Re: memory and Apple marketing

Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
In <fBcFk.42969$rD2.32363@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, E Z Peaces wrote:

I'm interested in an alternate explanation. When I have 300MB free out of 512, response is sluggish. When I have 50MB free out of 1024, response is brisk. The cause doesn't seem to be insufficient available memory.

Unix, at least the variety of Unix that OS X is based on, will try to use all available memory for things like disk caching. So when you've got more memory the OS is using it to make things snappier.

It did seem as if the OS had to consult the HD before performing a simple operation like pulling down a menu from the menu bar. In that case, I would have expected the problem to occur when there wasn't much free memory and not to occur when there was plenty.

Have you ever shopped for a car and noticed that the model you wanted lacked some little feature that people take for granted, such as a dome light? It's not available as a simple option. If you want the dome light you must buy a $3000 package of options or buy a more expensive model. I don't know why a manufacturer would omit such a popular option except to help a salesman persuade a customer to spend thousands more.

I would be extremely surprised if OS X were tuned to be sluggish under a certain amount of memory, but I wouldn't be that extremely surprised if the amount of memory that comes shipped with new Macs is geared toward encouraging people to upgrade.

What we don't know is how many people buy extra memory from Apple. It seems to me that the Mac users will fall into roughly two groups. Those who wouldn't think of adding memory at all and those who would shop around for memory. I don't know how big of a business memory upgrades are for Apple (though their margins must be terrific.)

If the delay was intended, I don't think it was to push customers to buy memory.

I might make an analogy with an ash tray. Suppose it's 1946 and 90% of American men smoke. A customer likes what he has seen of the new Studebaker Skyway, and the dealer advertises an attractive price. On the test drive, the customer discovers that there is no ash tray. He finds it inconvenient to have his ashes fall on his pants and to open the window to toss his ***.

The dealer says a car with an ash tray could be custom ordered from the factory for substantially more money than the showroom model. Otherwise, it is available only as part of a package that includes a radio, dashboard fan, whitewalls, and a pine-tree air freshener; none of which the customer would buy otherwise. It's standard on the more expensive Studebaker Commander.

The customer who finds the lack of an ash tray unacceptable may be persuaded to spend a lot more than he had intended. If he buys it with no ash tray, he may soon forget that the lack of one is an inconvenience. If he buys an ash tray to install himself, it will probably not be from Studebaker.
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