Comment by seec | Hacker News Reader

Comment by seec | Hacker News Reader

In France it starts at 1.6k euros for a computer that has 8GBRAMM/256SSD. Ethernet port starts at 1.8K, still same base limitation. The device is thin but has an external power brick. Apple users used to joke about badly designed monitors/PC who could not integrate the PSU inside the chassis, leaving an ugly and annoying brick outside. Oh, the irony. This is cheapo entry level HP territory. And the headphone jack is still in the most impractical position. It is not even genuinely nice, just thin. For what exactly?

This is one of the most impractical computer design ever made, even for Apple. The only redeeming quality is the display, but considering how poorly equipped the thing is you are paying a pretty penny for it and the integration (not even complete because of power brick...).

If they wanted people to not buy them, I would be hard to better. I guess they can still add a random 500 euros to base price; at this point it is more frivolous luxury than technology so who cares...

My friend - a notorious luddite - bought a newer iMac recently. He was sold by the marketing and videos/reviews of it. I've yet to see him sit at his desk to use it once beyond the first time. It's a paperweight. Same goes for my parents; they went to Currys (UK electronics retailer) to get a cheap laptop to view photos on, and to my dismay walked out with an iMac for 3x the price of a similar spec device that they use once in a blue moon.

These SKUs are categorically not meant for the likes of you and me. They're meant to target technologically illiterate people who want a pretty looking PC that everyone raves about because Apple are expert marketeers. The fact it's got 8GB RAM and 256GB of memory means little to nothing for them. They want an Apple device, but want something cheap, so they buy the cheapest one. Any other consideration is irrelevant.

I completely agree with you, but this is also what saddens me. Previously I thought that Apple was a brand catering to technology enthusiasts, bringing on to market devices with incredible specs at a price that could seem reasonable. But I guess I was wrong, or this was just in the distant past.

In any case your stories match my experiences and the only thing making me laugh is that those incompetent fools very often need services around those expensive devices and if they can pay for the device, they should be able to pay a decent amount for the service. It is very rarely the case, and I have found that Apple users are poorly paying egoists but whatever, they have the money anyway...

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