Interesting thread. I'm not sure anyone can be constructive about a destructive topic.
I don't think Apple products are a valid comparison. I've known people in Apple and friends of mine have friends who work there. The people in Apple are very
very dedicated to making high-quality products and not just shoving generic components in boxes as cheap as possible, which has become the norm in the PC industry (and as for the price discussion, you are buying the OS and other Apple software with the product, not just the hardware). The only thing I've seen Bose dedicated to doing with their speakers is shoving cheap parts inside boxes, then spending their money on advertising and fancy demo rooms that are set up to sound impressive for potential customers. Sure their noise-cancelling headphones are the best out there, but that is because they have it patented, so no-one can make noise-cancelling headphones that are as good!
The thing is, I'm sure Bose and Monster are capable of designing and making great gear, but, in many cases, they've decided instead to make fancy-looking and mediocre gear that is heavily marketed instead. Skullcandy have gone in the right direction hiring somebody to design great-sounding headphones and the results so far have been good.