want, or not.
Response to Fine Tunes post: "Component costs are just the beginning"
Thanks for injecting a voice of sanity here. I find these "how much should it cost" articles very silly because they add up what they think is the fair market value of the parts and say "that's what it should cost."
The article never said, and I have not read may articles that DO say "that is what it should cost".
Instead, the article, and many others, reported "this is the BOM component of expense".
agreed - the first movers aren't going to be happy in August/September when the prices fall and the capacity goes up
Says who?
Everyone who knows anything about the industry knows that over time, prices drop and/or specs increase. Why would an increase in specs in September be a surprise to anyone?
I seem to remember that many early adopters were angry when the price of the iPhone dropped radically soon after it had been introduced.
Am I incorrect?
As a class? Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
Xbox and Zune, for a start. In fact it would be a challenge to name any product outside of software where Microsoft has made a profit at the start, or even a long way down the road in some instances. Apple has never been granted that sort of luxury.
Many companies sell hardware at a loss if their goal is the make money on their software. Using the Xbox as an example they could care less about the hardware when they are selling games for 60.00. Microsoft makes the same profit on software that Apple does on hardware they are both around 24% net.
As a class? Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
Pretty close to pitchforks at least for Apple fanboys which is why Apple offered a 100.00 in store rebate. Which was still a ripoff but it made it less painful for the fools. Same will happen with the iPad, I uses one today for about 2 hours, after 2 mins I forgot I wasn't using an iPod Touch.
Rarely do bloggers mention the R&D (which you did) or other obscure concepts like marketing, distribution, and that evil word - profit.
The reason why they don't mention is because it's hard to estimate those numbers per product. The only thing the outsider has is visibility into the BOM and a typical estimated manufacturing cost.
Apple, like other companies, does not provide complete breakout of its costs for any given SKU. It makes no sense because it would give a competitive advantage to others. Apple discloses R&D and SG&A as operating expenses as a whole for the company in their financial statements.
I have no idea of what you mean by this question. I think I said something like "many early adopters". I don't know if it was "as a class" or even what that might look like.
Is that incorrect? Wasn't there some kind of a brouhaha?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss
Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
Are you claiming that only a few random cranks complained at the time? Should we look it up? Am I misremembering?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
[/QUOTE]
Funny.
With some stuff, I think it makes sense to buy it immediately upon release. That applies to stuff like laptops, which get upgraded by the manufacturers every few months. I got my 3GS the first week it was available.
WRT the "next big thing", I think it makes sense to buy it soon after it has ceased to be the "next big thing". This applies especially, I think, to video cards. You can get what everybody was creaming over last year at huge discounts.
I would rarely buy a car the first model year, for example, especially if it were in high demand, and certainly not if a premium were charged over MSRP. I appreciate value over novelty.
Pretty close to pitchforks at least for Apple fanboys which is why Apple offered a 100.00 in store rebate. Which was still a ripoff but it made it less painful for the fools. Same will happen with the iPad, I uses one today for about 2 hours, after 2 mins I forgot I wasn't using an iPod Touch.
Many companies sell hardware at a loss if their goal is the make money on their software. Using the Xbox as an example they could care less about the hardware when they are selling games for 60.00. Microsoft makes the same profit on software that Apple does on hardware they are both around 24% net.
I have no idea of what you mean by this question. I think I said something like "many early adopters". I don't know if it was "as a class" or even what that might look like.
Many people believe the Earth is flat. Is it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B.
Yeah - the $100 rebate is what I remembered.
Millmoss - why did you deny this?
I don't "deny" anything, except that I am from Mars. If you said that, I'd deny it.
Comments
PS: Why are you replying to Josh.B (aka iGenius) trollish remarks?
Thanks, one more for my IL.
Again ill-informed person
The person is not the topic at hand. Please stick to the topic and please stop cluttering this forum with nasty accusations.
Why do you say that they will not have a worthwhile tablet competitor for quite some time? Dozens of them were shown at CES.
Is that just some kind of "nobody could possibly be as good as Apple" sort of thing?
A netbook without a keyboard and bolted on touchscreen display is not a worthwhile iPad competitor. Also, the larger the number of "iPod killers" the lower the chance of any of them getting traction, because at the end of the day the user will choose the "proven" option - the iPad.
The main drawback of all tablets - there is no good tablet OS yet, iPhone OS not withstanding.
The main drawback of all tablets - there is no good tablet OS yet, iPhone OS not withstanding.
The more I see and the more I think about it, the less interested I am in the tablet form factor. ISTM that it has many inconvenient aspects, such as the inability to keep the screen at a proper viewing angle without having to hold on to the damn thing.
And the lack of a proper keyboard seems like a huge inconvenience.
There are many other downfalls with respect to Apple's specific implementation, but I'm starting to wonder about the whole category.
Well one would hardly expect it to be over the $499 starting price, would one?
not unless it were a game console...
Thanks for injecting a voice of sanity here. I find these "how much should it cost" articles very silly because they add up what they think is the fair market value of the parts and say "that's what it should cost." Rarely do bloggers mention the R&D (which you did) or other obscure concepts like marketing, distribution, and that evil word - profit.
I wonder how many of the people who decry Apple's pricing as too high would feel if they spent years developing a device or program, only to have critics say they should cut the price to the bare bone.
