Why Apple?
January 06, 2004 | 
7 Comments
I’m not as much of a geek as I may appear on this site. I’m one of those folks that really wants technology to work for me, not the other way around. I don’t obsess over gadgets, I don’t hack my XBOX and I’m a “power-user” of almost nothing.
I love my PowerBook and think it’s by far and away the best computer I’ve ever had. I love my old school 5 gig ipod and I’ve had it for well over a year with no real problems. I’m a big fan of Apple, but it took quite a while.
I’ve been asked quite often why I now prefer Apple. Today I got to thinking why and I think I’ve got the answer.
Apple’s products inspire me to do something. They spark my creativity. They’re easy to use and they help me (and push me) to create things. Web sites, music, movies, photos, and pretty much everything else.
Today’s keynote at Macworld 2004 wasn’t as exciting as last year (and I didn’t follow it live, I had to work and like I said, I’m not really a geek) but there was something that caught my eye.
Garageband is just the kind of product from apple that I’m talking about. I’ve played around with the Propellerhead tools and others like them and found them all incredibly complicated, and probably rightly so — they’re for professionals. Something, when it comes to music, I am not.
Apple’s created a product that is within my reach and one that really has sparked my interest in wanting to make my own music. Much like iPhoto helped me to facilitate my interest in photography.
I got a new found love of Web design when I saw my first Web site on the PowerBook. If you’ve not surfed the Web on OS X you’re really missing out. Web sites look a 1000 times better and really help inspire your designs.
It’s proably kind of like High Definition television.
When I sit down with my Powerbook I get a general feeling of creativity and inspiration that I’d never felt on any other machine. I feel like my design has improved quite a bit (creatively anyway) since I made the switch. Part of this has something to do with the machine itself and part has to do with the OS and all the awesome OSX applications I now use.
It is a bit faster than my last machine. It is lighter and easy to use. These are all great reasons to switch. But for me, it’s about the creative fuel that Apple supplies me.
Why Apple? They help me make things.
Filed under: Macs and OSX
Comments
1. dez said:
“Why Apple? They help me make things.” You know that’s a great slogan. They should pay you good money for that. Maki also came to similiar conculsions in a recent post. Performance tests aside, at the end of the day it comes down to aesthetics and inspiration. I’ve used Macs for over 12 years and only recently purchased a PC notebook for site testing. It made me realise how spoilt we Mac users are when it comes to our web experience.
Posted on January 6, 2004 05:05 PM | #
2. Quasi said:
You’ve summed up what I’ve been trying to say to others for years by saying:
And also this:
Now I’ll just give them a link and let you explain it for me. :)
Posted on January 6, 2004 06:24 PM | #
3. ankit said:
Firstly, I think I would classify myself as a power user. I bought the compaq ipaq simply to install linux on it. I use gentoo linu, and have spent hours to get the printer working properly. I like tweaking things, and opening up stuff to see what is inside them.
But, even I enjoy things that “just work”. I’ve never owned an apple, but the few times I’ve used one have been really enjoyable. I have been thinking of making the switch for a long time. Your post here really wants me to switch to apple even more, but would not be able to afford anything other than the low-end ibooks :(
I’m not all that concerned about the speed. I dont need anything ultra fast or anything like that. The only thing that is really preventing me is the screen size, rather the screen resolution. My Dell 600m has a 1400x1050 screen resolution on a 14” display, and I have come to absolutely LOVE this resolution. I dont know if I would like a 1024x768 anymore. Right now, this looks like the only thing preventing me from ditching the dell (though it is just 3 months old). You say web surfing is really a pleasure. Can you elaborate on that a bit? Dont you think a small screen resolution is a problem (even the 15” powerbook has a lower resolution)?
Posted on January 6, 2004 08:17 PM | #
4. MJH said:
ankit - if youre gonna ditch the dell, i’ll take it. Just send me an email. I’m loyal to that company more than anyone is to apple.
Posted on January 7, 2004 06:26 AM | #
5. Derek said:
I have the 12” Powerbook and the screen size never bothers me at all. With Expose’ it’s extemely easy to manage all of your open apps, even if they are stacked on top of/behind each other. Also with the Powerbook you can hook it up to an external monitor and run a dual monitor setup with the second monitor running at over 2000xwhatever (can’t remember the exact resolution). This way when I’m at my desk with the big monitor I have a ton of space, then when I’m out and about, I have the tiniest laptop possible. It’s a great machine! Best computer I’ve ever owned.
Posted on January 7, 2004 01:02 PM | #
6. Dris said:
I love Apple’s products. Their elegance is just unparalleled. I liked iChat so much more than other alternatives that I switched to AIM from MSN (taking as many as I could with me), just so I could use it (I’m aware of multi-network IM apps, but it’s just too much for me).
I have mixed feelings about GarageBand. It looks nice, and I’ll probably use it at some point (I’d like to try its recording features, though I plan to get ProTools). However, it seems to take a lot from Soundtrack. Here we go:
A friend of mine got the whole FCP package, including Soundtrack. He would spend a half-hour and “make” a song. He used a program built for making short tracks for commercials and background music to create music under his own name, like music one would build an album with. He passes these tracks off as his own with great success, when they’re actually just slightly modified works by actual musicians. Meanwhile, I spend literally hours or days on a single track in Reason, and face great difficulty promoting them (*cough* http://tudris.dmusic.com/ *cough*).
I’m not one to judge what is a person’s music and what is not. It just comes with the feeling that my hours of work are useless.
That’s the same thing I felt about GarageBand. Now people are going to be passing off music with pre-made tracks which, though they can be arranged and changed in many many *many* combinations, aren’t theirs.
This is just a gripe of mine that’s true with *any* loop-based composer. It will be a great program for those just wanting to jam along to a “drummer” and “bassist” on the guitar, and I’d recommend it to the members of my rock band so they can practice on their own and build their musical ideas into audio for use at group practices.
In fact, I’ve gone off on a huge digression. My apologies. :P
Posted on January 8, 2004 02:57 PM | #
7. ste said:
Why else? I’ve seen very few other companies that pay attention to the little details the way that Apple does. From the simple aesthetics of their hardware to the ease of use of nearly all of their software, when I use an Apple product, I just feel like it was designed for me to use it. When I use other products (from Photoshop to Office to my digital camera), I feel like there’s a much larger learning curve. I can’t immediately start creating something with them the way I can with Apple…
Posted on January 10, 2004 11:19 AM | #
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