Looking around the dark, damp cave that is the Mediaphile landscape, I think it's safe to say that I'm the only Mac nerd on the staff here, with that said.... yes, my opinions are biased. You'll just have to deal with it.
As an outspoken lover and supporter of all things Apple, I've recently been struck with quite the conundrum and I'm finding it difficult to approach said conundrum. See, the fact is, I'm a broke college student who is already in more debt than my parents put together and I'm beginning to see things in a much different light...
As money becomes the bane of my existence one thing has really been bothering me lately, why the hell does Apple insist on charging ridiculous prices for their products?! And how do they continue getting away with it?!
The first thing that pops into mind is when I promptly traveled to my nearest Apple store before my included 1 year warranty ran out on my Macbook Pro, to purchase the AppleCare extended 3 year warranty.
I took my AppleCare box home (conveniently priced at $250)and my world was abruptly shattered by it not working. As I speak with the nice gentlemen in tech support over the phone, he quickly realizes that I've been sold the AppleCare for Macbooks, not for the Macbook Pro. Undoubtedly frustrated that I put so much effort and sacrifice in saving up to even afford the service, I head straight back to the Apple store.
Now here is where my retail common sense kicks in and in my head I think, OK, they sold me the wrong product, they'll take this one back and swap it out for the right one. To correct their mistake...... boy was I wrong.
The reality of what happened was that they took back the Macbook AppleCare and credited the $250 back to my account, then brought out the correct AppleCare and wanted to charge me the $350 that the Macbook Pro AppleCare costs.
Seeing as I had used the last of whatever I had to buy the wrong AppleCare and knowing that it would take forever and a day for my account to even see my original $250, I simply told them they could keep that damn Applecare and walked out.
Why do Macs really cost so much, huh? Why do we really continue to gravitate towards their products? I know we've become mindless drones, too weak to resist the lure of a well marketed product. But even in these tough times, have we still not learned to use our common sense and not be distracted by catchy songs and bright colors?
Most importantly, why Apple, do you feel the need to continually take advantage of your own loyal customers? Simply because you can? As a company who openly caters to college students, why then must I either have rich parents or starve myself for a month to afford anything that involves my laptop?
While writing this I remind myself that I need to treat my laptop charger better. Because the last thing I need right now is to try and make $80 appear from nowhere.
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3 comments:
I feel you Luis. I'm not a student at the moment, but a parent with bills is equally broke.
I like how you used the word staff. Makes us sound professional.
Also, that creepy guy at the front of that picture sort of throws the whole thing off into the land of creepy, haha.
Luis, I think all of us outside of the 40 year old career/salary range can empathize.
Not just that, but I personally can't even afford the luxury of my own personal PC/laptop (although, I KNOW I would be a Mac Nerd as well - you wouldn't imagine how much flak I get for wanting a Mac and nothing less).
Money is the major issue here. It'd be great if we could get paid for bringing up issues that concern us all and actually venting about it, but that's just a utopian fantasy.
Hopefully, in a better world, the luxuries in life will be affordable for those that work for it, eco-friendly, and retail-guranteed. Here's to wishful thinking.
You finally wrote this!
I think we can all agree that the Apple logo perfectly represents the following:
1. Temptation. Their products are so appealing, we just have to have them. Basically Steve Jobs is god and his products are the apples from the tree of knowledge. We have sinned for wanting these Apples and therefore he reams us up the ass with prices.
2. The bite in the Apple is the emptiness of our wallets.
3. Steve Jobs gets to eat a lot of apples while poor college students go hungry.
And yes, treat your charger like it's your first new born child that will eventually grow up to be Superman and has the power to cure cancer... Or else you'll end up like me and would have to beg other people to let you use their chargers.
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