March 19, 2024

Less price gouging, please

According to a recent Bloomberg News report, Apple, Inc.’s next MacBook Pro lineup might include significant changes to its appearance and hardware.

The popular notebook’s new model may have fancy bells and whistles such as a touch-screen strip for function keys, a slimmer screen, a more powerful graphics processor for tasks such as video games and perhaps a Touch ID scanner, the report says.

Most of these advances will become industry standards, as improved research and development is creating fewer and fewer “throw it on the market and see how it does” attempts. Long-calculated moves lead to sustained marketing campaigns, especially in technology hardware, and manufacturing giants seem to want to give each new device, feature or service a long initial run — and gouge customers accordingly.

My issues with this are that the attempt to do the other half of marketing — offering a known, established service at a more reasonable price — seems to have been abandoned, and also the price jumps on some types of hardware have been prohibitive for many of us.

I understand any business’ quest for profit and the need to put its best money makers out front and promoted. However, not all of us have the discretionary spending capability to get the latest, most expensive toy on the front shelf. There also must be a handful of base models in the back of store somewhere.

I say keeping it basic isn’t always a bad thing. I’m not calling for government regulation to intervene — I’m calling on Apple and other large-volume companies to market to me and millions of other average customers who basically believe in the line of products and services and want to contribute to, and benefit from, a trustworthy brand.

Small businesses seem to get this — especially those who have brick-and-mortar locations. You’ve only got so much square footage, so you don’t devote all of it to the frontline, high-end experimental stuff that might or might sell. You’ve got to have more well-known, lower-priced backups.

However, the largest marketing operations in the world seem to take more of a steamroller approach to new products, services and features and blaze through the funds of their customers as if it’s some sort of holiday sale blitz. These folks fail to realize if I’m out serious dough for the first round, I won’t be able or willing to purchase the next round.

Apple had sales of Macs, including the MacBook Pro line, rise 6 percent to $25.5 billion in most recent last fiscal year, and iPad sales decreased 23 percent to $23.2 billion, Bloomberg reported. This year’s MacBook Pro is aimed at furthering that discrepancy, as the cheapest 13-inch Pro is already up to $1,300.

The tablet computer’s lack of durability everyday word processing capability will always keep it mostly a toy, outside of education and a handful of sales applications. Fortunately for Apple and others, tablets can be mass-produced easily enough to keep the batch cost down.

However, laptops and other technology, even among less-durable non-Apple products, seem to keep adding more useless features that don’t really add to the product. Auto manufacturers do this as well, adding more GPS gadgetry and entertainment technology that ensures we won’t have to think at all while in transit, dumbing down both travel skills and consumer-driven innovation at the same time.

I support new lines of products and services. However, necessity should still be the mother of invention, and there must be a catch-up curve for those of us who are modest spenders.

Contact Jason W. Brooks
at jbrooks@newtondailynews.com