Right, I should have been more specific - I mostly meant in the PC/laptop product line, where there was often a notable price gap if you compared similar hardware specs. I'm not saying that either product was inferior, just that if the average uninformed consumer is comparing a PC and Mac with similar horsepower, price would definitely factor into the decision.

The iPod may have beat the competition in the beginning, but after a couple of years it quickly remained the either the most expensive or close to the most expensive device in it's class.

Apple notoriously only sold the shuffle under $100 while many competitors offered devices with dramatically more space and screens for under $100.

By the 2007 era and the beginning of keeping your music on your phone, it would have been utterly disingenuous to call the iPod "cheap" or anything close to it.