Bottom line: Its a free market. Buy what you want, or not.
Response to Fine Tunes post: "Component costs are just the beginning"
Thanks for injecting a voice of sanity here. I find these "how much should it cost" articles very silly because they add up what they think is the fair market value of the parts and say "that's what it should cost."
The article never said, and I have not read may articles that DO say "that is what it should cost".
Instead, the article, and many others, reported "this is the BOM component of expense".
I think they need to stay competitive on the price.
$499 is fine for now with no real competition out there.
Once Android and Chrome tablets enter the market, I would like to see a drop in the price or a bump in the specs.
For only $30 difference in cost between the 32GB and 16GB models, there isn't much justification in even offering a 16GB model.
Pricing should have been more like:
$499 32GB
$599 64GB
agreed - the first movers aren't going to be happy in August/September when the prices fall and the capacity goes up
agreed - the first movers aren't going to be happy in August/September when the prices fall and the capacity goes up
Disagreed. As a first mover, I don't give a damn.
Disagreed. As a first mover, I don't give a damn.
Are you sure you are typical?
I seem to remember that many early adopters were angry when the price of the iPhone dropped radically soon after it had been introduced.
Am I incorrect?
agreed - the first movers aren't going to be happy in August/September when the prices fall and the capacity goes up
Says who?
Everyone who knows anything about the industry knows that over time, prices drop and/or specs increase. Why would an increase in specs in September be a surprise to anyone?
Are you sure you are typical?
I seem to remember that many early adopters were angry when the price of the iPhone dropped radically soon after it had been introduced.
Am I incorrect?
As a class? Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
Xbox and Zune, for a start. In fact it would be a challenge to name any product outside of software where Microsoft has made a profit at the start, or even a long way down the road in some instances. Apple has never been granted that sort of luxury.
Many companies sell hardware at a loss if their goal is the make money on their software. Using the Xbox as an example they could care less about the hardware when they are selling games for 60.00. Microsoft makes the same profit on software that Apple does on hardware they are both around 24% net.
As a class? Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
Pretty close to pitchforks at least for Apple fanboys which is why Apple offered a 100.00 in store rebate. Which was still a ripoff but it made it less painful for the fools. Same will happen with the iPad, I uses one today for about 2 hours, after 2 mins I forgot I wasn't using an iPod Touch.
Rarely do bloggers mention the R&D (which you did) or other obscure concepts like marketing, distribution, and that evil word - profit.
The reason why they don't mention is because it's hard to estimate those numbers per product. The only thing the outsider has is visibility into the BOM and a typical estimated manufacturing cost.
Apple, like other companies, does not provide complete breakout of its costs for any given SKU. It makes no sense because it would give a competitive advantage to others. Apple discloses R&D and SG&A as operating expenses as a whole for the company in their financial statements.
As a class?
I have no idea of what you mean by this question. I think I said something like "many early adopters". I don't know if it was "as a class" or even what that might look like.
Is that incorrect? Wasn't there some kind of a brouhaha?
Were they marching on Cupertino with pitchforks and torches? You can find someone complaining about nearly anything -- and if you need any evidence for that proposition, just pick any random thread here. Anybody who buys technology and doesn't expect it to become more powerful and cheaper, simply hasn't been awake for the past thirty years.
Are you claiming that only a few random cranks complained at the time? Should we look it up? Am I misremembering?
The best time to buy any technology is tomorrow. Follow this advice every day, to the letter, and you will never be disappointed or upset.
[/QUOTE]
Funny.
With some stuff, I think it makes sense to buy it immediately upon release. That applies to stuff like laptops, which get upgraded by the manufacturers every few months. I got my 3GS the first week it was available.
WRT the "next big thing", I think it makes sense to buy it soon after it has ceased to be the "next big thing". This applies especially, I think, to video cards. You can get what everybody was creaming over last year at huge discounts.
I would rarely buy a car the first model year, for example, especially if it were in high demand, and certainly not if a premium were charged over MSRP. I appreciate value over novelty.
Pretty close to pitchforks at least for Apple fanboys which is why Apple offered a 100.00 in store rebate. Which was still a ripoff but it made it less painful for the fools. Same will happen with the iPad, I uses one today for about 2 hours, after 2 mins I forgot I wasn't using an iPod Touch.
Yeah - the $100 rebate is what I remembered.
Millmoss - why did you deny this?
I seem to remember that many early adopters were angry when the price of the iPhone dropped radically soon after it had been introduced.
Define many.
You are aware that the iPhone has consistently had the best customer satisfaction in the cell phone industry for several years? Right?
Do you need links? More than happy to help a troll.
Many companies sell hardware at a loss if their goal is the make money on their software. Using the Xbox as an example they could care less about the hardware when they are selling games for 60.00. Microsoft makes the same profit on software that Apple does on hardware they are both around 24% net.
http://thegrammarvandal.wordpress.co...-less-correct/
I have no idea of what you mean by this question. I think I said something like "many early adopters". I don't know if it was "as a class" or even what that might look like.
Many people believe the Earth is flat. Is it?
Yeah - the $100 rebate is what I remembered.
Millmoss - why did you deny this?
I don't "deny" anything, except that I am from Mars. If you said that, I'd deny it.