Apple releases $300 book containing 450 photos of Apple products

[Belgarathian]

Ah, guys... This is an artwork book or design book, as far as these things go that's pretty reasonable. I've got architecture books for Frank Lloyd Wright that were a lot more expensive than this...

[spartaman64]

2 hours ago, Masada02 said:

 

Art is purely subjective so its hard to put a value on it in the first place. Hell, have you seen those plain white paintings that sold for something close to 100 million dollars? Art doesn't make sense.

you can put a value on it if you know what good art is. which i admit i dont know because i dont study art but i do know that taking pictures of devices with nothing else is not art. or else i can take pictures of my laptop against a white background and charge 20 dollars for the pictures

[spartaman64]

1 hour ago, Belgarathian said:

Ah, guys... This is an artwork book or design book, as far as these things go that's pretty reasonable. I've got architecture books for Andrew Lloyd Wright that were a lot more expensive than this...

those are to teach you architecture and are well thought out by an architect this is just some random pictures of electronics

[Masada02]

1 minute ago, spartaman64 said:

you can put a value on it if you know what good art is. which i admit i dont know because i dont study art but i do know that taking pictures of devices with nothing else is not art. or else i can take pictures of my laptop against a white background and charge 20 dollars for the pictures

You can do that, there's nothing stopping you. Have you seen what constitutes as "modern art"? My point here is that absolutely anything can be art, there is no limit to what art can be. Therefore Apple's (not so great) book is absolutely art. And the value of "art" is purely in the eye of the beholder. While I personally wouldn't pay $300 for a book, I guarantee that someone else will; and in their mind they will own a $300 piece of art.

[Space Reptile]

5 hours ago, Dogeystyle said:

"Actually pretty good value" 

 

- First year university students 

worth 50 cents after 2 years when you return it 

[spartaman64]

3 minutes ago, Masada02 said:

You can do that, there's nothing stopping you. Have you seen what constitutes as "modern art"? My point here is that absolutely anything can be art, there is no limit to what art can be. Therefore Apple's (not so great) book is absolutely art. And the value of "art" is purely in the eye of the beholder. While I personally wouldn't pay $300 for a book, I guarantee that someone else will; and in their mind they will own a $300 piece of art.

ok anything can be art but there is good art and bad art. normally i dont know what is good art or bad art because i dont study art but i can tell that this isnt good art because you can find pictures like this in a micro center catalog paper and i dont see anyone arguing that that is art and is worth hundreds

[ATFink]

I personally find $300 for a picture book outrageous, but obviously it wasn't catered to me. It's not like Apple is forcing this book on people, they are simply offering it to those that want to buy a copy.

 

I don't see anything at all wrong with this offering because it comes down to the consumers choice about whether or not they want the book. Seriously, it's not like they are forcing you to buy it. If you don't want it, don't get it. It's really not that hard.

 

That being said I found it amusing that Apple is selling a book with the same profit margins as their laptops!

[Phate.exe]

If it had more detail on the design process (early sketches and prototypes, etc), in addition to the final showcase pictures, I could actually see this being worth a decent chunk of money.  It would then also be much longer, but it would be more interesting from an industrial design point of view.

[79wjd]

35 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

ok anything can be art but there is good art and bad art. normally i dont know what is good art or bad art because i dont study art but i can tell that this isnt good art because you can find pictures like this in a micro center catalog paper and i dont see anyone arguing that that is art and is worth hundreds

I went to the MOMA (museum of modern art) one year, and on exhibition was a T8 hanging diagonally on a wall. There is no such thing as "good" or "bad" art. Now you can argue that a fluorescent fixture hanging diagonally on a wall isn't art (and I'd personally agree), but clearly the curator of the museum, who is far more knowledge than either you or I, thought it was. 

[Doobeedoo]

Buyers will just confirm how people are stupid as fuck in general.

[79wjd]

Just now, Doobeedoo said:

Buyers will just confirm how people are stupid as fuck in general.

And stupid comments like this will just confirm how closed-minded some people are. 

[iDeFecZx]

Wait, is it literally just a picutre book?

Fuckin mental

[tlink]

6 hours ago, MrE said:

Is it expensive, yes, would I buy it, no .. I don't care for books.
However, the price is not as bad (still expensive sure) as you guys circle jerk about.

They are catering to the same people who would pay a few 100 usd on books of art and what not.

Now I am not saying that means their book is art, but merely that the market is clearly not you but that expensive books containing just picture is a thing...

 

EDIT: looking into this thing further, it does look like it is high quality paper and printing. Those things are not as cheap as you might think (depending on the GSM, coating etc.). That is, if it is high quality material etc. I did not spend enough time to dig into this... because frankly .. its a book.

