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this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Technology
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Apple has setup their walled garden in such a way that you're basically all-in or all-out of their ecosystem. I don't know that they have brand loyalty as much as they have a captive audience that they can sell iWhatever to over and over again.
Oh, they have some brand loyalty atleast. In my country, Apple has a miniscule market share across all domains[ laptops or phones included ]. They recently launched 2 Apple Stores in a bid to slowly extend themselves inside the market. Quoting from a news article
I'm pretty sure those people who wait in line are either paid to do so, or genuinely suffering from a negative mental health condition.
if you see price of iPhone in developing countries, it cones out to be more than a month of income.
so, it's essentially a status symbol.
So they're basically 50s house wives showing off their new microwave. Why are humans like this, like I get showing off your shit but doing it for status is just weird.
that's very much on the point.
As for the reasons — from what I've observed — it's more of a follow culture. they saw someone influencial(in their eyes) doing this, so they now have to ape it. I doubt if there is any more thought process going on here.
I have friends who have bought(or actually, have been bought into) these phones on monthly installments.
They could sell bottled water, claiming it's better than all other water and the absolute fanboys who will live and die by apple will absolutely spend a whole months paycheck and sell their liver just for a single bottle.
Yep, remember this is the company that sold wheels for $700
I'm no fan of Apple, and didn't want to believe they did this. So I googled, "$700 apple wheels," and found this.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MX572ZM/A/apple-mac-pro-wheels-kit
I swear they could sell literal feces.
That's amazing! They also have a stand for $1000, stainless steel feet for $300 and a water bottle for $80.
It's crazy what money people are willing to throw at apple.
Worst of all, you still need a hex bit (that fits) instead of them adding it to the kit for that ridiculous price.
They currently sell
for $1,000.
It's not even new. It's been out for over three years.
It's not just any monitor stand! It tilts and goes up and down and is shiny.
This is, and always has been, an illusion.
They have brand fanatics that don't want to research alternatives because most Apple users aren't even close to knowledgeable of emerging technologies outside their own ecosystem.
Apple retains customers by making them comfortable with the fact they offer most of what they need, and in an attractive, easy-to-understand package. The walled garden makes them feel safe and connected in a world they are slowly falling out of touch with, or the world they never were in touch with (the tech world).
I know people of all levels of intelligence that use Apple. It's not about that... But I don't know a single apple user (that has chosen that path) that's highly knowledgeable about things like modern security, privacy, and/or the true potential and limitations of modern devices.
I've met a lot of hardcore people way up in the tech hierarchy that rock MacBooks. Like people who maintain popular languages, people who make kernel contributions, people who design CPUs and accelerators.
There are many knowledgeable people who willingly make the choice, understanding the tradeoffs and accepting them. Some people don't want to be fucking with Arch or Kali for hours, or auditing their smartphone's firmware, for the same reason most combat veterans don't walk around wearing a bullet proof vest and a rifle.
Will you meet some hardcore hackers who won't upgrade the kernel until after they audit the changelog of both the kernel AND the compiler they're using? Sure. You'll also meet some people who live in a bunker. They have their valid motives for doing so, and people have valid motives for not doing so.
Those people have MacBooks almost entirely because of the Terminal and because they don't want to deal with Linux or WSL. Brand loyalty plays little into their decision