Shame on You, Apple

Yesterday's Apple event included big revelations about the Apple Watch, not the least of which is that the most expensive model will start at $10,000. And that's a shame, writes Robinson Meyer at the Atlantic. Considering that Apple has catered to "misfits and rebels" for much of its almost 40-year history and was fighting off bankruptcy less than two decades ago, this latest move feels "a little different," Meyer writes. During yesterday's event, the Apple Watch was showcased on the wrist of supermodel Christy Turlington Burns, who runs half-marathons around Kilimanjaro when she can get away from her philanthropic work in Tanzania. That's just one example Meyer cites of yesterday's marketing, most of which was "tailored to an aloof elite."

Apple products have never been cheap, but they stayed "within reach of a middle-class American," Meyer notes. But the 18-karat-gold Apple Watch Edition is clearly out of grasp for most. "The prices grate," Meyer writes. "And they grate not because they're so expensive, but because they're gratuitously expensive." As the Edition model will "have the same innards" as the $349 Apple Watch Sport, "the only difference is that Apple is manufacturing a status symbol with the Edition." At TechRadar.com, Michelle Fitzsimmons gets how Meyer is feeling. "As someone who wants access to Apple products yet doesn't have the bankroll to do so, I can't help but feel ignored and pretty put off by Apple's strategy," she writes. Click for Meyer's full piece or Fitzsimmons' column. (More Apple stories.)