MS brings out "Apple Tax" again

Some funny news popped up about the long running Apple Vs. PC debate.
This time from the PC based Microsoft. It seems the Marketing gang have pulled the "Apple Tax" Debate out of the closet and after some dusting off put it out for general consumption.

The argument goes something like this:
If you buy an Apple, you pay more for less.
Less what? You may ask. Well for less power, storage, software, peripherals and (according to MS) free will.

Ina Fried over at CNET does not see it quite this way, but if you read carefully she appears to be caught up in the Apple rhetoric and may actually believe that people want to pay more and get less. Ina Also fails to realize that Developers cannot truly "write whatever program they want" for the Mac or the iPhone. The Jobs Mob has the final say over what can and cannot be used on the holy platform.

This is why there are JailBreak apps available for the iPhone.

Read more here.

I made the argument when Microsoft first brought up the concept that, if it is a tax, it is a tax that a growing number of buyers seem willing to pay.

Brooks said on Monday, though, that he expects the weakening economy will limit the number of people willing to pay more for a computer.
"More and more people are going to be scratching their head and say is that a tax I am really willing to pay," he said.

He noted that the tax isn't just about the higher sticker price, but also about the lack of choice that Mac users have. Certainly there are fewer hardware options and the Mac software aisles remain far narrower as well. Brooks also tried to position the Mac as less open, pointing to the iTunes App Store as an example of Apple forcing a "walled garden" on users. Were he to be comparing the iPhone and Windows Mobile, he might arguably have a point, but last I checked developers are free to write whatever program they want for the Mac.