“I’m not sure what Apple will charge for OS X Mavericks,” Dennis Sellers writes for Apple Daily Report. “Probably US$20, but I’d love to see the company offer it for free.
“Offering Mavericks for free could be an impetus to ‘go Mac’ for companies and individuals who may be wavering between Microsoft and Apple computer products.,” Sellers writes. “It would also be an attractive move for developers because suddenly developers can depend more on devices having similar operating systems than ever before.”
Sellers writes, “A free Mavericks might sway any fence sitters to fall on the ‘right’ side of the fence (Macs, of course).”
Read more in the full article here.
Everyone who has never run a multi-billion dollar company has an opinion about what Apple should do.
Agree totally. What gets me is the idea of Apple investing their resources to build a better mousetrap and then people wanting it free. SInce when is that fair??
Compare the cost of a Windows and Word licenses and then tell me Mavericks has to be free: TCO is where it’s at.
Do you honestly think that $20 is making a difference between someone switching or not switching to the Mac?!
Exactly, especially companies.
I can about support and longevity of the equipment I buy. $20 doesn’t even enter the arena of consideration, given that the first accessory I buy, like an Apple magic mouse is > $50.
Dennis Sellers should buy me a new car.
If you charge a small amount the purchaser feels it is a very good value for the money.
If it’s free who needs that stopgap OS, I’ll wait for the real thing.
To someone that has never run a company and has no idea how to generate income this would make perfect sense. Who wouldn’t want free software. Unfortunately, unless something has changed, Apple’s accounting structure prevents distribution of free Mac OS upgrades. The author must have run out of iOS 7 topics so wrote about nothing.
icloud for iphone and ipad for free but not mac because you have to buy the os to get icloud on mac
The OS X is free with the new Mac and could be a $5 or $9 upgrade charge for the older Macs to cover royalties that Apple may have to pay. Microsoft will feel the pain no matter how cheep an OS X upgrade is. The Page, Numbers, and Keynote should also have a Microsoft Office crushing FREE or $9 for the upgrade of the set or for older Macs.
Bye bye Microsoft. Your milking cows and golden goose are terminal now. Remember what you did to Netscape? Karma sucks!
Are you saying you prefer Jersey cows over Guernseys? Have at you sir!
Have you ever milked a cow? 🙂
Briefly when I was about 9 or so. I got to drink the milk right out of the cow as well. It tasted like cow.
Why, yes. I have milked cows. And taken them apart myself for burger, too. Jersey milk is richer than Guernsey’s and makes much better ice cream. So there — JERSEY’S RULE!
😆
What? If “someone” decides to switch to a Mac it will come with Mavericks. Give the man a Stupid button.
You sir have a beautiful mind.
I was trying to thing how to phrase this point, but you have done a pithy job of it. Well done.
You’ve discovered a new one for Bill Engvall: You bought a PC with Windows? Here’s your sign!
Someone switching to a Mac wouldn’t have to pay anything because it would come bundled. If they bought now they might get a free (or cheaper) upgrade depending on the dates. If $20 is going to be a kicker then they can either wait for it to come out, or alternatively they won’t get a Mac because they’d be too cheap to start with.
Do these people just pick random words of out a bucket and then cobble together an article to fit the random title?
The upgrade is basically a nominal fee. It’s not like hundreds of dollars with 8 hobbled version of the same silly OS like Windows Crap. Also with Open Office….I don’t need MS unless I’m forced to access SharePointless from IT/CIO MS controlled minions.
There is no such thing as “free”. If Apple gives it away, or sells it for less than cost then the money (resources) has to come from some other source. Where do people get the idea that products can be developed and distributed for free? There is always some cost/benefit balance, monetary or otherwise.
I like the model of paying up front for what I get. I do not like the model of getting something for “free” that ends up compromising my privacy, or drives up the costs of hardware or some other services.
Apple ought to be offering AppleCare for free.
Yes, that’s right. And they should “tax” all of us with $39-79 more in hardware costs to make up for it.
Sound familiar ? 😉
The only reason any product should ever be free is if that is how much it is truly worth.
