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I’ve been looking into the potential of switch to a Mac over the last couple of days, what I don’t get is this:

The Apple Store (Australia) – Mac Pro

vs

The Apple Store (U.S.) – Mac Pro

WTF?!?!

Using xe.com (conversion rate of 83c), the same Mac sold in the US is $3,002 AUD. So why does Apple sell it for $3,999, 33% higher? even if we allow for 10% GST it still only brings it to $3,300, not $4k.

At $3k it’s reasonable buying, at $4k it’s not.

It’s the same across the board.

A Refurbished Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz Intel Xeon:

US: $2199 USD/ $2640 AUD Australia: $3359 AUD/  $2796 USD

Does anyone know how to import them into Australia directly from the States or can recommend a company that does ship them here? Even with customs duty they’d still work out cheaper.

This is extremely good news:

TiVo, the time-shifting digital video recorder that became a household name in the US, will come to Australia in 2008.

For a small subscription fee plus the price of the hardware, Australians will be able to pause live high definition TV, fast-forward ads, record shows and series from any of the free-to-air digital TV channels, and access broadband content such as video-on-demand.

The company today announced a partnership with the Seven Network, which will build the digital platform behind the service.

Seven CEO David Leckie said the move would “vastly extend” the overall viewing experience of television viewing.

I unplugged my MCE box and substituted it for a Zensonic High Def Media player/ DVD player when I bought my Sony Bravia 40″ X Series but I miss the functionality of being able to record TV…and obviously having an proper, working Australian EPG will make TiVo a killer app.

The SMH reports on a Choice survey of Australian flyers that rated Qantas as the worst international airline flying out of Australia and 3rd out of 4 domestic airlines, the Qantas owned Jetstar coming 4th.

According to radio reports Australians fly Qantas out of habit, and the frequent flyer program and safety record also help.

The real shocking thing is that Qantas is acting all surprised and quoting other surveys to belittle these survey results. Memo to Qantas: you’ve been crap for years. You’ve never listened to your customers before so there’s no great surprise that you’d ignore them now.

I only fly Qantas domestically myself due to the full in-flight service and frequent flyers, yet if there was another Ansett in terms of choice I’d never fly Qantas again (and indeed, when there was Ansett I never flew Qantas then). I also try to avoid Qantas on overseas flights as well. Where do I start? Rude staff, never, ever on-time, crap in-flight seating and service…fly Cathay Pacific and you’ll see the difference and what a decent airline can deliver.

It’s also why I never got the whole populous outrage thing that went on when Qantas was subject to an overseas takeover offer. Good old fashioned xenophobia at work when we all know Qantas needs a serious kick up the arse, and certainly new owners couldn’t do any worse.