I’m Not An Apple Fan

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I’m Not An Apple Fan

Until I came to Fresh Consulting in January of 2009 I had always used a Windows PC or laptop. In the workplace, at home, on the road I relied on Windows machines from Dell, Toshiba, Fujitsu and things worked ok … most of the time. Oh, there were the occasional hiccups like device drivers not liking other devices,  home networking problems, memory issues with not enough RAM or ROM which, on occasion, made me want to RAM something right through the ROM (if I could find it) and so on.

But, I accepted these issues along with my peers. We bemoaned these issues together occasionally and these topics gave us propeller-heads something to talk about at family gatherings.

Then something happened that changed everything. I got an iPod. Little did I know what troubles would shortly face me…

I discovered that I REALLY liked this Apple-thingy. Even the packaging was cool. The interface was simple and elegant. The battery-life was great & I could store all my music in one place. Hmm … this is interesting.

You know what happens next, right? How many of us have gone through this same process?

- Buy an iPod
- WOWED by the iPod
- Hmm … now a cel phone that’s also an iPod? Okay, I’m game – bought an iPhone & became one of the “cool kids.”
- Dang, this iPhone thingy has TONS of cool apps and more every day.
- Bought a MacBook Pro (for my wife … I was still a PC guy dang it!!)
- Now have my own iPhone, iPad, iPod and MacBook Pro

Once I came to Fresh and got the MacBook Pro I still thought, “Yeah, but on the PC you can do …” whatever I thought was important.

I have had a huge paradigm shift! I’m writing this post on my MacBook at my in-laws dining room table with the Christmas tree to my right, The Carpenters Christmas album playing over my mother-in-laws iPod Speaker System, and the photos are all from my iPhone.

People – Macs have taken over my life. To wit:

- I check my iPhone for email and Tweets every morning.
- Mrs W and I play Cribbage via our iPhones & on iPad before heading to bed at night
- We’ll watch Netflix or stream Pandora regularly
- We use iTunes to play Christmas tunes
- I read periodicals for work via iPad
- I used the new iPhoto to tag hundreds of faces in photos last night – easy-peasy and helpful in getting organized
- Our nieces in CA called us via FaceTime using their new iPod Touches … at 4:30 am (they were so excited)!!
- Our baby learned to crawl to get to an iPhone
- At a family Christmas Party last night everyone was gathered around an iPad … almost a perfect, post-modern Norman Rockwell moment

My Mac boots up from a cold start in under 1 minute. All the devices work seamlessly with all the other Apple devices.

Yeah, I’m not an Apple fan at all. I’ve become an Apple Enthusiast.

  • http://pungle.org Justin Hammack

    I’ve seen a lot of people do that.

    I think if I had the disposable income, I would probably be an Apple Enthusiast too, to some extent.

    I dunno, I think maybe I’m a hybrid. I love or die by my android and my PC desktop, but use a macbook and ipod. I’d like an iPad..

    I just haven’t seen an apple that did desktops better than a PC (or vice versa for that matter). I think they are the same, it’s a matter of familiarity and convenience. If apple made some changes to their OS, I’m sure they could convert me full time. (and I’m certain they will make the change, it’s only in their best interest)

    Anyhow, I think pretty soon it’s just going to be ‘computer’ – the apps will be platform universal. So it’s a safe bet by apple to focus on packaging, user interface and brand.

    • http://twitter.com/mikewhitmore Mike Whitmore

      Hey Justin, great feedback and at Fresh we tend to use Macs although we run Windows OS and dual boot. Well, I should say my delivery team does – I’ve not tried that. I do have the Microsoft Office 11 for Mac and like it so far, though I’ve only had it a week or so.

      There was a learning curve, but I’m converted now. :-)

  • Ammon

    Your photo on the top isn’t showing up right now on my PC. hmm
    http://screencast.com/t/HrsuDDcO

    -Ammon

    • http://twitter.com/mikewhitmore Mike Whitmore

      It’s should be there now Ammon andhey, Happy New Year my friend!

  • http://twitter.com/KristaVanVeen Krista Van Veen

    Mike –

    I have to 2nd that emotion! I’m an iAnything enthusiast.

    When I purchased my MacBook Pro over 2 years ago, I also purchased the weekly classes for $99/year. This was the best investment because as others have pointed out, Macs are expensive and I wanted to get the most from my investment. Best $99 ever spent.

    The iProducts interface incredibly. I also notice that I can sit down at another person’s Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. and start working without wondering how they have the thing configured. The products are somehow ‘adaptable’. No other way to describe it.

    I’m on a new PC at the office. It’s nice. Yet I still wish I had the Mac at the office. Nothing beats it.

    Thanks again for another great post!

  • Paul

    I get both why there are 2 different experiences in PC and apple. The difference of a PC is a way to use technology, and apple is an expeirence created by someone who thinks they know how you should enjoy technology. It means when you use a PC, you have to start with skill, whereas an iphone/pad/pod can be used by anyone (including my mother), who is willing to pay for it (where my mother wont pay for it).

