Apple Attempted to Censor Critical Coverage of Its $1k Monitor Stand

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/292771-apple-attempted-to-censor-critical-coverage-of-its-1000-monitor-stand

by bobbybidon • 7 years ago

65 53 7 years ago

scarface7413• 7 years ago

This was such a monumental marketing fail. If they had just said the price of the monitor was $7000 none of the target audience would have blinked.

Then when it went on sale, they could have quietly added in their configuration when you buy it:

   -$700 Vesa mount

reaperducer3• 7 years ago

I could see it if the stand provided some benefit other than looking cool. Like acting as a heat-sink, or being a massive Thunderbolt hub.

But even I, who has bought half a dozen launch-day Apple items, was surprised that this price point made it through the marketing department. It came off as really tone-deaf. More than half of the Macs in my office use reams of paper as monitor stands.

Maybe iFixit will do a teardown and find out it's made from mermaid scales and unicorn farts.

scarface7413• 7 years ago

$5000 for the iMac Pro isn’t bad if you need that kind of power - even though you could spec a regular 5K iMac that was close enough and save a grand.

The price of the Mac Pro + monitor wouldn’t even make me blink if I had a business that needed it.

But the stand is ridiculous even by Apple standards.

danielscrubs3• 7 years ago

But why is it so expensive? That’s the big question. Many times when Apple has been called out for price gauging it has been very easy to just itemize and explain. Here? Just doesn’t seem that its anything else than just price gauging. Any one experienced in mechanics that can shed some light?

simongr3dal• 7 years ago

The WWDC2019 video literally starts with the text:

"All Rights Reserved. This Broadcast and its contents are the sole property of Apple and are protected by Federal Law and International treaties. You are strictly prohibited from making a copy or modification of, or from rebroadcasting, or re-encoding, this broadcast without the prior written permission from Apple Public Relations, excepts as may be permitted by law."

The whole video is published on YouTube, they could have just linked to the timestamp of the official video on there or on Apples own website.

Zekio• 7 years ago

Pretty sure copyright law allows doing exactly what they are saying you are not allowed to do, through fair use

reaperducer3• 7 years ago

That's the "excepts as may be permitted by law" part.

hermitdev• 7 years ago

One of the many reasons I will not buy Apple. You're buying the brand, the name, not actual quality.

I dont know what the exact percent is, but you're paying a significant markup on hardware for Apple vs, say a Dell, for the same hardware. Yeah, OS X is BSD based, but Dell will sell you the equivalent hardware for about half the price and guarantee it works with Linux (with support).

I'm not a Dell fan, despite most of my prior purchases being Dell, but they dont do an insane markup on Linux installs.

Tangent: I've also seen devs work on Macs have their code fail when dployed because they assume OS X is nix and Linux is nix not recognizong that by default, the MacFS is case insensitive, like Windows, but Linux is case sensitive by default.

scarface7413• 7 years ago

So Apple has been surviving on brand only for 40+ years?

Anecdotally: I am looking at a 5K iMac - 6 Core I5 with 256GB SSD and 16GB of RAM for $2099. The only reputable company that I can find that sells a 5K display is LG and it’s $1300 by itself.

If I try to find an equivalent price Dell it doesn’t cost any less.

mantap2• 7 years ago

If a regular display breaks, you can replace it.

If the display in your iMac breaks, you have to spend $$$ to repair it. And maybe apple will tell you that it can't be repaired.

All-in-ones are fine as low end machines but I would never buy a premium one.

mappu• 7 years ago

5K is a price outlier. LG Display are the only panel manufacturer, and they appeared in very few retail products. It just didn't become an industry standard size (8K has a better chance).

You can buy a 4K screen with the same pixel density for under 300USD, from a well-known brand.

You can buy four of those for less than that single 5K display. So I would suggest dual 4K.

ksec2• 7 years ago

I dont know what the exact percent is, but you're paying a significant markup on hardware for Apple vs, say a Dell, for the same hardware.

Do we have to have this even on HN?

People are paying significant markup on Cars for BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bently. You could buy a Car from Toyota or Kia with Same Horsepower.

The thing is they are NOT the same. They never was.

I find this both fascinating and annoying how people can price something to zero and immediately think it offer no value to others while simultaneously think they deserve better salary or paid. Apple's products still deliver Better Build Quality, Better finishing, Better Trackpad ( I hate the new enlarged size, but still one of the best trackpad out there ) better software integration.