 

EDIT 2: Just to be clear, in case that somehow was not obvious already. 300 USD for a book with picture, from a tech company, sure that is in my opinion expensive. I would never and could never justify such a purchase. But some people can and will, because they put value into these in ways some/most of us dont.
Why does some paintings sell for stupid money? Because for some people they have that value. Why would anyone buy this book? Because some people think it's worth the money.

Instead of bashing anything (in this case apple) which does not pose a certain value to you, it does not mean that is how everyone should or does think. Instead, try to understand the reasoning (or insanity in some cases) behind it. Don't fall victim to confirmation bias and circle jerking.

high quality art printing does not cost that much, my dad is an artist and can teach any art subject on an university. my parents their home is literally filled with art books and none of the picture ones costs 300 dollar, at most 200 and that one is literally 150 pages. this literally is for pseudo art collectors.

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

at most 200 and that one is literally 150 pages.

This one is 450 pages (presumably anyway -- each preview seems to show one picture per page and there are 450 pictures).

 

Also, the smaller one (10"x13") is $200. 

[tlink]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

This one is 450 pages (presumably anyway -- each preview seems to show one picture per page and there are 450 pictures).

i meant physical pieces of paper, and that one is way smaller its a2 format.

[Arri]

Apple releases a sub $500 mac book and people are still complaining. smh!

[VerticalDiscussions]

I mean, it does have a lot of art pages, but the thing is, it doesnt show concept art nor the creation process of these devices (something really cool they implemented before), like the Apple Watch edition booklets show (Im assuming this, since none of us have an official PDF of the whole book, which shouldnt be happening either, because Apple). Know what would make it worth it?

 

If it came in an Apple carrying leather bag, a 100$/€/£ gift card for usage in Apple store and the actual hard shell of the book was made of genuine leather, signed by the authors and a velure page separating strip, then totally worth it

[Doobeedoo]

35 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

And stupid comments like this will just confirm how closed-minded some people are. 

You must be joking? So you will buy that? You're definitely open minded for companies sell you shit, and make you pay. 

[Bouzoo]

2 hours ago, Belgarathian said:

Ah, guys... This is an artwork book or design book, as far as these things go that's pretty reasonable. I've got architecture books for Andrew Lloyd Wright that were a lot more expensive than this...

Which ones? 

[79wjd]

3 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

You must be joking? So you will buy that? You're definitely open minded for companies sell you shit, and make you pay. 

No, I won't buy it. But that doesn't mean someone else isn't willing to. No one is forcing anyone to buy this. But if someone wants to buy it, then that is there CHOICE. 

 

I also would never buy an E-Class Mercedes. Does that mean that Mercedes should stop making them? After all, the E-class is a pretty bad car considering the cost and that there are far better options in that price range...... Or how about all the "Designed by Porsche" products? Should those not be sold either? There is nothing wrong with producing a product that someone is willing to pay for.

[Eroda]

G4 Cubes were so cool i remember a teacher got one brand new in high school man it was fast as. but that was really before apple shoved its own head up its arse because $299US for a Book is outrageous

[Doobeedoo]

9 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

No, I won't buy it. But that doesn't mean someone else isn't willing to. No one is forcing anyone to buy this. But if someone wants to buy it, then that is there CHOICE. 

 

I also would never buy an E-Class Mercedes. Does that mean that Mercedes should stop making them? After all, the E-class is a pretty bad car considering the cost and that there are far better options in that price range...... Or how about all the "Designed by Porsche" products? Should those not be sold either? There is nothing wrong with producing a product that someone is willing to pay for.

Wow, is that your argument really? Because it's totally comparable, be it to something else or "someone else will buy it", try harder, and cut the bullshit with "choice" garbage everyone says everywhere cause they can't say anything meaningful and try to defend something that makes no sense just for the sake of it.

[VerticalDiscussions]

"also documents the materials and techniques used by Apple’s design team over two decades of innovation."

 

Is this theyr way of saying they explain how its made :/? Oh damn, sorry about that then .-.

[Bouzoo]

I've got to say the price is too high imo, I don't find the argument that it is justifiable because it has a lot of professional photos to hold water. Mainly because I've bought books with high quality professional photos, like Meggs' History of Graphic Design, 6th Edition, which costs a lot less but has more than 1,400 high quality pictures. Smaller pictures than Apple pictures yes, but a lot more pictures with a lot more pages.

But I am not surprised about the price to be honest. To be frank I know 1 or 2 people that might actually buy it. 

[Centurius]

Yeah while I agree it's a ridiculous product, I recommend anyone complaining about the price looks at some of the photography books on Amazon. Stuff for collectors isn't cheap.