Are people seriously saying the Mac is actually a great value?
For the same price of a 27" iMac, which is $2000; you could build an insanely powerful PC that blows away the iMac easily.
To top it all off, if you love OS X so much you can just install it on your PC.
Apple grossly overcharges for their Macbooks and iMacs and even iPhones/iPads to a lesser extent; it's part of the reason why they make such a huge profit on every item they sell.
Yes, you've "uncovered" the Apple tax. Apple products are luxury items, and not meant to cater to low end. What you may be failing to consider is the intangible things you gain w/ the Apple tax.
Yes, with $2000 I could build a awesome PC but it would also cost me time, peace of mind, and frustration. I'd have to research which parts are compatible, learn how to hack the software, physically put the thing together, troubleshoot any problems, etc...
Or I could plug in the iMac's power cord.
In economics, which is the study of human decisions we compare things not with currency (as you seem to want to do) but by something called utility.
So the real comparison is something like:
iMac + support ...
Vs.
Hackintosh - time - effort ...
You're arguing solely that the performance of a $2000 hackintosh is greater than the performance of a $2000 iMac. And you're right! I don't think anyone is arguing with you on that.
But if you cannot acknowledge the other factors in the utility equation you will never understand why one chooses what they do.
Also, everyone has a different utility function. Some may value certain things more than others.
For example, why would I choose an iMac over a hackintosh? Because I don't want to part out a machine, have to build it and fight with it every time the OS is updated. The time and effort I save by not doing that is worth just as much utility as the increaased performance of the hack.