Why is buying RAM from Apple like buying a ham sandwich at the airport?
Correct me if I am wrong, but every human has an innate ability to estimate the worth of a ham sandwich. I mean, if someone handed you one, and you were from Albania, and had been here for two days……even with your sketchy idea of the conversion rate, you probably wouldn’t think it costs $12. Right?
So today I am looking at pricing in an immanent purchase of an iMac for our home audio/video editing needs. I look at the drop down menu for RAM, and see this:
Now I know not everyone knows what RAM is worth these days, but something tells me that if you were looking at a new computer, and the computer you were buying @ Best Buy was $400 with 1GB of Ram, simple math might lead you to the following results.
| Apple 3GB Ram Upgrade = $500 |
| $500 / 3 = $166.66 |
| $400 - $166 = $234 |
| CPU, HD, Video, Optical, Sound, Motherboard, Case, Power Supply, Windows, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers = $234, or an average of $18 per component |
| All other components = $18, Ram = $166 |
| Hypothesis? RAM = GOLD |
Now I love to joke, but it’s no joke that I just bought 4GB of Ram for one of my computers at Fry’s for $78. That’s right, ALL 4 GB for $78! That’s $19.50 per GB, very close to the $18 that all the other components average.
So tell me Apple, where in the hell do you get your RAM prices from? Maybe you should start selling it at the airport where all the stupid people buy ham sandwiches.
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Buying RAM from the Apple web site is exactly like buying a ham sandwich from the airport - it costs more because it’s a heck of a lot more convenient than the alternative. For example:
Ham sandwich: Leave the airport, go across the street, buy a ham sandwich, go back into the airport, get screened by security again, etc.
iMac RAM: Buy much cheaper RAM, install it yourself.
For many of the kinds of people that would buy an iMac, popping it open to make a hardware upgrade is about as inconvenient as giving yourself open heart surgery, so they’re willing to pay a little more to avoid that… and Apple knows it.