What. The. ****. - Page 4 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

FanIn80 · 10-23-2009, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

Yes.
Laptops make it easier to meet that price point with better specs because its all integrated but here's a package with the computer, widescreen monitor, keyboard and mouse for $429
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...0003945&catid=
Or you can buy the tower by itself for $299.

Unless you're playing the latest and greatest games or doing some complex 3d rendering this thing is more than enough computer for 95% of consumers.

A laptop example would be something like a Dell inspiron 15 for $469. Or you could go down the netbook road and even get into <$300 price range.

Oh yeah, the $400 laptop. I used to work at Future Shop back in the day. We hated the $400 laptops... people would walk in and say "I don't want to spend any money. I just want the cheapest thing you have."

...and then they'd return it the next day because it was a piece of crap.

Anyway, the new 27" 3.06Ghz iMac with 1TB HD and 4GB of RAM for $1700 says hi to the "Macs are too expensive" crowd.

Phaneuf3 · 10-23-2009, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Oh yeah, the $400 laptop. I used to work at Future Shop back in the day. We hated the $400 laptops... people would walk in and say "I don't want to spend any money. I just want the cheapest thing you have."

...and then they'd return it the next day because it was a piece of crap.

Anyway, the new 27" 3.06Ghz iMac with 1TB HD and 4GB of RAM for $1700 says hi to the "Macs are too expensive" crowd.

What made it a 'piece of crap'?
15.6" screen is big enough for every day stuff.
Core 2 Duo and 2 GB of RAM is for sure enough to tackle just about anything the average consumer is going to throw at it... Word processing, e-mail, browsing the internet, listening to music, watching porn, World of Warcraft, photoshop...

The feel and build quality of dells is pretty good. Generally doesn't come with much for pre-installed crap. If it does, its very easy to get rid of. I'm honestly curious - what makes it crap?

RougeUnderoos · 10-23-2009, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

The only thing I will give credit for is "Answer Bar" is a MUCH better name than "Genius Bar".

Having dealt with some of the fine folks at the Genius Bar, I think they should be flagged for false advertising.

As for all the griping about how they "copied" the Apple store, were these same gripers griping about how Apple was ripping off the Gap? They had hardwood floors and white walls in their stores when Macintosh screens were black and white.

FanIn80 · 10-23-2009, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

What made it a 'piece of crap'?
15.6" screen is big enough for every day stuff.
Core 2 Duo and 2 GB of RAM is for sure enough to tackle just about anything the average consumer is going to throw at it... Word processing, e-mail, browsing the internet, listening to music, watching porn, World of Warcraft, photoshop...

The feel and build quality of dells is pretty good. Generally doesn't come with much for pre-installed crap. If it does, its very easy to get rid of. I'm honestly curious - what makes it crap?

Sorry, when I said "back in the day," I meant 2 years ago - not last week. We were selling $500 Acer laptops with a 1.3Ghz AMD processor, 1GB of RAM and a 120GB IDE HD. They had Windows Vista preloaded on them and they almost always came back the next day.

Anyway, again, this thread isn't about Mac vs PC. It's about Microsoft (the company) doing something that deserved to be mocked.

And the bit about "Apple copied The Gap by putting in hardwood floors" is not only a stretch, it's completely irellevant. If the only thing Microsoft did was put in hardwood floors, then I would never have even made this thread. Who cares about hardwood floors?

When I say the entire store is an exact, carbon copy replicate... I'm not exagerating. The shirts, the signage, the open display tables, the staff, the answer bar, the side displays, the floors walls and colours... everything. They even hired Apple's old real estate firm to find them retail lots either adjacent to or across the street from existing Apple stores.

It's a pathetic ploy and it needs to be mocked.

KTrain · 10-24-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

People who indulge in brand loyalty are silly.

The Calgary Flames are a business and a brand. When they start sucking are you going to jump ship?

There is nothing wrong with brand loyalty. Supporting a company because they create, in your opinion, superior products is normal. People do it with their vehicles, appliances, televisions, etc.

The whole Mac vs PC debate is stupid. They're products geared towards different consumers. The commercials are only fueling debate by making untrue claims.

I prefer Macs because they're products work together seamlessly. They're able to do that because of the Nazi like control they have over their products. The design is visual appealing and the user interface (physical and software) is spot on. I wish they didn't cost as much as they do but I'm willing to pay for the design.

I use PCs at work and I'm fine with them. They do everything a Mac does (or is that vice versa) but I do find myself having to tweak and download more programs to get done what I need to (lots of design, video editing, coding, etc.).

That seems to be one of the key differentiators between PC and Mac users. My friends who are staunch supporters of PCs also like to overclock their machines and make piece-by-piece improvements over time. They like fiddling with their computers to make them better. It's part of the enjoyment they get out of their computers.

While I'd like to get the latest Macs every time they release a new product, I know my children's college fund would suffer. I'll use this Mac until it stops doing what I need it to do, and then I'll fork over another couple thousand for a new one.

KTrain · 10-24-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

It's a pathetic ploy and it needs to be mocked.

But if it works, their sales go through the roof and they change the perception of Microsoft, are they pathetic or was it a "genius" move?

FanIn80 · 10-24-2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KTrain

But if it works, their sales go through the roof and they change the perception of Microsoft, are they pathetic or was it a "genius" move?

That's a good point, and you're right. If it makes them a pile of money and changes the way they're looked upon, then I'll be stuck eating my hat.

I'll have no problem admitting I am wrong if that happens.

Having said all that, I saw a commercial from them last night that I thought was great. It was something about some regular girl sending in suggestions and them listening to her by adding it to Windows 7. It ended with something like, "Windows 7, I helped build it."

While most techies will know that she didn't help build it, and what they're really referring to is that intrusive "Windows just crashed, click this button to send us a log of everything you've done on your PC since the last time it crashed, so we can... uhhh... fix that." message, but still... the commercial was a good message and stuff like that gets me thinking they're going in the right direction.

I almost wonder if one faction of the company is trying to move on in a new direction (with Windows 7 and the new commercials), but Steve Balmer and his goons are trying to stay in the same old model (the blatantly obvious retail store sham).

Prototype · 10-24-2009, 11:13 AM

I heard that within 5 minutes of being in the Microsoft store... Someone got the Swine Flu Virus... They're trying everything to clean him.

/I didn't really hear that...

RougeUnderoos · 10-24-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Sorry, when I said "back in the day," I meant 2 years ago - not last week. We were selling $500 Acer laptops with a 1.3Ghz AMD processor, 1GB of RAM and a 120GB IDE HD. They had Windows Vista preloaded on them and they almost always came back the next day.

Anyway, again, this thread isn't about Mac vs PC. It's about Microsoft (the company) doing something that deserved to be mocked.

And the bit about "Apple copied The Gap by putting in hardwood floors" is not only a stretch, it's completely irellevant. If the only thing Microsoft did was put in hardwood floors, then I would never have even made this thread. Who cares about hardwood floors?

When I say the entire store is an exact, carbon copy replicate... I'm not exagerating. The shirts, the signage, the open display tables, the staff, the answer bar, the side displays, the floors walls and colours... everything. They even hired Apple's old real estate firm to find them retail lots either adjacent to or across the street from existing Apple stores.

It's a pathetic ploy and it needs to be mocked.

You seem to be taking this awfully personally. It's just a store in a mall.

ClubFlames · 10-24-2009, 03:14 PM

Looking at the thread title and the video the first thing that came to my mind was..

Some. Kinda. Store. of a very LARGE variety

DAMN YOU LOUBARDIAS!!!!!

Superflyer · 10-24-2009, 04:39 PM

What they should have done was copy their Experience Center, now this looks like a great store, but I can that being hard to duplicate all the time in a mall, so the trimmed down version seems better for a smaller location.

FanIn80 · 10-24-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

You seem to be taking this awfully personally. It's just a store in a mall.

I'm really not, I just sound like that when I write.

I have a hard time not sounding like an ass in text for some reason. I've met lots of people who always thought I was a complete dick until they met me in real life or had a conversation with me over Vent or Teamspeak or whatever.

I laughing at this whole thing, in honesty.

jayswin · 10-26-2009, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Oh yeah, the $400 laptop. I used to work at Future Shop back in the day. We hated the $400 laptops... people would walk in and say "I don't want to spend any money. I just want the cheapest thing you have."

...and then they'd return it the next day because it was a piece of crap.

Anyway, the new 27" 3.06Ghz iMac with 1TB HD and 4GB of RAM for $1700 says hi to the "Macs are too expensive" crowd.

That....is expensive. Were you being sarcastic?

FanIn80 · 10-26-2009, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flameswin

That....is expensive. Were you being sarcastic?

No it isn't. Go price it out for yourself. Show me an all-in-one PC with the exact same specs and the exact same screen size and screen quality for less than $1799.

Seriously. Go ahead. Hell, I doubt you can even built your own tower with the exact same specs AND a 27" LED-backlit LCD panel with a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution for under $1799.

Now, you can argue that you don't need a 27" screen, or that you don't need a 1TB HD or 4GB of RAM... you can even tell me you don't need a computer... but you can't tell me the new 27" iMac isn't worth $1799.

TheU · 10-26-2009, 02:29 AM

the 27 inch iMac will be mine november 3rd. what a fabulous price for an all i one with that kind of hardware

Coys1882 · 10-26-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Seriously, Microsoft?

(WTS: One Original Idea. Free or best offer.)

You know Apple copied the idea of the mouse from Xerox... how lame! Dude - adapt or die, it's how the business world works.

Phaneuf3 · 10-26-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

but you can't tell me the new 27" iMac isn't worth $1799.

Sure I can!
The new 27" iMac isn't worth $1799.

See? wasn't all that hard.

Pastiche · 10-26-2009, 02:48 PM

Quote:

There is nothing wrong with brand loyalty. Supporting a company because they create, in your opinion, superior products is normal. People do it with their vehicles, appliances, televisions, etc.

This jumps out at me.

Just because its normal does not mean that there's nothing wrong with it. Brand loyalty may be harmless but I can still think it is, in many ways, simplistic or even stupid.

Branding attempts to simplify or varnish over a contemplation of wants and ideas into simplistic and notional ideas, slogans, labels or associations. I think that that is wrong.

It is troubling to have people buy products or buy into ideas (politics) they think are good or satisfying based on marketing and branding efforts.

This thread is another classic example. People getting worked up because one store looks like another. The identity is being attacked through a mimicing of store design aesthetics. Can you think of anything stupider? It isn't an issue anywhere else. Did Costco shoppers piss all over Home Depot for making their stores look the same? No, nobody cared.

And nobody should care about this.

Pastiche · 10-26-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

Sure I can!
The new 27" iMac isn't worth $1799.

See? wasn't all that hard.

I'm looking at getting a new computer, I'll order the parts and get it built by NCIX. Anyway, I can get a burly beast of a machine for $1000. If I bought the iMac for $1799, what do I get for the extra $800? Monitor is one... two?

Coys1882 · 10-26-2009, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pastiche

I'm looking at getting a new computer, I'll order the parts and get it built by NCIX. Anyway, I can get a burly beast of a machine for $1000. If I bought the iMac for $1799, what do I get for the extra $800? Monitor is one... two?

a reserved seat at Starbucks, the right to wear a beret and the ability to have your emails seem a little more 'creative' than your PC counterparts.