Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The new Apple value proposition: throw in the kitchen sink
So just when I'm about to sit down and take in all the various specs of today's new Mac models, I get a phone call that sends me straight into distraction. Who was it? A customer, employee, reporter, telemarketer, wrong number? Nah, an old friend calling to hash out the details of the upcoming trip we're all taking to Cedar Point (an Ohio theme park) in mid-September. It seems like this all used to be so much simpler. Back in the old high school days we'd all just pile into someone's car and head in the general direction of a theme park for a few days during summer break. These days it's still the same set of friends, but now some of us have wives to bring along, some of us have to figure out what to do with the kids, some of us have to plan around our work schedules, some of us have to make sure we have internet access in the hotel room so we can take our work with us, and some of us don't even live anywhere near each other. But things become more clear as we spend a good half hour slogging through the details: on a weekend in mid-September, we're flying out Friday afternoon, sight-seeing Friday eveing, going to the theme park all day Saturday, and flying home at some point on Sunday. So we're all set and all that's left to do is to book our flights, and I realize that one minor detail managed to elude me: I'm not sure which mid-September weekend we're going on. Never bothered to ask. Things used to be easier when I had a functioning brain.
I guess maybe my mind was overly focused on the new iBooks (at least that's the excuse I'm going to use). And to answer the question that any number of you have written in to ask me today, the answer is yes, I'll be buying one. But first I'm going to wait until the new model shows up on Amazon, to see if the current iBook rebate can be used with the new models, because if I can combine that with no sales tax, that'll be a nice chunk of change saved. Although, and I really can't imagine how none of us saw this coming, but Amazon's iBook rebate expires on July 26th, which is today (probably yesterday to you, if you're reading this on Wednesday). See, the Mac rumor sites don't need to buy trade secrets from rogue Apple employees, they can just check Amazon's expiration date. Sheesh, no wonder Amazon hasn't added the new iBooks to its system today. Although, knowing Amazon, there just might be a new Amazon iBook rebate offer starting tomorrow. Seems like there always is.
And I should point out that, although I was hoping for a "Third Age of iBook" with a new design that featured better wrist ergonomics that came closer to the original iBook, I'm fine with the current design. I've gotten used to the white iBook's wrist-slashing angles before, and I'll get used to them again. After all, they're not that much worse than those of the PowerBook I'm currently typing on (and please don't write in and tell me to get a wrist pad, it would defeat the entire purpose of having a laptop in the first place). And as far as the looks of the current model, at this point I could care less about what it looks like. As long as it's got an Apple logo on both the outside and the inside, I'm home.
But with all that out of the way, let's see what we're getting here with the new model that we wouldn't have gotten if we'd bought, say, yesterday: marginally faster processor, twice as much RAM, 33 percent larger hard drive, better video card, built-in Bluetooth, sudden motion sensor, and trackpad scrolling. I think there also might be a kitchen sink in there somewhere. Good thing I waited, eh? I mean, that's an awful lot to throw in for the same $999 price tag. And the deal gets even sweeter for those folks looking for a 14 inch iBook, as (if I'm not mistaken) they now get a SuperDrive standard on top of all the other goodies.
And in terms of Macintosh history, we just might now be entering the Era of the Kitchen Sink.
We saw some hint of the kitchen sink effect earlier this year with the new PowerBooks, as Apple appeared to be holding nothing in reserve by putting both of its new mobile hardware innovations, the motion sensor and the trackpad scrolling, into play in the same revision, across the entire PowerBook line. Common thinking was that it was Apple's way of making up for the fact that there was no G5 to be found. But now, with Intel on the horizon, Apple has an even steeper hill to climb to get some folks to go ahead and ante up for a new Mac prior to the actual Intel shift. It's mostly a phychological thing, as there really is no downside to buying a PowerPC-based Mac right now. And for the folks who don't pay any attention to Apple news, the word "Intel" may not even be on their radar as they head out to buy their next (or for that matter, first) Mac. But for those folks who pay attention, Apple has seemingly adopted a new philosophy to get you to add one last PowerPC-based Mac to your arsenal: throw in everything.
Every tech company holds back something somehow. They offer low-end models, but they invariably reserve some features solely for the high-end models as an incentive to get you to upsell yourself:
"Hmm, I don't even know what a 'card slot' is, but the PowerBook has it and the iBook doesn't so I guess I should pay several hundred extra for the PowerBook just in case."
"I have no idea what a processor even is, but a G5 sounds like it must be better than a G4."
"I'd like my combo 'Value Sized' even though I don't really want the extra fries or soda."
"I'll buy Windows XP Professional Edition because I believe in professionalism."
You get the idea. Every tech company does it. The more responsible ones will offer you a low-end model that, while it doesn't have the bells and whistles, isn't crippled in any way for most users. And for awhile, that's what the iBook has been. You want a bucketload of RAM or Bluetooth, you've got to add it yourself. You want monitor spanning, too bad. You want the very latest bells and whistles, too bad, get a PowerBook. But for everyone who just uses their computer and doesn't do a lot of funky stuff with it, the iBook more than fits the bill. Except now it does more than that. The latest iBook sports more bells and whistles than a child's bicycle, and suddenly it seems Apple is less interested in selling you a more expensive model and more interested in simply get you to buy one at all.
It's an interesting time we're in now, and how much of the Kitchen Sink Effect has to do with the Intel thing, and how much of it is an actual new long-term strategy, only time will tell. But in the mean time, enjoy it. I know I intend to. And if you're worried that Apple's profit margins are going to come crashing down as everyone flocks to the low end, don't worry: the next version of the PowerBook is likely just around the corner, and if Apple was willing to sink this many of the PowerBook's features into the iBook, I can't wait to see what the company has up its sleeve for getting people to take another look at the high end after all.
