Quote: "How glossy is it?"
How glossy would you expect it to be for an Apple product?
But one should consider, glossy screens do have their benefits. Indeed, the glare they produce is crappy, but a glossy screen will generally make the image on a screen "pop" more. Matte screens inherently introduce a (very small scale mind you) amount of blurring, which glossy screens avoid completely. One could also argue that glossy screens, especially non-recessed glass panel screens (as Apple products use) are easier to keep clean (granted, easier to get dirty with things like fingerprints). I think Apple's also been working on non reflective coatings for their screens lately, so they are quite aware of the issue of glare.
Quote: "Indeed, the color reproduction is what does it I think."
Indeed, and general software design. As the guy was demonstrating Pages to me (MS Word equivalent), the software just looked so elegant and smooth, almost like some sort of rich, fattening, vanilla bean ice cream. Windows interfaces tend to be harsh and unrefined. I also read an interesting article which described some of the differences between sub-pixel rendering algorithms used by Windows and OSX. Windows will render text in a manner that avoids blurring at the cost of sacrificing trueness to the typeface, while OSX epitomizes trueness to the typeface at the cost of allowing slight blurring of the text. Picture:
I personally think the OSX text looks better.
Quote: "However, despite all of this, Apple is just too overpriced for me."
I always used to think that Apple was massively overpriced, but upon doing some research, their products have historically been some of the lowest cost options of their tier. For example, early iMacs were far cheaper than comparably performing PCs or performed far better than comparably priced PCs. They were expensive, indeed, but they were competing with (and exceeding the value of) absolute top of the line PCs. iPod was the same -- it was quite expensive, but for the amount and portability of music the device offered, no other device costed less. The iPod lineup has generally maintained that status since. Products like the iPhone are priced comparably to Android phones of similar quality and performance. The iPad may be overpriced for its performance, but its build quality probably exceeds that of any other mainstream tablet.
So I don't think Apple is overpriced per se; rather, they are indeed quite expensive, but they also sell only top notch quality products to a point that said quality fosters good consumer value. Indeed, not everyone can afford their products, and their products are also of little use to individuals who like to have unprecedented control over their technology, But for the average person (who can afford them), Apple products are excellent. That, I think, is their primary marketing strategy, which is ingenious IMO.
"It's upside down so all the electrons are gonna fall out" - Dave Jones, EEVblog
