My boss recently went on a trip to New York to do some filming for work. While has was there he had the chance of visiting an Apple Store. By all accounts they are impressive stores indeed, but by far the most impressive thing? The prices. Now I know that the prices for Apple products here in the UK are higher, but until really looking into it I didn’t realise how much higher they are. It’s horrible. It’s horrible, frustrating, irritating, depressing and unfair. It’s… well, it’s just not on. To illustrate my point take a look at these comparisons taken from Apple’s Web Store…

(these prices use today’s exchange rate on the 5th March 2004 of $1.81 to £1)

	20gb iPod UK Price: £299.00 US Price: $399.00 US Price in GBP: £219.39 Difference: £79.61 ($144.80)
	15″ PowerBook (SuperDrive) UK Price: £1,999.00 US Price: $2,599.00 US Price in GBP: £1,428.95 Difference: £570.05 ($1,036.83)
	Dual 2GHz PowerMac G5 UK Price: £2,299.01 US Price: $2,999.00 US Price in GBP: £1,648.85 Difference: £650.16 ($1,182.47)

As you can see it’s pretty incredible, even after you think about UK VAT at 17.5%, it still looks like if you’re a European then the more you buy Apple, the worse you’re ripped off. I suppose in some sense it’s a testemant to how good the product is that I’m prepared to pay it, but if the prices were the same here, then I’d probably have a Dual 2GHz G5 by now. Oh and an iPod mini, but that’s a different story.

Posted in Ramblings