Apple Computer

The iPad3 comes out today, the 3rd release of an ipad in two years. Thousands will buy it, many of whom bought the Ipad2 last year and the original ipad in 2010. So, people may be spending more than $1500 dollars in two years on a tablet computer, and its newer models. http://www.apple.com/ipad/

In this post, I'd like to advise readers to be more discerning about buying Apple products. I remember reading an op-ed a while back about how Apple is more like a religion than a company http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/apple-is-a-new-religion-and-steve-jobs-was-its-high-priest/2011/10/07/gIQAjYlgTL_story.html, and i think it is true. Many Apple adherents have a tendency to be fanatics, and will not consider other similar products from other companies. Samsung recently mocked these qualities in advertisements http://mashable.com/2012/01/20/samsung-apple-super-bowl-ad/.

I would suggest looking to another frame of reference when determining whether or not to make an Apple purchase. Baseball has a statistic known as VORP, or Value Over Replacement Player http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_over_replacement_player. In short, is what you have worth more than the average, and how much more? Apple's primary product lines include tablet computing, personal computing, mobile telephones, mobile music players, digital music, and a variety of other revenue streams. It is necessary to apply VORP to Apple purchases. How much more is it worth it to buy from Apple than a replacement?

In digital music, there is very little value. The itunes store has many popular songs available for $1.29, and are write-protected so they are not transferable between accounts. Meanwhile, Amazon mp3 has the same songs available for 99 cents, and they are not write protected. http://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&node=163856011. Further, they are saved to a cloud drive, and can be downloaded to a player or accessed from the cloud. The VORP of the itunes store is zero.

In the interest of brevity, I am not going to go through this analysis for each of Apple's product lines. Generally, when I make technology purchases, I try to compare the specifications and attributes of the products on websites like cnet.com, to determine what is best for me. In my opinion, Apple's VORP in digital music, personal computers, tablets, and mobile phones is very low. Apple's products are more expensive than their competition, and often do not carry all of the features, such as the problems viewing flash video on Apple products (Apple has since provided workarounds http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/adobe_delivers_flash_video_to_iphone_ipad/, but this still presents a consumer frustration).

In the interest of comprehensiveness, if you have not read the article on the conditions of the factories supplying Apple, you should. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all. Things like this affected product lines from Kathy Lee Gifford and Nike, and Apple shouldn't be treated differently.

Additionally, in an effort to be even-handed, there isn't a very strong competitor or "replacement player" for the ipod. Microsoft attempted to create one with Zune, but that was ultimately unsuccessful. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1898610_1898625_1898633,00.html. Unless you download all of your music to a cloud and can play from that cloud remotely, the ipod is probably the best option.

Don't just go out and buy from apple. Do a VORP analysis, looking at an Apple product's attributes and drawbacks, and whether or not it is worth the price over its competitors. You may find yourself getting an excellent alternative product and saving money at the same time.