I buy an original mac because I want a machine that does what it does without all the overhead of assembling it myself. if i spend just 2 hours of my time assembling something equal for 400 bucks less, ive gained nothing. and chances are itll take a lot longer than those 2 hours. with a mac, you click a button and receive a machine that is "pretty fuckin good", for 1700-2500 dollars. do I know I could do better? Sure. Do I give a shit, though?

i could almost turn "could macs be good value?" into a mandatory interview question, because those who say no don't understand how trading money for time works. working with such fools is incredibly tedious and painful.