Salon: Why is Apple fading?

[dballance]

4. Because the "Cool Factor" of having an Apple device has faded

People are waking up to the fact that paying a premium price for an Apple device isn't worth it. The Android tablets do probably everything anyone needs to do and cost half as much as an iPad. The smart phones other than the iPhone do everything a person needs to do and cost much less than an iPhone.

People will vote with their purse strings.

I do love my Mac Mini over my Windows 7 computer. It's far easier to use and I'll keep it and my Macbook Pro Laptop. However, I don't have unlimited funds. So I will have to take cost into consideration as I purchase new devices. That's why I purchased a Google Nexus rather than an iPad. It met all my requirements and cost half as much as an iPad. I don't get any sort of "hard-on" by wielding a device with an Apple on the back of it in public.

Sorry Apple, you've outlived the "cool factor." Your devices are all over just like any Microsoft or, say, Motorola device (remember when the Motorola Flip-Phone was the thing?) People have started judging devices on their utility and cost now. We did have that "Great Recession" you may remember when people no longer had free-flowing funds.