Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/10/999-monitor-stand-explained.html
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If you want to get mad at Apple, I humbly suggest getting mad at it offering a credit card with a 29% interest rate to buy it with. It’s true that predatory rates are an industry standard, but it’s not an industry anyone has to enter.
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$999 monitor stand explained
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Oh man, I see a new “Hitler in the bunker” meme coming, but omg, that guy’s “laugh” is like nails on a chalkboard.
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All this negative press is going to mean so many more sales of these things. 
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The reaction to this reminds me of the reaction to the gold first-gen Apple Watch; Anna Kendrick posted a snarky tweet about it: “We should be thanking Apple for launching the $10,000 " apple watch " as the new gold standard in douchebag detection.” Pretty sure that Kendrick, as a celebrity, has hung around a lot of other celebrities who wore way more than that in jewelry, if she didn’t do so herself at more than one point, but she got on record as being against that very particular type of conspicuous consumption. That’s what these sort of things end up being: not nearly as important to their ostensible market as they are to people who earn Whuffie by coming out against it. (I saw someone else having a problem with the $6K cost of the new Mac Pro; they didn’t have a response when I pointed out that, adjusting for inflation, it was about the same price as the original 1984 128K Mac.)
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Technically it isn’t Apple charging that as Apple does not actually have a financial services wing. Its Barclay who do the financing and the AppleCard coming soon is technically through GoldmanSachs.
But you are not wrong, Apple could easily have NOT proliferated the credit card predatory tactics.
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I have a 2012 macbook pro. The only upgrades have been to put a 1TB solid state hard drive in it (that cost about 300 bucks). I hook this up to a cinema display i got around 2005. It all runs beautifully. I may not be rendering 4k or more pixar animation every day, but I do work in 600 dpi photoshop files with dozens of layers with zero problems. I think I’m a “Pro” but i have no need at all for these ridiculously priced pro devices. I actually read somewhere that Apple is having a bit of a problem lately with iphones in that it’s planned obsolescence isn’t working so well… people aren’t ditching old devices as fast because they are expensive and work just fine. I still have my iphone 6 that I paid off like 3 years ago and have no plans to upgrade unless it gets smashed by a truck or something. Even then I might consider a used device rather than pay over 1000 for another new one.
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I can see being against the $10k Apple Watch. I have a 1st Gen and it QUICKLY got out of date. It takes 3 minutes to even register a click for START ACTIVITY so its use only as an activity monitor is even lacking.
Someone buying any other $10k watch? That watch is probably STILL worth $10k.
That said, I picked up a 3rd gen Apple watch for $150 two months ago (known as Apple Watch 2 since versioning doesn’t actually work) and it does far more than the 1st Gen gold one.
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I want to party with that guy!
Monitor stand not so much.
Use a fucking tree branch.
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The tree branch might not reach the ‘pro’ target group.
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Are you me? I still have my 2012 MacBook Pro - also upgraded with a 1TB SSD - and still have my iPhone 6, and have zero plans to replace them.
(Especially as I ordered my MacBook Pro with the short-lived ‘matt’ screen, in preference to the shiny and horribly reflective Retina option. I have never had any reflections distract me and can use it in any lighting conditions without noticing. I do also have a 2015 MacBook Air, whose reflectivity does annoy me from time to time. Not having the ‘matt’ option any more is a reason why I will cling on to the 2012 machine for as long as I can. IMHO Apple made too much of Retina at the time and buried ‘matt’, almost guaranteed to reduce orders and ensure its withdrawal.)
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While I totally agree the price is absurd, I am a bit curious if it is all CNCed and if so, what kind of machine time we are talking.
I am on a MacBook pro currenly but they are being fased out with Dells wthin a year 
And not, like, good Dells.
I tried to get them to sell us our old computers, but instead they are just going to sit in a closet until someone throws them away. What a waste.
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Seriously? who cares what an eGPU box looks like. Here - here’s my MacBook Pro with eGPU. What - don’t see it? You’re looking right at it.
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Sort of same here. I upgraded to an iPhone 7 and gave my youngest my 6 when he was ready fro a phone. No plans to upgrade this one until they refuse to support it anymore.
My 2010 iMac still is my main computer for design work or movie/tv watching but doubles as a monitor for my gaming (I finally broke down and built a small desktop PC gaming box: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/vXBbt6).
I can’t with disposable computer/tech equipment and Apple has really soured me on their stuff because of that mentality.
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Cringley predicted Apple would make a strong move into finance this year:
2019 Prediction #1 — Apple under Tim Cook emulates GE under Jack Welch
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Ha! Losers! I’ve got a bleeding-edge 2014 MacBook air and a fully paid off 6S. Eat my processing dust!
/s
Seriously, though. @Jim_Campbell, not having to make phone payments is surprisingly hard to give up. I think I will have to upgrade soon for various reasons (plus, my wife has the XS and goddamn that camera is sweet), but I’m going to be pretty bitter about the phone fee the whole time.
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Oh that guys laugh is just the best! Most ridiculous incredulous laugh I’ve ever heard, you can really sense his bullshit meter spiking, its just delightful.
First honest engineer I’ve ever heard from apple
That man needs to be a meme, asap. his laugh and expressions are hilarious
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As if there is such a thing.
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I won’t be buying unless negative press starts putting a ton of money in my pocket.
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