You can be an Apple user and not be in the Cult of Apple

Ron and I have been geeks for a long time, and I remember way back when we first were together, my aunt and uncle showing me their Apple computer.

Weird. Boxy thing. Rainbow logo. You could point and click and pictures and stuff and not type things in. Huh. That was cool.

Fast forward through the debacle of Windows versions and our Linux usage. We are super geeks after all, of course we forayed into Linux.

All that time I would look at Apple from the outside and think they were shiny and overpriced.

Meanwhile, I was realizing buying cheap goods multiple times because they wore out wasn’t working. Shoes, appliances, clothing, toys. Stuff.

While working at Copyblogger doesn’t mean Apple use is mandatory, I did get a Mac Air. Ron got a Macbook Pro. Recently I got an ipad.

We LOVE them. I mean, unabashedly LOVE. THEM.

Thought Steve Jobs was pretty smart. Didn’t like him much as a person. Not into the cult of Apple itself.

But we can and do appreciate good design. I cna also say the last two laptops we purchased before any Mac products did not last six months before things like missing keys and wonky behaviour. If anyone remembers me from WC NYC and my little netbook, that thing bricked at about a year. Nice doorstop.

Ron has some minor fine motor skills issues and on a Mac laptop, the usability is such that navigation is *easier* on a Mac than any other laptop he has ever used.

The ipad? Took my 2 and a half year old granddaughter minutes to use. We got her family their own for Christmas, and I heard the other day she saw her daddy (our son) do the five finger swipe maybe twice, and now rage-quits with a five finger swipe when she gets frustrated with an app. 😀 Oh snap! On the positive side, watching her read along to stories and do shape games is mind boggling. Can’t wait the see HER future.

I thought I would use the ipad as a second screen, but honestly I actually like using it as a single task device. Mostly leisure, and yes I do wind up troubleshooting help desk tickets on it as well. (“Why does ny site not look right on the ipad?” Oh here, lemme check..) And I habitually have multiple windows open on my Air.

So yes, we like them. We just bought a new Air for one of our daughters, upgrading her from a $500 two year old craptop. Three times the price yet I know it will last three times as long (or more) with far less issues.

How is liking well-made easy to use durable products a cult? I mean, we’re not out there oogling the next announcements because we’re not interested in getting the latest and greatest of everything all the time. We just wan Things That Work and Work Well.

We found them.

No shame in that.