Yes... It can be taken two ways :

A) No-one wants to be seen dead with a Mac or,
B) People are too inawed to be seen with one...

Take your pick

That's the point - it's the same hardware every other manufacturer is using, it's just that Apple charge about 80% more for it. I can install OSX (not legally of course) with very few hassles on any £400 (or less) laptop that is far better specced than a basic £700 Macbook.

OSX is nice - but the hardware is overpriced and I wouldn't be surprised if people's willingness to pay the premium is sorely tested in times of deep recession.

Yep but I'll never be one of those - I like beautiful things too much (shame Apple charge me for it). I go without if I can't pay for something. I just couldn't face being seen out with ugly electronics - I get embarrassed for people who pull out their clunk in public! Hehe

Not a problem, I'm aware many Apple fans prefer style over substance. However if they intend to continue to increase market share (in very difficult times) they can't rely on every customer feeling the same way.

For the majority of people I guess they're tools rather than fashion accessories, so they tend not to be so shallow when making purchasing decisions. They have some nice products which could be made considerably more attractive if they weren't so uncompetitive (price wise) with the kit they're (effectively) clones of.

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...... if they intend to continue to increase market share (in very difficult times) they can't rely on every customer feeling the same way.

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Why the obsession with market share? The 80/20 rule applies here - 80% of the available profit stems from 20% of the market. Apple is going for the profitable 20% - let HP/Lenovo and all the rest fight over the barely profitable 80%. Given the amount of cash they have together with freedom from debt and, I reckon there should be some good investment opportunities for them over the next few years.

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..For the majority of people I guess they're tools rather than fashion accessories...

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Quite. That's why the majority of Mac users buy them. They're tools, they work and, in my experience - which embraces PCs and Macs, they keep on doing it without any bother. The idea that Mac users buy them as fashion accessories is a myth put about by PC users who think good design is a large piece of chrome on the front of the box...

PCs are only cheap if you don't value your time.

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The idea that Mac users buy them as fashion accessories is a myth put about by PC users

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your right, PC`s are the equivalent of New Look, and Mac`s are River Island

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Why the obsession with market share? The 80/20 rule applies here - 80% of the available profit stems from 20% of the market.

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As far as I understand it they commented on the sales success of the Mac's at the recent conference, unless you believe the same Mac customers are buying more and more Mac's, then we must assume that the success was due to attracting new customers. In order to continue to do this in much more difficult financial times it would seem likely that price will be a major issue. If you think otherwise then we'll agree to differ.

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They're tools, they work and, in my experience - which embraces PCs and Macs, they keep on doing it without any bother.

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PC's work too - personally I use (covering work and home use) Windows XP, Vista, Redhat, Ubuntu and OSX. The idea that they don't is a myth put about by Mac users

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The idea that Mac users buy them as fashion accessories is a myth put about by PC users who think good design is a large piece of chrome on the front of the box...

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If you had read the thread before replying you would have seen this was in response to someone who claimed that was exactly why they bought them.....of course why let facts get in the way...

I'm just teasing you. The brilliance of OSX and the beauty of Mac get both jobs done - productivity and cool.

To be fair my only experience of Windows comes from the office where technology is an after thought run by a bunch of has-beens. I've never bought nor owned anything other than Macs.

I'm not here to bash the Mac - I like them. It's just I'd like them to be more competitive on price (or on spec)

I think Apple are entitled to charge a premium for the nice kit, OS and bundled software they offer, I just think that £300+ for poorer spec is pushing it more than a little.

But hey - Apple have managed well so far without my advice.

I can't really say I've looked much into competition specs - I just know the Mac does everything I want from a computer top class so I'm not bothered if the guy next to me has an extra USB port or something.