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This person will be more than satisfied with his no-name box; it runs Windows (or to a lesser extent, Linux) just fine, he can browse, email, play games, it does all what most people want from a computer. Yet, computers like these are available at much lower prices than Macs. With monitors, that is.

My perceived value of a Macintosh is much higher than that of the person I just described (let's name him Bob, for the sake of clarity). Therefor, I am willing to spend more money on it, and as a result, I find it not expensive. Bob, however, when we present him with a Mac (any Mac, Mini + screen/keyboard/mouse, iMac G5, PowerMac) and a no-name x86, the latter available at much lower pricing, sees two computers that let him do the same things, but the x86 at a much lower price. Bob will choose the cheapest one, and will deem the Mac expensive.

An argument brought forth by people who say Macs are not expensive is that Macs come loaded with many interesting software titles, like iPhoto and iMovie, and that these software titles make the Mac prices go up-- but, you're getting something in return. This, again, depends completely on if a customer sees any value in that software. I personally sure do-- but I know my parents wouldn't care about it at all; Windows lets them see and retouch digital photos too, and they don't have a digital videocamera so they can edit digital home videos. So, to them, iLife means nothing. To them, iLife is no justification for spending more cash on the Mac. The same applies to Bob, who doesn't have a digital camcorder either. And there are enough iPhoto equivalents for Windows and Linux.

Income

The perceived value is not all that matters. As I explained, I really find the DB9 worth its hefty price tag. Yet, I do not own one (sadly enough). Why?

I don't make enough money to buy one. Really, I don't (damn it).

Income is the one variable that determines whether or not something is perceived as expensive. I may find the DB9 worth 202 000 Euros, but seeing I don't make enough money to buy one, the DB9 is still expensive to me. Income is a limiting factor.

If I had the money, I'd buy a PowerMac G5. I'm sure many others out there would too. If Bob earns close to minimum wage, he might want that Mac really badly, but he won't be able to buy it. I might explain to Bob all the benefits I found in using Macintosh, but if he doesn't earn enough money to buy one, he will still deem the Mac expensive.

Bob could make enough money to theoretically buy one. However, he can only buy one if he starts spending less on other important expenditures (going out, clothing, music albums, you know). If Bob deems those other expenditures more important, more valueable, than the Mac; then he'll still say that he finds the Mac expensive.

Conclusion

I hope all of you now understand that something's expensiveness or cheapness is not a fact. It's a personal opinion, influenced by many variables, but especially the ones I mentioned in this article. This story was about the Mac, but you could basically substitute it with any other item.

So, from now on, when you are participating in an online forum, or our comment's section, think about how personal the perception of price is. It is not set in stone. It is not a fact.

It all 'depends'.

--Thom Holwerda

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