Christmas in October: Apple has Some Great Prices

Last night I went to the nearest Apple store. The main reasons I had were to get a copy of Snow Leopard for my iMac, and to find out how to get some network information on said iMac at the Genius Bar.

While I was waiting for my turn at the Genius Bar, I was browsing around the store and noticed the prices of Apple products. Most stuff that's in the news I've read focuses around all the new features of product X or Y, but I haven't seen much talking about pricing.

I happened to glance over at a copy of Final Cut Express on the shelf and looked at the price. $199? First thought was: "No. That can't be right." Next thought was, "This must be an upgrade copy." No it wasn't. I was amazed. Just for grins I checked out the price for Final Cut Studio. About a year ago I bought Final Cut Express which was kind of pushing my budget, and back then when I looked at the price of Final Cut Studio (the full blown used by movie studio version), the price was in the stratosphere! Way way out of my league!

But here I was looking at a price of $999. Not super cheap true. But compared to what it used to cost, amazing! What did it used to cost before when I had checked? More than what I paid for Final Cut Express that's for sure! It's been awhile but I'm pretty sure it was over $8,000. More like close to $10,000. I remember how not in my ball-park the price was that I am sure of!

Other things I noticed: MacBooks (not Pro) were $999 . And MacBook Pros way less than they used to cost with more features than before. Apple has had a reputation for having computers that are more expensive than PCs. This reputation just might be coming to an end.

iLife used to be $99, and iWorks was $99 dollars as well. But they had this nifty package that included the latest version of iLife and iWorks and Snow Leopard for $169. Sweet!

So, I ended up leaving the store with the iWorks/iLife/Snow Leopard box set, Final Cut Studio, a small cable from "Monster" allowing me to plug my iPhone into my car's stereo system, and a big kid-like smile on my face! It was the best Christmas ever! Oh wait! It's not actually Christmas is it. LOL. I think this holiday season Apple is gonna sell allot of stuff and gain even more market share.