Quote:On Monday, Apple announced a number of products, including the long-awaited Mac Pro follow-up and a new professional display. But what turned people’s heads the most is the fact that Apple thinks you should have to pay $1,000 for a monitor stand. People in the audience didn’t clap when the announcer unveiled the price — they audibly groaned. And Apple doesn’t want people to know that.

The Register embedded a clip of the audience reaction in one of its stories — and Apple killed the video on the grounds that it supposedly infringed on the company’s copyright. As of this writing, the original clip of Apple announcing the $1K price tag that The Register embedded in its own story remains offline.
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That tells you something right there. A VESA mount isn’t a brand name, it’s a standard. Here’s a VESA articulating wall mount intended for up to 39-inch LED TVs. $20 on Amazon. Is the Apple version better? Maybe. Is it 10x better? Guarantee it isn’t. Not when an articulating wall arm intended for 55-inch screens is $30. But by launching two peripherals, Apple creates an illusion that you have to choose between a suddenly reasonable-seeming VESA wall mount at $200 and a $1,000 absurdity. No, the company won’t sell a very large number of display stands/mounts in absolute terms, but every person who ponies up for either the $200 or $1,000 option is handing Apple pure profit.

Of course, some people — even Apple fans dedicated enough to show up to WWDC in person — know a bad deal when they hear it. And that’s why Apple cracked down on a video clip in the dubious name of copyright. The company doesn’t want you to hear that even its own biggest fans know they’re getting screwed.