And if anyone wants to ask about Mac Pro price, try spec one out with Dell or HP Workstation and see how they compare. Apple isn't too far off.

The whole Workstation market operating on this margin, I have no idea why other they charge this because they can. But Apple's Mac Pro is quite competitive in its pricing. If all you are looking for is a prosumer, upgradable, Desktop Mac, the Mac Pro isn't for you.

nikofeyn2• 7 years ago

People are paying significant markup on Cars for BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bently. You could buy a Car from Toyota or Kia with Same Horsepower. The thing is they are NOT the same. They never was.

this is kind of an interesting comment. especially since you mentioned bmw. with bmw, you literally are buying a brand. i know at least two motorcycle dealers that stopped carrying bmw because bmw required very specific, and very expensive, signage, paint scheme, flooring, etc. to just be a bmw dealer, even if the dealer carried other motorcycle brands (which were typically high-end italian brands).

the new kia stinger performance destroys the equivalent bmw car, at a significant fraction of the price. not to mention the stinger looks better (subjective) and has insane fit and finish.

https://youtu.be/sPD1joDOlLo

my kia optima has a better fit and finish and leather than any tesla i have been in. with those companies, you are buying a brand more than anything.

Apple's products still deliver Better Build Quality, Better finishing, Better Trackpad ( I hate the new enlarged size, but still one of the best trackpad out there ) better software integration.

every apple product i have purchased has quit working. my iPad air stopped after just two years of babied operation. it wouldn’t even turn on or charge. apple wanted $300 to “repair” it after claiming it wasn’t a battery issue. my macbook pro’s wifi card stopped after just five years, and many keys barely work due to key failure. the bluetooth never worked with speakers (a common and well documented issue). the chassis would shock me in certain scenarios (another well documented and known issue by users). again, it was babied. my macbook before that required three unsuccessful replacements of the dvd drive before they replaced the entire macbook. my brother’s iphone 7s plus stopped the day after the warranty ended. apple did nothing. another friend’s iPhone 6s plus would just barely work, less than two years in, even after a battery replacement by apple.

and better software integration? not even close. iOS has been a travesty on the iPad in terms of integration. (just try to use multiple audio, music apps and see.) hardly anything about apple’s software just works anymore. i constantly had issues with audio software breaking after basically forced os upgrades.

malshe• 7 years ago

What a click-bait headline. The title suggests Apple was involved in a large effort to silence the negative coverage. The article lists only one instance where they asked the website to pull down the video because it infringes copyright! The article is still up, right?

Also, do people really believe that Apple makes their billions by selling dongles?

bobbybidon4• 7 years ago

You're right, the title is kinda clickbait but the argument still "stands": a $1k stand his basically taking users for cash cows (while a majority of them are sheep)

dorchadas• 7 years ago

Exactly. It seems like all Apple did was request videos taken down for copyright infringement. They never edited their own video, and, last I checked, you could still even hear the audience's reaction to the stand. All they did was try to protect copyright of their videos, and look what happens. Some people love to hate Apple.

reaperducer3• 7 years ago

Link to the original reporting, instead of some other web site re-writing someone else's work:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/06/05/apple_stand_copyrig...

bobbybidon4• 7 years ago

this was posted after the original article (if you make such a claim, get your facts straight)

bobbybidon4• 7 years ago

"Sign In with Apple" is top post right now so I should I have figured this would not get much traction ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

bezidejni• 7 years ago

You do realize that those are two completely distinct things and people can like one but not the other?

bobbybidon4• 7 years ago

I do, do you realize I used the shrug?

wodenokoto2• 7 years ago

Is it really ridiculously priced though? As if such a price is unheard of. A bang & olufsen TV starts at around $1000, and can easily be $2000.

I think it is pricy but not when compared to the kind of things apple likes to compare themselves with.

Their watch is expensive, but not compared with a Rolex.

hhanesand• 7 years ago

But that’s a ~TV~... a screen etc

Here it’s $1000 for two slabs of metal and a hinge...

wodenokoto2• 7 years ago

Something got lost in editing on my phone. B&O stand starts at $1000.

Sorry.

Apple Attempted to Censor Critical Coverage of Its $1k Monitor Stand

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