[SoftwareMaven]

The VAST majority of people look at their computers the same way they do their DVD players, microwaves, and vacuums: they are a "unit" that they buy, plug in, and use until it's time to buy a new one. I've built more computers than I can count, but, due to the flattening out of the "end-user performance experience" (eg: there are very few upgrades I could do to a PC to make it faster without needing to replace everything), I'm becoming one of them.

Apple has recognized this and is using that knowledge to throw away old assumptions and put the resultant "compromise space" into beautiful products that people are proud to display in their home.

Sounds like a smart plan to me, but I can understand why there is a small percentage of the market who still sees their PC as a conglomerate of components. I'm pretty convinced Apple is not the company for people like that.

[ChuckMcM]

Totally agree with this, it isn't a computer to most people, its a TV. When is the last time you "upgraded" your TV without buying a completely new one?

[daigoba66]

Well... to most people it's still a computer and not a TV. That's why they buy both :). But they purchase computers like TVs (a single product with practically no user serviceable parts).

[ChuckMcM]

True people buy both, although most people who buy a device that you and I are calling a 'computer' those people are buying it strictly as information consumers, and to a lesser extent codified information producers (like instagram or uploading a youtube video). They will never change its configuration, or attempt to program it in any way. It is an information appliance, like a TV, except with a keyboard and a web cam.

[tammer]

Let's not forget there's still a model that allows storage/RAM upgrades easily, the Mac Pro. I've always seen the iMac as one of these TV-like devices, just due to the form factor alone.

The display is one of the primary elements I like to have an upgrade path for, something the iMac has never offered. The new model's sealed form factor is the logical conclusion for the product line.

I'm interested to see what they do with the Mac Pro.

[orangecat]

On the other hand, Time Machine is a core feature of Macs and requires a separate hard drive, so Apple clearly doesn't believe that expansion in general is a concept only suitable for geeks. And when they charge such ridiculous markups on RAM and storage, I can't help but think that non-upgradability isn't a decision made in the interests of their customers.

[beagle3]

> I can't help but think that non-upgradability isn't a decision made in the interests of their customers.

(triple negative yay!)

When is a decision of a for-profit corporation in a cut-throat market ever made in the interest of their customers? Sometimes, the corporate and customer interests align, but it is never made "in the interest of their customers" per se.