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How To Buy a Mac

Best Buy, Apple Store, or Online?

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Apple is back, and it's back with a vengeance!

You have undoubtedly seen the Microsoft ads comparing their pricing to Apple's. Some may see this as a bigger company "picking" on Apple, or a serious threat to iMac sales, but I see it as a sign of strength on Apple's part. Obviously, Apple's iMac is having an effect on the competition to the extent that they feel they need to run attack ads against Apple. Apple's "I'm a Mac" campaign is apparently hitting the competition where it hurts.

Some have argued that this campaign is just an effort to keep Mac users themselves from switching platforms. However, the competition doesn't seem to buy this rationale.

Equally successful seems to be the Apple store concept. Why did Apple open the stores? According to Apple's website, "Apple currently has around 5% market share in personal computers...But that's not enough for us. We want to convince those other 95 [percent] that Macintosh offers a much simpler, richer and more human-centric computing experience."

Apple points out that if just 5 percent of PC users switch to Macs, it will double Apple's market share and equal another 25 million people using Macs.

Apple tried to increase its market share many times in the past. The Performas were one such attempt. Remember those? Okay, you don't, but you could find a Performa at nearly every major electronics retailer. I remember shopping for a Performa at Montgomery Ward's (remember them?) and Sears before finally purchasing one at Office Max. The theory was that if a Macintosh was at every major electronics retailer, people would have a much higher chance of buying a Mac than if they had to drive 25 miles to get one.

Another attempt by Apple to increase its market share was licensing the Mac OS. (The less said about that the better.)

The current philosophy is that the best way to get people to try the Mac is to open Apple stores right in their neighborhoods. Stores that "let people experience firsthand what it's like to make a movie right on a Mac or burn a CD with their favorite music."

Apple has been successful with its Apple store concept. So successful, in fact, that Microsoft is copying them. So what else is new?

But still, that doesn't help much if you don't have an Apple store near you.

I live within five miles of a typical suburban retail shopping strip with a large shopping mall, numerous big box department stores, a Best Buy and other large retail establishments. But no Apple store.

In a bigger market such as the Chicago area, an Apple Store is less likely to take sales away from the local Apple dealers. In a less-populated area like mine, Apple's current licensing agreement with local retailers such as Best Buy prohibits this. So, when my iMac's hard drive fried under warranty, I had to drive an hour to get to the nearest Apple store.

If the Mac store is "out" for many people, how should Mac aficionados by their equipment?

There's the Apple online store, but that has its own set of problems. First of all, you're going to pay sales tax if you buy from Apple. The reason is simple: since Apple has stores in every state (and in many foreign countries), you're basically making a purchase from a firm that exists in your state. Therefore, you have to pay sales tax (sales tax is only waved when you make a purchase from out-of-state).

Apart from sales tax, you're going to pay more if you buy from Apple anyway. Perhaps Apple doesn't want to undervalue its own products or to compete unfairly with its resellers, but Apple's prices tend to be higher than those of third party merchants. Apple usually charges full retail price.

The benefit of buying from Apple is that you can occasionally get customization options that are difficult to find from third parties, such as customized engraving of your iPod.

Then there's Best Buy. It has a Mac department, but the selection tends to be rather small, and have you checked out Best Buy's prices on computer stuff? Much higher than mail order.

That's one reason why InternetMacMarketing.com was started: to help you find the best deals on Macs and peripherals, as well as the more obscure software that is useful to Web marketers.

Here's a final tip on buying a Mac, no matter where from:

Always buy the fastest Mac you can afford.

People often agonize over which of the various choices of their particular model they should buy. My advice is always to buy the fastest Mac you can. I guarantee you will never be sitting in front of your Mac someday and saying to yourself "Gee, I wish I'd bought the slower computer!"

		MAC PRO: FOR THOSE WHO DEMAND SERIOUS POWER It's an open-and-shut case: The Mac Pro is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. Read more



		iPHONE: YOUR "MAC" ON THE GO An always-connected "Mac" you carry in your pocket, the iPhone has GPS capabilities, a camera, Internet connectivity, Safari, the world's best mobile web browser and over 100,000 apps for every purpose. Read more

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