BS... Deagle, you do not have the faintest clue about what you are talking about. The modern Macs use standard peripherals that are sold throughout the PC industry. It uses the same printers, mouses, input devices, external HDs, cables, memory, etc. Mac Software is competitively priced with PC software. YOU are spouting ignorance.
You sir are making my point! I am saying that Apple owners can upgrade or modify their systems with cheap PC alternatives but do they - hell no, they go to the Apple Store and pay exorbitant prices for the same thing!
That does NOT happen with PC owners because they are much mor aware of prices and alternatives.
I've been a Mac user since 1988, and can honestly say this is untrue. Prior to the advent of the Apple Store, I bought via websites and catalogs, run by companies that also have or had parallel sites or titles for the PC world. You sound as if you're comparatively new on the scene, here. I still buy from these sources for planned purchases, provided that the price is compelling.
I've gone to the Apple Store to check out new products in person. I've gone to the local one to buy something I absolutely *had* to have, right then. But, I still shop prices for planned purchases, just as anyone can and most do.
I view the Apple Store as a necessary development for Apple, in order to reach the buying public in a postiive manner. You may not be old enough to recall, but there was a time not long ago, when whatever mess of a PC retailer that *deigned* to carry Apple at all, stuck it in the back corner of the store, with MS geeks who didn't understand the product at all for clerks. The product was in utter disarray, oftentimes deliberately disabled by PC apparatchiks. It was that bad.
Apple was forced into retailing by this reality. Now, it's such a multi-billion dollar retail phenom that people forget that fact, but it definitely was the case. I lived it.
Now, envision the Windows store, lol. Well, you don't really have to envision it, it's ubiquitous to this day in any retailer that carries electronics.
This is the environment that fostered Apple's wildly successful foray into retailing. This is also the environment that necessitated the Apple Store online, all the online presence and dedicated retail presence that you now want to condemn because it's working so very well.