If you had bought Apple stock instead of an iPod back in 2001, you’d be about $10,000 richer. According to an assessment by Kyle Conroy, you’d be a few times richer if you bought Apple stock instead of Apple gear on day of launch. What does this say about us, as consumers? That we’re ravenous fools intent on spending ourselves into oblivion? Pretty much.
The highest bit of profit comes from the Apple PowerBook G3 250 released in 1997 on the cusp of Apple’s turnaround. If you invested the $5,700 you paid for that laptop into Apple stock, you’d have made $330,000. However, to be fair, the productivity gains you probably experienced thanks to a laptop in those days may have made up for the initial purchase price.
Regardless, let’s take this lesson to heart: instead of pressing “Buy Now” on Apple.com/store, let’s try pressing “Buy Now” on Ameritrade every once in a while. Your wallet will thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an iPad 2 to buy.