Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, MacBook Pros and more. Optical Drives for Apple iBooks, Powerbooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros in Stock. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Big Drives, High Performance - Not High Prices! SATA 3.5" up to 1.5TB. Notebook up to 500GB. FW up to 6.0TB. 1.0TB Drive Models from as low as $97.99 www.MacSales.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Scope

The Mac User's Blind Spot

- Sept. 27, 2000

I'll admit this up front: I am an Apple booster. I think the OS and hardware are fantastic and that most people would enjoy using a Mac.

Being this way automatically places me in a certain category of computer user. Mac heads tend to take their computers fairly seriously and have an arsenal of reasons why they think the Mac is a better platform.

This excitement and interest in and about the Mac extends to the company that produces the machines. Apple, while not perfect, is usually considered an excellent company.

This interest in the Mac platform also introduces several blind spots regarding Apple and the Mac. A glaring example of this appeared when Apple released the public beta of OS X. Public beta? Fine. $30 for the beta? Fine as well.

Say what? Pay Apple $30 to test their software?

Even if you ignore the fact that Apple offers no rebate to beta testers when the final version comes out, it's still a gyp. Unfortunately, protests are few and far between. Contrast this willingness with the disbelief that people would pay to play with the Win98 beta when it was released a couple of years ago, and it's clear that many Mac users may be holding two standards in one head.

So, Apple makes a killing on software that isn't even ready for prime time. Beyond that, Apple dips twice into the trough.

Currently, the buzz is building for OS X. Beyond getting users to shell out for beta software, Apple is also getting reams of publicity for the beta release. Normally this isn't a problem. Software makers often make preview copies available to software developers for testing purposes and software creation. The software developers occasionally write up their impressions, both good and bad. Ars Technica has had a particularly good series regarding OS X.

This is usually not the best way to build publicity. Ars and publications like it are not geared toward the consumer and are usually too technical for the average Joe to follow.

With the beta release, everybody and their grandmother are posting their impressions all over the place. This is both good and bad. Positive press can't do anything but help Mac users and the platform - making users pay and then getting free publicity from them is another matter. $30 in their pocket and millions more in free publicity.

Why didn't Apple offer the OS X beta for free to publications that would be publishing reviews or testing results? These publications are doing Apple a favor, after all. Even if their ad revenue depends on new articles and information, it's their eyeballs that get the buzz building.

As for the Joe who just wants a peek at the latest and greatest, sell it at a reasonable price. Sure, $30 doesn't seem like much, but when it costs $2 to press the CD, charging $10 will still net Apple a pretty decent profit.

Ultimately, I think Apple knows that people are just begging to have their wallets picked over OS X. We've waited for so long for this operating system that, for many people, $30 for a sneak peek is chicken feed.

Apple knows our blind spot and is clearly willing to exploit it.

Links for the Day

Recent Content

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.