Jul 22 Well first off, it’s not totally all-inclusive and definitive to say that only geeks want Apple computers or that all girls want coach purses. But you know what, for now that will be the title.
Secondly I took this idea from those old SAT analogy questions. Sick as it may be, I rather enjoyed the SAT. It was challenging without being impossible. Plus every time I took it (I only took it once “for real”), it was different. Whether that meant different passages to read and answer from or different math questions, I enjoyed that it was a new challenge that I hadn’t exactly encountered yet.
Anyways, those were definitely unimportant asides. I really want to just say that I think that Apple is keeping their prices artificially high in order to appeal to a certain part of the market. They want to be the ultimate that everyone desires. They want to be what Coach purses are to girls. Okay okay you can choose any of the myriad of popular expensive brands of purses, but I just needed an example. And that seems to be a popular one nowadays.
Coach is a company that produces leather goods and sells them on a very high profit margin. Economists have hypothesized that they are selling “affordable luxury” that is both recognizable as a luxury product while also being reasonably within the budget of many people. That is to say that it’s thought to be “nice” and it’s also well-known to everyone.
Apple is the same thing to geeks (and artists and movie makers and perhaps even all computer users).
Despite your opinions, I’d say that you must admit that Apple has a well thought-out business model. They customize software (including the operating system) to work very well on their devices. I’m mainly speaking about their computer here rather than their other devices, but I suppose that it holds for those as well. So they are determined to do something and do it well. They will sell very few product lines, and they are not determined to be able to support everything under the sun like Microsoft is with their Windows product. Have you ever thought about how much easier that makes their job? They know exactly what they must do while Microsoft has to build a product that is so good that it can conquer “the unknown.” If Apple were unable to get something to work just right with their goal, they could just say “forget it” and be done with it.
And upon this business model, Apple has kept their prices high. They sell good products, but they charge a premium for them as well. And seeing as how they have increased their market share from 3.2% to 7.6% in 3 years (reference), something is working for them.
Personally, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Macbook Pro for the entire time that it’s been out (and probably even as soon as rumors started circulating that it was going to be produced). I was eager to see what Apple was going to do with that platform. I knew that there would be problems with such new technology (and I was proved correct with the plethora of reports from the first few generations but I digress). I do intend to still buy one. But just for curiosity’s sake I recently priced laptops from both Dell and Lenovo. I was able to get hardware that was as good (or better) and at cheaper prices. It was fairly dramatic to say the least.
What does that mean? It means that Apple laptops are also “affordable luxury.” It means that you don’t need one. You could get a very usable functioning laptop for thousands less. Or similarly you could use the same amount of money and get a laptop with more cutting edge components. But because Apple keeps their prices high, people will always hold them on a pedestal. They will be the ideal instead of just a choice. And that works out just fine for Apple. But just like I don’t understand the whole deal with buying fancy purses (saying “it’s quality” just doesn’t cut it all of the time), I’m not sure if I’m totally comfortable with Apple all of the time. I think that on a case by case basis I would advise people to honestly figure out what they need. And i think that many times that will lead to the conclusion that Apple is not the place for them. Yeah, if I were a girl I might just be that one with the homemade bag on her shoulder.
Jul 19 Now I enjoy a buffet just as much as the next person. They’re usually a pretty good value in terms of how much food you get for your dollar. However, the other day when I was at Hometown Buffet, I noticed a few things that I thought were interesting while I was there.
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There are a lot of obese people at buffets.
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I feel really heavy afterwards and even the next morning compared to how I normally feel.
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There is a lot of food that goes into you…and comes out.
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I was sweaty and felt warm even though the weather was cool.
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I could have eaten 1 plate and have been satisfied. Instead I ate 4 plates.
I was thinking (and discussing over dinner) that buffets seem to be very indicative of society. There is a huge problem with obesity and our eating habits are only part of that. But just go to a buffet and see how many of the people there have a personal problem with obesity. It’s ridiculous.
Even beyond that, I felt really sorry for the kids. Children don’t do things of their own volition, they are taught and raised by their parents. So when there is an obese child, I’d go so far as to say that the parents have caused them to be that way. And that is so unfortunate. Sure I have to take into account that different people have different metabolisms, etc. Nevertheless, nobody has to be that obese. Anyways, back to the point. So parents have chosen for their kids to live in obesity and unhealthily. That is so much more tragic because it is almost upon them without them being able to do much about it. I have much less empathy for adults who are in a similar situation because they know what they’re doing.
So there it is. Buffets are good. They taste good. You get to eat whatever you want. But they’re not really too good for you. Go eat some fruit.
