Apple’s gravitational field and how I succumbed to it
Thursday, June 17th, 2010 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor
Back in the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton was able to explain the concept of gravity by observing an Apple falling from a tree. Fast forward three centuries and we’re experiencing yet another gravitational pull and strangely enough, there’s an Apple involved.
Until recently, the last time I owned an Apple device was back in 1995. It was a sleek looking grey PowerBook with a color screen, trackball and neatly positioned keyboard that provided a great resting place for your hands. Unfortunately, the company I was working for at the time decided to switch over to PCs, primarily because it didn’t make sense to continue supporting Macs in an increasingly PC world. To be quite honest, it was somewhat of a traumatic experience. How could they possibly do this? Were they insane? Didn’t they know that Apple computers were beloved by their employees? Many of us protested but it was a lost cause. The decision had been made – here’s your PC.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, I witnessed the company release wave after wave of increasingly cool desktop and portable computers that did very well in the marketplace. However, there was little incentive to switch back to a Mac. I was reprogrammed to love the PC and quite frankly, I didn’t have the desire to manage two different operating systems. Not being a big listener of music on-the-go outside my car, even the iPod and all its wonderful permutations couldn’t convince me to take the plunge. Subconsciously, perhaps I didn’t want to jump back into the Apple world only to have to leave it again. So I stood on the sidelines while the gravitational pull got stronger and stronger.
By chance, it was Apple’s lesser known “hobby” device, the Apple TV that sucked me in. I had tried and was disappointed with many of the non-Apple devices that allowed you to view photos and control your music library via the TV. As a last resort, I decided to give the Apple TV a try because the demo in the store looked compelling. Plus it came with an added bonus, I didn’t have to buy a Mac to make it work. All I needed was iTunes.
So when iPass’ IT department came to me two years ago and said, “You’re eligible for a phone upgrade, would you like one of those iPhones?,” I didn’t hesitate because my Apple “infrastructure” was already up and running. Christmas rolled around and iPod Touches popped out of nowhere. Then came the iMac, a must-have for any modern day school kid. What about the iPad? Yup, couldn’t resist.
Now I’ve got my eyes set on the iPhone 4, not necessarily because of its sleek design, front facing camera or improved OS, but because I know its HD video recording will work well with iMovie on the iMac which I’ll enjoy viewing on my HD TV via Apple TV. This symphony of devices all working seamlessly together has enabled Apple to create a unique user experience that transcends any one device and compels you to buy another. This is one of the greater challenges facing Apple’s competitors.
Two years later and I now have a grand total of 6 Apple devices in my home. Never before have I had that much electronic equipment from a single company. I resisted for the longest while but eventually succumbed to Apple’s gravitational field.
Did that happen to you?
Tags: Apple, iPad, iPhone