    I understand the purpose of iphone/pad/pod as 1) a way to ensure apple/jobs gets his cut on my enterntainment dollar, 2) dumb down your entertainment so anyone can have fun with well engineered devices, 3) rid the world of freegans (file sharing vampires).

    However in my professional work, the PC is the king of number crunching and have yet to see anyting apple that can pivot and analyze numbers like a PC. When you need to design something, use an apple, which is fine. When you need to make a numbers based decision, you have to dust off your PC and run pivot tables.

    The PC is your solution if you need to truly own the exprience or run a compliance based business (health care, finance, banking, legal). So, when you delete a file or turn off your PC, it really is off.

    I own an ipod, or my wife does, I just play music on it. And I own 2 PCs, a Droid and windows phone. Yeah, the windows 6.1 phone sucks, the Droid rocks. And the PCs are dated… and are headed shortly to landfill. Far as the ipod, i dont like giving jobs money, and so far only spent $32 on games and music. I prefer to give my money to the record companies and own a CD.

  • http://twitter.com/DigitalKel Kelly

    Amazing how quickly someone can go from 0 brand love to enthusiast. So much for the brand funnel! (PC to Mac Air. No looking back)

  • Kings

    Hi Mike,

    I have been eating apples since 1959 and started using Apple in 1985, I still have a classic that works! Currently I am working with an iMac on my left used for Skype and Gmail and all other features, I am typing this on my custom build PC that I use for all my MicroSoft programs like Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I use this computer also for games like Call of Duty and Need for Speed.
    On my right is another iMac that I use for programs from Adobe, like Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator and InDesign, but also QuarkXpress. Next to that I have all my music on this iMac!

    I understand your enthusiasm for Mac’s, they have unlimited possibilities, have fun!

    Best regards,
    Richard

    • http://twitter.com/mikewhitmore Mike Whitmore

      Love it Richard! And I think you are in The Netherlands? I lived there years ago and LOVED it!

      And as for Macs – I totally share your enthusiasm. Recently I was on my MacBook Pro, my wife was next to me on hers. We were playing Words With Friends with my on my iPad and she on her iPhone AND we were listening to a talk via my iPhone. Count that as 5 Apple products between us as a couple on one evening. What fun!

  • Kenharvey

    Hi Mike. Found your post via LinkedIn as I was checking out Fresh.
    Totally appreciate your path to transformation. I like to call myself platform agnostic since I use both.

    I manage, crunch numbers and make plans work all day on whatever PC the company gives us. They work. And when they don’t, I call IT Help Desk.

    But when my creatives create, they do it on iMacs. And when I get home, I do my office work on mine.

    I try not to get pulled into the politics and religious animosity which exists between some pc/apple fanatics. I just want whatever machine and tool I’m using to work for me when I need it and want it. And if I have to help myself when there’s no magic “help desk” angel to answer my cries of frustration, I need my computer to be intuitive to make sense.

    And that’s why everytime I’ve replaced my home computer over the past 20 years, I’ve done the comparative research and then spent just a little more money. And I’ve always come away relieved that I went back to the Mac

    BTW – like you the iPod changed the way I listened to music. And now the iPad is changing everything else.

  • Rod Brooks

    Your Mac story is my story too Mike. I think there are many people like us. I tell people that if I was the marketing guy for Apple the tag line would be simple to write… “It just works” – What do you think? Fits right?

    The other day I heard someone say that teens were moving to the Droid in large numbers. Reason? Because when dad comes in and asks his teen how to do something on an iPhone, it isn’t cool for the teen to have an iPhone anymore.

    Oh well. Let the teens suffer. We did!

    @NW_Mktg_Guy

  • http://twitter.com/SMDirectory SocialMediaDirectory

    Welcome to the club. I’ve been using Apple products for more than 25 years. Can’t imagine life without my 13 Macs.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Negroni/611607010 Jon Negroni

    You had me going there…very entertaining article!

  • http://www.geekometro.com E3PL

    Nice article from an “Apple Enthusiast”, and you have good points, but this article is perfect for the Windows Vista era, not the Windows 7 era. I’ve been using the same laptop for about 2.5 years (Gateway Nv52) running on W7, and I usually use: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop , etc. I can run ALMOST every good game that’s available for PC, and it works very well without a problem, and without freezing or RAM problem. 

    iPods, iPhones and iPads are great, but come on, iOs has the same Appearance since the first version, it turned from “WOW” to “WN?” (What’s New). you can do the same things with android, and you have more choices (Galaxy SII, Razr, Galaxy Nexus, HTCs, etc…)  

    And now we have Windows Phones that runs faster than Android and iOS with only 1 core processors and less specs, and you can do even more things than iOS.

    and  non-apple products cost almost half of the apple things 
    Don’t get me wrong, I do think apple products are GREAT, but not as apple enthusiasts think