Apple should make a small profit on its software, not just its hardware. To do otherwise — the “loss leader” retail trick — is a desperate act that is only needed when one is getting creamed in the marketplace.
If Apple wants to move more new Macs where it DOES make profit, it will have to offer more user customization, occasional promotions (i.e., toss in iWork or a printer for free). But don’t give away OS upgrades for free. That does NOTHING to spur new Mac sales.
What an idiot. It won’t make ANY difference as far as someone switching from Windows because if they buy a Mac, Maverick will come on it for free, anyway.
And really? Even in buying a used conputer w/o Macerick, if you let $20 sway your computer-buying decision, then you’re a bigger moron than the author and deserve to be stuck with Windows.
This is exactly what i was going to say. The “price” of the OS is baked into the cost of the Mac. The free/$10/$20/whatever pricetag is for upgrades, which means for people already running Macs who want to upgrade.
There is little to no correlation between the “price” of the OS and switching potential. The only way it could possibly make sense is for people thinking down the line: “Well, future OS upgrades *may* be free, so I can save that money later by investing now”.
In life, there’s no such thing as a ‘Free Lunch’!
And I would love to see Apple offer the new Mac pro for free but Apple is a business and they do things to make money. What part of that does this doofus not understand?
Must be link bait. No one could be stupid enough to think that $20 is what’s stopping anyone from switching to a Mac.
Heck, I think they should *pay* me $20 to adopt it
/s
As long as you’re dreaming, why dream small. $200!
Apple does not sell a Mac and then add on the cost of the OS. Mavericks will be included on all new Macintoshes once it’s released, so if someone currently using Windows wants to switch, they will get it for “free” with the purchase of a new Mac. Only the people who already own a Mac would have to pay for it. The basic premise of the argument is flawed.
Probably waited to the last minute or had writers block. This was just to cover the required assignment.
The cheapskates are coming out of the woodwork again.
Congratulation Dennis Sellers! You are the new “WTF?” Award winner!
If OS X Renegades, or Mavericks, or whatever, has a flat Yogi Bear cartoon style interface, they should pay us.
Doesn’t make sense.
If someone is thinking about switching, they have to buy Mac hardware, which includes the OS.
Unless the person is thinking about on-going upgrades in comparison to Microsoft’s draconian licensing. I am sure that the $20 cost would look attractive anyway. However, it might not be a bad idea for Apple to consider a corporate licensing agreement for companies doing a whole-sale switch. I am sure that if Apple was looking at thousands of computers, especially on some sort of lease or timed replacement of hardware (every 4 years, for example), they’d be happy to throw in the new OS upgrade every year.
That would be welcome, make iWork free too. That would be a full suite of applications along with like free with a mac. $20 is not much but free is always better.
When the right to free speech was written into the constitution the responsibility to tell the truth was ignored. In effect the US constitution guarantees the right to lie. This has proven to be very popular. If you had to guess at the ratio of lies to truth in American media, what would it be? Whatever it is, lying has become an epidemic and you can’t believe anything you read or hear today.
What is more disturbing is that there appears to be no downside for liars. When did you last hear of someone losing their job in the media because they were caught making a bare-faced lie?
Its the same story with other ethical issues. Americans still buy Samsung phones, overlooking the dishonesty perpetrated by the corporation in their theft of IP, cheating at benchmarks and payments to celebrities to tell lies.
The United States is suffering from a plague of liars. Yet no-one seems to care.
Truth was last seen wandering the streets of Duluth, MN, in Dec, 1968. Unfortunately, Truth was killed by the blizzard of ’68…
Should be $99 for all pre 2008 iMacs and free for rest …
With that you have the value image and the feel good image, I’m an Owner of a newer Mac, so I get special treatment ……
Next year release, rinse and repeat …. Or stay with the 2008 date or whatever date you select ….
You advocate practicing arbitrary and obvious price discrimination so that recent buyers can feel better about themselves!?!?!?!
Listen, there’s _one_ Mac community here, and it’s a small world. There’s no need to chop it up. If the hardware runs the OS, then don’t ever artificially cripple the OS to make it incompatible. Are you from Google or something?