I think the idea that Apple takes advantage of people at all is a stereotype people use to feel better about not buying apple stuff... Like the console wars.
Mac OSX 10.9 Mavericks is free, and we put it on 4 computers. The last time I bought Windows 8 it cost $250.00 for one license. People should just buy whatever they are happy and comfortable with.
It's not a stereotype, most of their products have a massive profit margin. Which, if you have the money to buy all that, then more power to you. I see though that they realize they can't get away with ripping off professionals, because professionals are too knowledgeable about their field.
the money it costs to get an imac or mac mini, if you use that same money amount of money to build a PC, you will get a much more powerful machine.