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Apple Cool Selling At Surprising Discount To Sony Style
Computers | Jan 18, 06
Apple has long been know for charging a hefty premium for its computers, and while this may have cost it market share, Mac fans have gotten more for their money than merely the use of a one-button mouse. Macs are arguably some of the most innovative and attractive examples of modern industrial design. While the Dells of this world crank out commoditized, port-bristling bricks only the Borg could love, few companies have been willing to challenge Cupertino when it comes to selling sleek. One exception has been Sony, whose VAIO line has been a welcome oasis of flair in the aesthetic desert of the Wintel world.
Given Apple's rep for costliness, however, it may come as something of a surprise to learn that the new Intel-based Macs are priced slightly below comparable VAIOs. For example, compare the all-in-one (computer integrated with LCD display) 20" display iMac with the 20" VAIO VA10G TV-PC. Merchants on PriceSCAN.com currently price the VAIO as low as $1,898.88. It comes with 1024 MB RAM and a 256 MB of VRAM video card. If we configure the iMac with these same features we find it’s currently priced at $1,874. There are differences; the VAIO has a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor versus the slower clock speed but dual core 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor of the iMac (Which is faster? – it may depend on the app. See 'Core Wars'). The iMac has a higher resolution display: 1680 x 1050 versus the 1366 x 768 of the VAIO.
So what have we learned? Now that Apple has dropped the IBM/Motorola produced PowerPC chip in favor of Intel, the so-called Apple premium has dropped to the point where Macs are priced at or below similarly outfitted high-design competing machines. There is still a style premium – both Macs and VAIOs are substantially more expensive then, say, Gateways with similar features. But it appears that there was a significant added price to be paid for the presence of PowerPC processors in Macs, and that is a cost Apple buyers need no longer bear. Further, it appears there is little premium or discount associated with the choice of either the Windows or Mac operating system, so you can be a (stylish!) one or two-button person for about the same price.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 6:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
But We Feel So Empty Without Intel Inside
Computers | Jan 3, 06
Intel greeted the New Year with the announcement that it's doing away with its logo and "Intel Inside" motto. Apparently, the chip titan feels that raising the "e" in its name constitutes some sort of superior defensive posture against AMD, perhaps like when a cat arches its back (?) In addition, the new slogan "Leap ahead" is meant to make us think of Intel in terms of consumer electronics, rather than just computers. You see, microprocessors simply dwell "inside" laptops, but they "leap ahead" in home entertainment systems.
To be sure, Intel still intends to remind you that something they make is inside your machine. Its low power single and dual-core Yonah chips will be marketed as "Core Solo" and "Core Duo", respectively, and manufacturers participating in Intel's co-op ad program will mark machines sporting these processors with stickers declaring "Core Solo (or Duo) Inside". This raises interesting questions for the maker of iPods, which still produces the occasional computer and is switching to Intel chips. Are co-op ad dollars enough to get Steve Jobs to use a label stating that Intel makes the "Core" of his Apple?
More disturbing than the apparent idiocy of adults worrying about the altitude of a letter in the name of what is arguably the most important computer company in the world is the possibility that the leaders of that firm are right to sweat that formerly sagging character. How much Intel's past success was actually driven by ads featuring Blue Man Group and guys dancing around in clean-room bunny suits? Still, raising performance decisively above that of the competition still counts for something, and one suspects that to claw back its market share, Intel will have to get up more than just its "e".
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 11:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
