Apple Has More Cash Than The U.S. Government

[Prey]

Hmmm with all that money, perhaps they use it to pay a FAIR share of taxes?? Instead of hording the cash (psst... you "job creators" need to spend that money to be called that title) and buying other bigger corporations that then intern get to be "too big to fail"

 

[modinn]

[citation][nom]Haserath[/nom]Really? I want to see this laptop. I just went to alienware and apple and built somewhat similar laptops. The alienware cost $300 more for a GTX 460M over a 6750M in the apple...[/citation]

I don't know what Alienware you are looking at.

Standard Alienware M18X - $2000.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m18x/fs

Standard MacBook Pro - $2200

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC723LL/A?select=select&product=MC723LL/A&mco=MjEyOTY4OTQ

The MacBook has 3.4 inches less of screen size at 900p, slower hard drive, and an inferior discreet graphics card. Albeit 200Mhz more on the processor and double hard drive space.

For $200 more! Nevermind the fact that you can add another hard drive to the Alienware by yourself (no need to have a "Genius" do it for you). If I'm going to spend two grand on a laptop, I should be able to have 1080p playback and not have to buy $35 cables that have the same hardware as $10 cables on Newegg to watch it on my HDTV.

Seriously, the upgrade options for the MacBook Pro are ridiculously overpriced. Since when did a 4Gb chip of 1333Mhz memory cost $250?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007609 600000399&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB

Exactly. When you buy an Apple product, you are paying for a name, not the hardware. Look at Abercrombie & Fitch. I bought one T-shirt from there and it cost me $40. I went to Kohl's and bought 8-shirts, 4 polos, 2 bags of socks, and a pair of jeans for $88!!! Needless to say, I enjoy wearing my Kohl's stuff more because I'm afraid the A&F shirt will get ruined....

 

[punchcore47]

Government is not a money making business. They just take your money!

 

[soccerdocks]

[citation][nom]Haserath[/nom]Really? I want to see this laptop. I just went to alienware and apple and built somewhat similar laptops. The alienware cost $300 more for a GTX 460M over a 6750M in the apple...[/citation]

First of all, please include links. It doesn't help if you say things and then don't provide proof. Second, alienware is really not the best example as it is somewhat overpriced, but not as overpriced as apple is in general. Let me offer another comparison in the $2500 17 inch screen range.

Macbook Pro
http/store.apple.com/us/configure/MC725LL/A?select=select&product=MC725LL%2FA&mco=MjEyOTY3MjA

Asus G74SX
http/www.gentechpc.com/showpages.asp?pid=1068
By upgrading to the i7-2720QM and dropping the second 750 gb hard drive the total comes to $2074.

Lets have a look at the results. The Asus is $426 cheaper, it comes with 12 GB RAM (4 GB in the MBP), according to notebookcheck the 560m completely dominates the 6750m, the 750 GB hard drive is 7200 RPM (5400 RPM in MBP), and the one area where the MBP beats the ASUS is in screen resolution with 1900x1200 (1080p in Asus).

I also see no mention of any sort of warranty on the MBP. It seems the only way to get one is to pay an extra $350 for 3 years of AppleCare. The Asus comes with 2 years standard and its only $90 if you want to upgrade to 3 years.

The differences don't even stop there. The MBP also lacks a webcam, USB 3.0, and has so many fewer customization options. I think this post should really show you how much more you pay for that white logo on the computer.

 

[cobra5000]

The U.S. operating cash balance, is not the same thing as these "war chests" companies have saved. Not even close. This article is COMPLETELY pointless. You are not comparing apples-to apples, this is like comparing your monthly RENT to twenty years of savings. I cant even believe how Tom's would propose such an argument. And the comments just drivel down to who makes good laptops? Really?

 

[LORD_ORION]

Reality check: US has a Fractional Reserve Banking System

All US debt is actually the circulating money supply; so what Apple really has is a large portion of the US debt (fiat currency) which can depreciate quickly if the US defaults and has its credit rating lowered.

 

[cobra5000]

Who would even propose that apple has more money than the ENTIRE U.S.A?
That is what this article implies. Governments work in the TRILLIONS, not billions.
THere is nothing here to compare. It is to laugh.

