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by cmrdporcupine 3054 days ago
Yes, it's insane. It's a lifestyle accessory.

But put in the context of _workstation_ prices -- which I guess is what it's sort of in the category of -- check out what a Sun 2 (68010) workstation cost in 1986:

"A color 2/160 with 8Mb of memory, two 71 Mb SCSI disks and 60 Mb 1/4" SCSI tape cost $48,800 (1986 US price list)."

That's $109,766.16 in today's dollars.

Or more modest and perhaps more comparable, an HP 9000 Model 705 PA-RISC workstation (32mhz, HP-UX) in 1991 was priced around $5000. That's $9000ish in today's dollars.

People bought stuff like that back then. Low volume, prestige item, specialized market, and I guess Apple must figure they will still do that now.

Workstation class machines have always been overpriced.
1 comments
jcadam 3054 days ago
Yea, you know, if I'm doing work that requires 18+ cores of CPU and gobs of RAM, I'm going to pack that beast into a rack (bet I could build a sweet epyc based system with more capability for less than $10k) and connect to it from a laptop/small desktop.

Besides, that thing is going to get hot, and Apple doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to thermal design (see: apple ///)

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scarface74 3054 days ago
Really the Apple /// a computer that came out in 1980? Is that what you are going to base your doubts on the thermal design of the iMac?
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jcadam 3054 days ago
It was the start of Apple's long tradition of form over function.
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scarface74 3053 days ago
How has Apple survived over 40 years if it were just about form over function while most of its contemporaries over the years have disappeared?
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cmrdporcupine 3052 days ago
Arguably it's not the same Apple. I don't see a lot of continuity in approach between the company that brought us the Apple IIe and the company that makes the iPhone.
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scarface74 3046 days ago
Both the company that brought the Apple //e and the company that brought the world the iPhone had Steve Jobs in charge and very much went for vertical integration.
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mgkimsal 3054 days ago
could have looked at the more recent thermal paste gpu issues with mbp 2011 (which i was hit by) or the similar imac problems in 2012(?)
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