Jul 17 So I think that one interesting effect of the Internet is the ability for people to find out for themselves what a good price is. There are a plethora of websites out there that can do different things for you. There are sites like fatwallet that allow you to make some money off of your purchases, there are plenty like gotapex and slickdeals that will point you in the right direction for big deals, and there are even sites that will help you find coupons. You could search on google and definitely come up with coupons for particular stores that you want to buy from.
I’ve seen all types of websites that will offer this for you. Many of them are good even if they are frequented by essentially the cheapskates of the land. But they let their money go further, and that’s not a bad thing. I happened onto a Webbyplanet footlocker coupon that seemed to be on a site that one could go to where the coupons are consolidated. They separate the stores by category, and it seems like their site is fairly simple enough. It allows you to access the information that you want to get to without too much surfing, and it’s nice that they’re not trying to endlessly spam you with advertisements in order to get to what you want. I’m not sure that I really like the look of the styling of the site what with the colors, but I suppose that’s always going to be a judgment call.
As for the Footlocker coupon, I’ve had experience with ordering from Footlocker’s site first hand. I have actually ordered a few pairs of athletic shoes from them, and I’ve found the experiences to be quite painless. Although I did once order some cleats with their express shipping, and it didn’t come in time. But then it took so long that it passed their guarantee so I actually got the shipping free. And that’s not half bad! I’ve noticed that the best times to buy are when they have their “friends and family” deal or when they have their clearance sales. Just beware then if you wear anything besides very small or very large shoes.
Anyways so after all of these strange random thoughts, the moral is this: spend some time to use your resources!
Jul 13 You know me, I like going the wong way. Even in the bathroom. Want to go the wrong way? Here’s how:
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Carry on a long conversation with others. Because that’s where socializing should take place. Nobody wants some peace and quiet, they want to get to know you while they’re relieving themselves. Or maybe they want to overhear you talking with someone else. Anyways, it’s even worse when they’re talking to you and you’re both doing some business. It’s even worse if you’re both at urinals. It’s even worse if they look at you. It’s even worse if there’s no wall between the urinals.
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Splash human waste around. You know, get it on the floor, the walls, wherever you can. Because it’s not full of diseases. Besides, it’s funny. And there’s no price too small for a laugh! And no aiming! Let others step in your waste. We like it. No scratch that, we love it.
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Write obscene messages on the wall. Because everyone likes to hear what goes on in the minds of the underbelly of society. We want to know how you feel about your reproductive organs. We also want to know how you feel about politics. Really, that is the only reason that we’re in the bathroom.
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Don’t wash your hands. It takes too much time. It’s too much of a hassle. And you’re a clean person, so it’s a waste anyways. Oh and it’s beneficial because it saves water. Everyone wins. Everyone. Of course, then What (am I) To Think?
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Don’t eat fiber. It makes you have to poo everyday. And that is just not productive. You might as well wait 2 or 3 days and then get all of the pooing done at once. If it clogs the toilet, oh well! Someone will fix it. You’re actually giving them a job to do by clogging up the toilet. You’re supporting someone’s family! Do the good deed.
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Get other things done while you’re sitting on the pot. Browse your Blackberry, read the newspaper, floss your teeth. Do what you need to do to make that time more productive. Yeah that’s not A Scary Thought, is it?
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Leave trash all around. Waste more toilet seat covers than you need. Yank on that toilet paper. (For girls) leave those female hygiene products everywhere but the waste basket where they belong. Like I said, that’s someone else’s job. You’re helping out society by lowering unemployment.
So my experiences are a little colored since I don’t go into the women’s bathroom all too often. But you know what? I think that the facts hold true there, too. So you can follow these ideas, but then you’ll be going the wrong way. As for me, I think that I’ll keep it clean and sanitary while I go the wong way.
Jul 11 As if users did not make enough errors on their own, Microsoft is making life even more troublesome. I’d like to know whose bright idea it is/was to automatically restart your computer after the automatic updates! Oh sure, they give you a random pop-up message that essentially says “push this button or we’ll blow up your computer.” And it will appear for about 1 minute. So don’t you get up thinking that you’d like to go to the bathroom or anything like that. Nix the coffee breaks or the fresh air that you might like.
Somehow they assume that you are not doing anything important. They don’t save the status of anything nor do they give you the option to opt out completely from automatic restarts. There’s a fine line between doing things for the benefit of the user and annoying them to no end such that they want you to just quit what you’re doing.
It annoyed me before, and it continues to do so. You’d think that someone at Microsoft would get annoyed with it and change it, huh? I guess they don’t get annoyed. They’re too busy being litigious.
//TODO: insert Apple fanboy snide Justin Long-type remark
//TODO: insert Linux fanboy superiority over all remark
//TODO: insert over-arching peace and love to all remark