Good design for the rest of us?

I have long wondered why no one seems to be able to compete with Apple.

The reasons are fairly simple I think.

1. Apple has 34 years of history. This adds value to their brand. When you buy an Apple product you are buying much more than just the good looks.

2. Apple has complete vertical integration. In other words, should you choose to go after them, you won't just be competing with them on a few verticals but on every possible vertical, from chipset, to industrial design, to interface design, to server technology and the list goes on.

3. Apple has managed lately to build the de-facto strongest digital ecosystem out there. An ecosystem mind you based on product purchases, real money.

4. Apple seems to be following the principle of, the best way to predict the future is to invent it. Apple simply creates their own markets.

5. Apple have perfected the art of profit making. Their real accomplishment is selling less than their competitors but still make more money.

It's not difficult to see just how strong this setup is. They are dependent on no one at all besides their customers, which seems to be loving them.

In other words. Nothing perhaps with the exception of an Apple without Steve Jobs can really touch them.

Design? I don't really think that producing a knock off of the MacBook Pro counts as design. I'd also be extremely surprised if the build quality was anywhere close. The MacBook Pro required some fairly careful engineering and matching of parts, etc. to get the heat production situation under control. I would be more than hesistant in expecting this to work without flaws.

Engadget's title says it all: "Keepin' it real fake: because in China, even websites aren't safe from knockoffs"

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/01/keepin-it-real-fake-becau...

What is this? I see a bunch of Apple products with the apple logo photoshopped out. Some shots clearly show OS X (and were presumably lifted from apple's website), even though the closeups show a windows key on the keyboard and an off-kilter looking mac.

I wonder if the build quality is up to par. Nvidia ION? Wasn't that for really small set top boxes and netbooks? Maybe they made an ultra low cost version then?

Seeing how much of their website's features are for-show only (try the nav buttons under the image), I'd be hesitant.