 

[aevm]

[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]Wow that interesting...calling Apple the biggest tech company around....Considering they are ranked by Forbes as the 47th largest company in the world....ignore the fact that IBM is ranked 31st, Samsung 33, and Hewlett-Packard 42...yea just ignore those 3 tech companies....I know it's a quote, but that guy from business insider is an idiot or a Apple Fanboy (same thing).[/citation]

The guy from Business Insider ranked them by market capitalization. Here are some numbers, as of July 29 at 3pm, in billions of US$:

AAPL 364
MSFT 230
IBM 217
GOOG 195
ORCL 157
INTC 119
CSCO 88
HPQ 74
NVDA 8
AMD 5

So yeah, Apple is #1 from that point of view. It's valued as much as Microsoft, Intel, AMD and nVidia together and with a couple of billions to spare. Is that sane? I don't know. Just trying to explain the guy's thinking...

 

[danlw]

Well, technically, I have more money than the US government because I'm not trillions of dollars in debt.

 

[Guest]

I think one of the main reasons people buy macbooks are for their battery life compared to windows laptops. I dont see why because there are plug ins everywhere, but that is the main reason i hear. It is the same with their imacs i think, but this time it is the display.

 

[Montezuma]

Asus, a company that wants customers to pay to NOT install "bloatware". All kinds of awesome.

 

[reggieray]

[citation][nom]The Greater Good[/nom]I think it's clear the US government should take over Apple. BY FORCE![/citation]
Spoken like a true Fascist.

 

[nebun]

[citation][nom]danlw[/nom]Well, technically, I have more money than the US government because I'm not trillions of dollars in debt.[/citation]
the whole country is in debt....if you are an american citizen then your are in debt....sorry to burst your bubble

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]sinfulpotato[/nom]Who cares, Carlos Silm is a human being who has $74 billion. Bill Gates has $56 Billion.Microsoft does a lot more with its money that helps the world, Apple feeds on peoples ignorance.[/citation]
Carlos and Bill do not have that much cash.. Their individual net worth's are 74 or 56 billion but that is not the same.. They would have to liquidate most of their assets to get that much cash..

 

[master9716]

Stupid sheep buying apple products every year just because they think it will make them cool.

 

[Kherberos]

Comparing specs with Apple computers, is pointless. The PC hardware battle is a lost one, it was fought brilliantly and with a lot of fun in the past century, but it's well over. Not because of Apple but because of the consoles. People (young one especially) are used to press the "on button" and to play, they don t care about anything else. Later when they need a computer, they re just not interested in spec either. Apple marketing is really to put the less emphasis as possible on hardware spec ... and precisely this is appealing to a lot of people. Apple is seemingly making the complexity disappear (kind of reassuring) , and people are willing to pay
for that.
I found Apple to be extremely clever by choosing to target the needs of the highest number of people, and not the relatively few with higher demands.
PC spec junky guys, and Apple customers do not live in the same dimension, you are completely alien to them as well !!! So if you want to convince, you first need to understand objectively.

 

[dogofwars]

It really tell where we have our priority!!!

 

[Kherberos]

[citation][nom]whysobluepandabear[/nom]That's one way to view it. This is how I see it however: Apple is nurturing and holding back those from learning and progressing. Essentially, Apple is saying "Pay us a premium, and instead of learning it yourself and actually knowing what you're doing/talking about, you can instead be stuck at a 3rd grade level". To me, that's not acceptable. Apple is a big reason people are so illiterate in general technology that is from here on out the future. This stuff isn't even hard to understand, yet Apple caters to these idiots. Instead of catering, we need to move the bar and expect people to know this simple, and easy concepts. Not prey on the stupid, and charge them a premium for their ignorance. I also think of it like this: "Naw, don't get a college degree - pay us instead and we'll do the work for you; effectively leaving you dependent upon us, and still stuck at a high school grad level".[/citation]


Aaaaahhh ... you are of course right !
This is the flip side of the story 🙂

But big companies like Apple have absolutely no intention of educating people,
first and only goal is : make money.

Then we could enter a philosophical debate about
"Is it because people are stupid that they want dumb solution ? Or is it
because they are given dumb solution that they become stupid ?"
Depending if you are a cynic or an utopian about human nature ...

Like everything in life, the truth is probably in the middle.

This debate could even degenerate down to "Freedom of choice vs. educating the masses"
Very touchy subject.
You see, I think this is one of the reason people are so polarized.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Considering the size of the U.S. debt I am not surprised.

 

[liveonc]

Don't tempt Obama to Nationalize Apple, what are you trying to do, create a new Republic of Zimbabwe? If they privatize NASA, how much would it be worth, but would that be wise? They want small Government, but how small, Anarchy sized? But if you want Communism, you could always "just" Nationalize EVERYTHING... ;-)