So just when I'm about to sit down and take in all the various specs of today's new Mac models, I get a phone call that sends me straight into distraction. Who was it? A customer, employee, reporter, telemarketer, wrong number? Nah, an old friend calling to hash out the details of the upcoming trip we're all taking to Cedar Point (an Ohio theme park) in mid-September. It seems like this all used to be so much simpler. Back in the old high school days we'd all just pile into someone's car and head in the general direction of a theme park for a few days during summer break. These days it's still the same set of friends, but now some of us have wives to bring along, some of us have to figure out what to do with the kids, some of us have to plan around our work schedules, some of us have to make sure we have internet access in the hotel room so we can take our work with us, and some of us don't even live anywhere near each other. But things become more clear as we spend a good half hour slogging through the details: on a weekend in mid-September, we're flying out Friday afternoon, sight-seeing Friday eveing, going to the theme park all day Saturday, and flying home at some point on Sunday. So we're all set and all that's left to do is to book our flights, and I realize that one minor detail managed to elude me: I'm not sure which mid-September weekend we're going on. Never bothered to ask. Things used to be easier when I had a functioning brain.
I guess maybe my mind was overly focused on the new iBooks (at least that's the excuse I'm going to use). And to answer the question that any number of you have written in to ask me today, the answer is yes, I'll be buying one. But first I'm going to wait until the new model shows up on Amazon, to see if the current iBook rebate can be used with the new models, because if I can combine that with no sales tax, that'll be a nice chunk of change saved. Although, and I really can't imagine how none of us saw this coming, but Amazon's iBook rebate expires on July 26th, which is today (probably yesterday to you, if you're reading this on Wednesday). See, the Mac rumor sites don't need to buy trade secrets from rogue Apple employees, they can just check Amazon's expiration date. Sheesh, no wonder Amazon hasn't added the new iBooks to its system today. Although, knowing Amazon, there just might be a new Amazon iBook rebate offer starting tomorrow. Seems like there always is.
And I should point out that, although I was hoping for a "Third Age of iBook" with a new design that featured better wrist ergonomics that came closer to the original iBook, I'm fine with the current design. I've gotten used to the white iBook's wrist-slashing angles before, and I'll get used to them again. After all, they're not that much worse than those of the PowerBook I'm currently typing on (and please don't write in and tell me to get a wrist pad, it would defeat the entire purpose of having a laptop in the first place). And as far as the looks of the current model, at this point I could care less about what it looks like. As long as it's got an Apple logo on both the outside and the inside, I'm home.
But with all that out of the way, let's see what we're getting here with the new model that we wouldn't have gotten if we'd bought, say, yesterday: marginally faster processor, twice as much RAM, 33 percent larger hard drive, better video card, built-in Bluetooth, sudden motion sensor, and trackpad scrolling. I think there also might be a kitchen sink in there somewhere. Good thing I waited, eh? I mean, that's an awful lot to throw in for the same $999 price tag. And the deal gets even sweeter for those folks looking for a 14 inch iBook, as (if I'm not mistaken) they now get a SuperDrive standard on top of all the other goodies.
And in terms of Macintosh history, we just might now be entering the Era of the Kitchen Sink.
We saw some hint of the kitchen sink effect earlier this year with the new PowerBooks, as Apple appeared to be holding nothing in reserve by putting both of its new mobile hardware innovations, the motion sensor and the trackpad scrolling, into play in the same revision, across the entire PowerBook line. Common thinking was that it was Apple's way of making up for the fact that there was no G5 to be found. But now, with Intel on the horizon, Apple has an even steeper hill to climb to get some folks to go ahead and ante up for a new Mac prior to the actual Intel shift. It's mostly a phychological thing, as there really is no downside to buying a PowerPC-based Mac right now. And for the folks who don't pay any attention to Apple news, the word "Intel" may not even be on their radar as they head out to buy their next (or for that matter, first) Mac. But for those folks who pay attention, Apple has seemingly adopted a new philosophy to get you to add one last PowerPC-based Mac to your arsenal: throw in everything.
Every tech company holds back something somehow. They offer low-end models, but they invariably reserve some features solely for the high-end models as an incentive to get you to upsell yourself:
"Hmm, I don't even know what a 'card slot' is, but the PowerBook has it and the iBook doesn't so I guess I should pay several hundred extra for the PowerBook just in case."
"I have no idea what a processor even is, but a G5 sounds like it must be better than a G4."
"I'd like my combo 'Value Sized' even though I don't really want the extra fries or soda."
"I'll buy Windows XP Professional Edition because I believe in professionalism."
You get the idea. Every tech company does it. The more responsible ones will offer you a low-end model that, while it doesn't have the bells and whistles, isn't crippled in any way for most users. And for awhile, that's what the iBook has been. You want a bucketload of RAM or Bluetooth, you've got to add it yourself. You want monitor spanning, too bad. You want the very latest bells and whistles, too bad, get a PowerBook. But for everyone who just uses their computer and doesn't do a lot of funky stuff with it, the iBook more than fits the bill. Except now it does more than that. The latest iBook sports more bells and whistles than a child's bicycle, and suddenly it seems Apple is less interested in selling you a more expensive model and more interested in simply get you to buy one at all.
It's an interesting time we're in now, and how much of the Kitchen Sink Effect has to do with the Intel thing, and how much of it is an actual new long-term strategy, only time will tell. But in the mean time, enjoy it. I know I intend to. And if you're worried that Apple's profit margins are going to come crashing down as everyone flocks to the low end, don't worry: the next version of the PowerBook is likely just around the corner, and if Apple was willing to sink this many of the PowerBook's features into the iBook, I can't wait to see what the company has up its sleeve for getting people to take another look at the high end after all.
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