[Macworld]

Post your comments for The Macalope Daily: Taxing analysis here

[zvandiver]

Everyone has to pay taxes to some government, be it local, state, or federal. Only those people who choose to buy Apple products pay the so called "Apple tax". Yes, you may pay a premium for Apple products, but quality is well worth it.
Macalope, please keep up the good work!

[bingethinker]

Apple Tax? Chris Taylor (and his employers) should be more worried about his Credibility Gap. I see no reason to take him seriously ever again, and I question the accuracy and bias of all Reuters content.

[danprime47a]

Why is it when we have nothing else to write about, we have to trot out tired and specious memes from the 1990s and pass them off as "journalism?" I have never once read an article on the BMW tax or the Virgin Airlines tax. There are NEVER articles suggesting that one should forego the BMW tax and buy a Ford. And no one has ever once even come up with the idea of flying Southwest instead of Virgin. So why do we have to continuously have articles written by "journalists" with "opinions" that echo the past; so that we remember and don't repeat? We know Apple products are more expensive. Duh. But I would rather buy something that is well made and more expensive than have to return to the scene of the accidental HP, Compaq, or Dell purchase to have to buy another. Seems to me NOBODY has ever suggested that there is a Dell tax . . . oh wait, they have, it's called having to call Dell Support where you talk to Praneesh in Mumbai, I mean Kevin in Austin, sure. Not that he isn't perfectly lovely; except when he makes elderly ladies sob uncontrollably when he can't solve their problems. Okay. I'm gonna go do something other than preach. Hallelujah!

[liqardliquer]

This guy seems to have been spewing elk pellets every time the Macalope calls him down. They must have a cooler full of sheep dip over a Reuters to raise the ummm lower the level of editing, oh what???? Don't say it... they don't edit, Chris finds his articles on used paper napkins at McDonalds.

[wardoggie]

I thought the so-called "Apple Tax" was the premium we supposedly pay for things like sturdy, milled-from-a-single-piece-of-aluminum cases for our laptops? I guess I need to brush up on my Apple hater memes.

[bassman_michael]

That's the trouble with the intertubes - any idjit with an opinion can blast it loud and strong. And most do! I've stopped reading pieces by "analysts" because, with a few exceptions, they couldn't analyze their way out of a paper bag.

[Hologram]

Re: "For a family with multiple children, each with their own technological needs, the total annual bill can get downright ugly—like going over a familial “fiscal cliff.”"

A cynical person might argue that the "ugliness" is a result of the "multiple children" and not the fault of those who make electronic pacifiers for said children.

[Hologram]

Quote

That's the trouble with the intertubes - any idjit with an opinion can blast it loud and strong. And most do! I've stopped reading pieces by "analysts" because, with a few exceptions, they couldn't analyze their way out of a paper bag.

... and they'd find a way of placing blame on paper bag manufacturers for that.

Paper bags are DOOMED!

[Sigivald]

"add-ons that lock them into the Apple system: iTunes downloads for music"

It is 2012.

Apple hasn't sold iTunes music with DRM for *several years now*.

AAC is a standard format, and iTunes [the software] will convert it to MP3 for you if you want.

Did he just not notice that? It was pretty big news ... in 2009.

[georose]

Apple Tax = Exorbitant Upgrade Pricing

Now Even More Painful With No Option For Later Upgrades Of Hardware

Hard Drives OR Memory - What A Mess

[artMonster]

Actually, “explosive diarrhea” pretty well describes what so many of these pundits are spewing. The Macalope has his hands, er, hooves, full. "In 2011, the average amount U.S. households spent on Apple products was $444." When it hits $666, Steve will be smiling and pundits will be exploding all over the place.

[doglesby]

It would be nice to escape that "tax" by getting content from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Pandora, etc. If only there were a way to download free software to play stuff from those vendors. Then you wouldn't be locked into getting more best-of-breed devices, apps, and content from Apple.

[RipRagged]

We are all just prisoners, here, of our own device. (I hang around for the mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice)