Open up a Mac Pro, then open up a Dell. You don't need to be an electrical engineer to appreciate the difference.
(An HP) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-det...
http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/configure/MB871LL/A?mco=...
Very, very similar. The apple's CPU is about 200 dollars more, and its video card about 100 dollars more. But the difference in the computers' prices is about 1500 dollars. To me, it's a pretty big ripoff, but I guess that's the value of branding. BMW and Lexus are also ripoffs by any objective standard.
Very well said. I bought a mac laptop because I enjoy working on it much more than I do a windows PC; I didn't make the choice by comparing the prices of the components, or the relative value of the chemicals involved in assembling the thing.