From Mac Mini update round out two-for-one Wednesday at ArsTechnica:
While the addition of the Core Duo to the low end is a welcome addition, we still long for the days of yore when there was a sub-$500 Mac Mini. When one adds in the price of keyboard and mouse and the impeding Leopard tax, the low end Mini can quickly grow in cost to something approaching the low-end iMac.
That’s a point that I’ve been making about Mac minis since they day they were introduced - that by the time you’re done properly equipping the thing, you’ve practically spent as much as an already-properly-equipped machine at the low end of the next model up. I’ve been scoffed at, but it seems like at least some people are coming around publicly.
What I really wanted to point out in this post, however, is the phrase “Leopard tax”. What an incredibly stupid thing to say, and considering that Leopard won’t be released until next spring, it irritates me that the crybabies are already out, whining that they’ll have to pay for a completely optional operating system upgrade.
All that’s required for stupidity to propagate is for more intelligent people to say nothing. So, as I often do, I’ll repeat myself: An optional operating system upgrade is not a “tax”. Taxes are something you are forced to pay involuntarily, via threat of adverse consequences. Nobody will force you to upgrade to Leopard. Stop being a whiny little bitch.
Tiger was released in April of 2005. That’s 17 months ago. Assuming Leopard really does ship in the spring (let’s be optimistic and say March 21), that’ll be roughly 23 months from one optional OS upgrade to another. I think it’s also safe to assume that Apple will keep their usual price of $129 for major yet optional OS upgrades.
$129 / 23 months = $5.60/month, assuming you purchase Leopard immediately..
For all the people who cry about paying for a new optional OS, is $129 in 23 months really hurting you that much? Are you really that freakin’ broke and unable to manage your money that you can’t put together $5.60 a month to make this optional purchase? I’ve made less-than-stellar incomes during many years of my life as a single adult, and I’ve always been able to prioritize things well enough that $5.60/month wasn’t going to make me or break me.
Have one less beer. Skip a pack of cigarettes. Don’t go to McDonald’s for lunch one day. Turn of electric things you’re not actively using. Give up call waiting. Walk somewhere instead of driving. Clip some coupons. Buy the store brand mustard. Set aside $129 of your tax refund and put it in a savings account at Emigrant Direct and get 5.15% for it. Coming up with $129 in 23 months isn’t hard if you’re employed.
So please, whiners, give us a break and quit your complaining about an OS “tax” that is no such thing.
My .Mac Web Gallery
Loading ...
September 6th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Uhh, we ain’t even paying the “tax” to upgrade to Tiger around here. Whatever came on the machine is what is is running. Where is Apple applying a “tax” by releasing an os upgrade that we don’t need to do the things we bought the computers to do in the first place anyway?
Don’t skip the beer and eat the good mustard. I don’t want you people getting skinny and making me feel fatter than I already do just do you can have the new “shiny” OS when it comes out!
September 6th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
As you noted, if you purchased Tiger in April 2005, you get many months of use before the next version is available. But if you purchase it right now, you only get a few months. So the ‘adverse consequences’ of not upgrading as soon as possible are that your purchase is worth less every month you wait.
I think there would be less gnashing of teeth regarding ‘the OS tax’ if Apple would return to providing upgrade discounts: If you purchased the last version of Mac OS X at retail price, you should get $30 off the next version. If you bought a copy of Mac OS X or a new Mac within 3 months of the release of the new version, you should be able to upgrade for $20.
This would provide incentive for those who currently don’t upgrade at all because they don’t think it’s worth $129. It would also remove the punishment of those who purchase a Mac prior to the release of the new OS, especially since we only have a rough estimate of when that will be. And it’d make those software coupons useful again.
September 6th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I have to admit that I’d like to see Apple give previous OS purchasers a little break as Mr. Hargreaves describes. I’ve seen those coupons in boxes before, and I think the only time I’ve ever been able to use one was when OS X 10.1 was released.
As for those who purchase a new system pre-loaded with Tiger shortly before Leopard’s release, I agree that’s a crummy spot to be in. Giving those people a break would be nice too. I don’t have any solid numbers, but I would guess those people are a tiny fraction of upgraders, considering OS X’s already installed base, so it wouldn’t hurt Apple much and it would be a nice gesture.
Overall, however, I think all the complaining about the “tax” is way out of proportion and I dread seeing it repeated over the next 7 to 9 months.
September 6th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
I just bought a MacBookPro with Tiger installed. It does what I need and it will do what I need for years to come without upgrading to Leopard. The only sane way to buy a computer is what it does now!! Those folks who think that Leopard is that needed, then they need to wait until such time as Leopard is on shipping machines. . .
September 13th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
They had one of those upgrade deals when Tiger came out. It was for computers bought 4 weeks prior. Tiger was cheap (like $19.95 or something silly like that) plus shipping. I think that’s the most common for Apple of late. I missed it by a week, but I did use the 10.1 upgrade price back in the day.
I can’t bitch too much about upgrade prices because I teach and can get the academic prices on Apple software. Those were $79 early in release and are $69 now.