jrl@zeppo.UUCP (J. Liano) (10/09/84)
I tend to agree that Apple Computer Corp. is doing what any person
would do. It is charging the higest price the market will bear. After all
they are'nt in business to benefit mankind. Greedy captialist pigs and all
that.
However $ 995 for the 512K upgrade is quite steep. I have read that
256K DRAMS go for around $ 20 a piece. Let's see that 512K = 16 chips X 20
bucks = $320. Add another 15 for the board and maybe 60 for the glue chips,
pullups and caps and the price goes up to $ 400 bucks. Add 125% markup and
you have the $995 cost all accounted for. A similar tale can be told for
hard disk drives - OEM price around $400, Retail price $ 1995.
The moral being, If you don't like being taken by large, greedy
corporations, you can always wrap your own boards and cut out the
middlepersons.
zeppo!jrladrian@eagle.UUCP (A.Freed) (10/12/84)
> > > I tend to agree that Apple Computer Corp. is doing what any person > would do. It is charging the higest price the market will bear. After all > they are'nt in business to benefit mankind. Greedy captialist pigs and all > that. > However $ 995 for the 512K upgrade is quite steep. I have read that > 256K DRAMS go for around $ 20 a piece. Let's see that 512K = 16 chips X 20 > bucks = $320. Add another 15 for the board and maybe 60 for the glue chips, > pullups and caps and the price goes up to $ 400 bucks. Add 125% markup and > you have the $995 cost all accounted for. A similar tale can be told for > hard disk drives - OEM price around $400, Retail price $ 1995. Companies have a multiplier to get from cost price to retail price. Typically this number is around THREE. I think it must be around this for Apple too. There are a number of middle-persons in the process. Try buying directly from the factory. I am new to the country. I cannot believe how naive people are about capitalism.
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (10/16/84)
Welcome to the U.S., Mr. Freed. The reason people here are so naive about capitalism is that it is a dirty word in educational circles. Some flavor of socialism seems to be preferred by a majority of educators, especially at the universities.
ward@hao.UUCP (Mike Ward) (10/17/84)
> Welcome to the U.S., Mr. Freed. The reason people here are so naive > about capitalism is that it is a dirty word in educational circles. The reason that people know so little about capitalism (or socialism) is because no human understands any economic system. The mathematical tools that we possess so far are totaly inadequate to the task of analysing anything so complex. Anyone who thinks that he *really* understands the workings of economy is hopelessly deluded. -- Michael Ward, NCAR/SCD UUCP: {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70,stcvax}!hao!ward ARPA: hplabs!hao!sa!ward@Berkeley BELL: 303-497-1252 USPS: POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307
gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>) (10/19/84)
> The reason that people know so little about capitalism (or socialism) > is because no human understands any economic system. The mathematical > tools that we possess so far are totaly inadequate to the task of > analysing anything so complex. It may not be necessary to model an economic system in great detail in order to understand its more general features, any more than it is necessary to model the detailed neurology of the brain in order to have a handle on psychology.
ward@hao.UUCP (Mike Ward) (10/26/84)
[] > It may not be necessary to model an economic system in great detail in > order to understand its more general features, any more than it is > necessary to model the detailed neurology of the brain in order to have > a handle on psychology. Sometime in the distant future, about the time people finally get a handle on psychology, I'll expect to see an understanding of how an economic system works. -- Michael Ward, NCAR/SCD UUCP: {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70,stcvax}!hao!ward ARPA: hplabs!hao!sa!ward@Berkeley BELL: 303-497-1252 USPS: POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307