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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 118. Apple cuts prices on 20″ G5 iMac. Adobe releases details on Universal products, Intel iBooks rumored. Lawsuit alleges iPod causes hearing loss. Comments on VidBits and MacRoundtable. iWork review. Mac alternatives for MS Project. Getting past 33 min GarageBand recording limit. Feedback on Darwine. The iMac international pricing debate continues. You can password protect iWeb sites. Tip for running Powerbooks and MacBooks with lid shut. Loud Intel Mac? May be your hard drive brand. British Royal Navy’s new fleet of destroyers with iPod docks. Buy your Senator an iPod. My thoughts on a Mac home media center concept.
New music, Oxygen for Two by Redefining the Moment
Broaden your minds — have another beer. Have two!
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Your “more relevant” caller from London speaking on the international pricing differences reveals himself to be an idiot. He failed to take into account that the UK price includes 17.5% VAT and that the US price does not include tax, thus maximizing the apparent difference to support his argument. He should be comparing more to the prices less VAT that are even given on Apple’s UK store right next to the price including VAT.
If I buy it here in the states, I will have to pay local tax, which is 6.75% where I live. But tax rates differ, and to be fair, it’s not my fault that the UK has a 17.5% tax rate. So, it’s only fair to compare with the same tax rate. I’m not claiming that the effective prices are equal or defending Apple charging more elsewhere.
The new Intel iMac costs 929 GBP, less 17.5% VAT = 790.64 GBP or $1400. This is $101 more. Comparing with equal tax, $1299+17.5% = $1526.33, which is $119 more or about 9% and NOT $357 more as he claims.
The MacBook Pro is $1999+17.5% = $2348.82. In the UK, it is 1429 GBP (1216.17 less VAT) or $2531.04. This makes the UK version $182.22 more or again about 9% and not $550. Also, it is not “even worse” than the iMac. You will note they are more by the same percentage. This is also commonly ignored to help bolster an argument position since the dollar value differences are larger.
I think you owe it to your listeners to inform them of how wrong that caller was.
You got there before me.
The other consideration is distribution and localisation of keyboards. It is much cheaper per unit to localise and ship Macs to the States than the UK
That said we are quite sensitive to international price differences here in the UK, we get ripped-off all the time – I just don’t think by Apple.
Nick
BTW Adam don’t think it goes unnoticed that you studiously refer to US prices as US Dollars (not just dollars)- it is much appreciated and adds to the international flavour of your superb show.
mac round table would be WICKED if it as a video
Yeah… I wonder if you could record a 4 way video iChat and put that out. There’s always Snapz X Pro to capture the chat if iChat doesn’t have a way to record it.
What would be the point of a Mac Roundtable in video? I don’t see a point in paying for extra bandwidth in a podcast that doesn’t *Need* video..
I felt that I should let you know something about the dB scale. It is not linear. An increase in 4dB is about a 2.5x increase, no matter what the previous value was.
Converting from the dB scale to a normal scale is done by
10^(db/10)
A good rule of thumb: The value doubles for every 3dB.
100db vs. 104db
The “db” scale is logarithmic, so a small change in value can be a large change. But basically a 3db change translantes into a change of twice the power. So 103db has twice as much power as 100db.
Jim
Here Here, if all of you have isights just use..snapz pro…to make an awsome video…i agree with the listener above, someone email one of the people on the round table about it…it could be the first one of its kind!
Disappointed that I couldn’t understand any of that iWork review
and I don’t think it’s because of my iPod hearing loss.
Thank you Pat, I thought it was me or my system. Pardon?
I’m disappointed by your prejudiced view of class-action lawsuits. They are not all frivilous and they are not all about stupid people doing stupid things. Class-action lawsuits can be the only way for the powerless (consumers, e.g.) to address the abuses of powerful corporations. They have been used successfully to stop toxic waste dumping and using dangerous chemicals and drugs, for example. Sure, the “iPod made me deaf” or “McDonald’s made me fat” suits are clear abuses of the legal system, but I don’t like that you glibly denounce the entire class-action mechanism that has also had many heroic successes.
In order to be compatible with Window’s users in Project Management, I use Fast Track Scheduler 9 (http://www.aecsoft.com/) and I highly recommend it. Although the software is a bit pricey compared to some of the others mentioned on the show, (FTS9 is $349, US for Nick) it has all the features of MS Project, and more, and files can be shared between the platforms / apps. Good luck.
Thought you might like an update on Australian prices.
MacBookPro USD $1999
AUSD $3199
Actual conversion $2692
Extra paid $ 507
I can’t see any valid reason for this except unmitigated greed. Just read comments about tax. we have a goods and services (GST) tax of 10% which still leaves a difference of $238 doesn’t it?
(very unsure of my math abilities)
About the iPod issue. There is more to consider than what most people would think about. Granted the 4db is a big deal, but that is with the stock headphones. The iPod is a device that is meant for those who love music. Hardcore music lovers will have headphones that cover the ears and have larger, heavier coils and drivers. If you were to test them with these, you might fined that they top out at 90db. Now the real trick is that db means nothing on its own. It is a scaler like kilo. So are they talking about power, volume, or wattage? Probably volume, but one never knows about government regulations.
Regarding project management: I too use FastTrack, which my company took on as a replacement for Project when we moved to OSX. Yes, it’s expensive, and occasionally it makes you do things way too much its way rather than allowing the user to set defaults, and the online help system is ludicrously impossible, but… it works, and it works on big and complicated projects, and it imported our Project stuff with nary a hitch. Recommended if you’ve got the money and need a serious project manager.
Menick…I think I’m going to take your recommendation here and try out FastTrack.