I remember when I saw my first Mac. My wife had received it as a reward for doing some great work for the school district (1990). It came with a bundle of software and a large black and white monitor (Radius, swivel type). Anyway, I learned to use the Mac and found the operating system to be intuitive for the most part. Soon, I was exposed to PC’s at work and I managed the Microsoft operating system.
Fast-forward ten years and at least 10 more Mac’s, my allegiance to the Apple brand was clearly solidified. My loyalty to the brand gave me a sense of pride in knowing that "my company" (Apple) was the designer of the most popular and interesting machines of our time. They (Macs) may have not have been in every home, but the attention to design; the high cost; the exclusive software packages; and the creative users that owned them; gave me more satisfaction as a Mac person. Even as the Apple Company was facing extinction years ago, I wondered how could a machine designed so well be dismissed? The rise of the company and the introduction of the iPod brought many new converts to the community of “well designed things”. Today the Apple logo thrives and is as “cool” as ever.
Streaning Star Trek: Insurrection Full Movie
6 years ago
1 comment:
I've had an interesting experience with this particular example of brand identification. After using PCs since I was old enough to sit in a chair and reach the keyboard, I bought my first Apple product in March of 2005 - a 40 GB iPod Photo. I'd used Apple IIs and Mac Classics in school and had not been impressed, but I was surprised how quickly I became attached to my iPod. After my laptop imploded in a flaming heap of spyware a few months later, I wanted nothing to do with Windows XP - so it seemed natural to head back to the Apple Store and pick out a PowerBook G4.
When my PowerBook started having issues with its power supply just before I came to SJSU, it did not occur to me to replace it with anything other than a Mac. My husband tried to point out that a PC laptop would be cheaper, that Windows and browser technology had become more secure since my bad experience - but I would have none of it. I was a Mac person, everyone knew it, and I wasn't going back over.
Less than nine months later, a new version of the Second Life client came out - and it did not work at all with my MacBook's integrated graphics. Realizing that the Mac client was a low priority for the software developer, not wanting to be cut off from the virtual world where I was doing all my research, and not having $2500 to spring on a Mac Pro (the only Mac with upgradeable graphics), I reluctantly began looking at PCs. Ultimately, I found a quad-core Intel Gateway with a 24" LCD for less than half the price of a comparable Mac Pro, got used to Vista, and now am a dual user - MacBook for portability, my PC for power.
It was somewhat amusing to me how all of friends online who were Mac people tried desperately to convince me to reconsider the iMac or the Mac Pro, and to try to understand how I could have come to such a "drastic decision". There were a few times when I felt like saying, hello? I'm still the same person. I'm using the same software. I'm doing the same creative work. Just because I gave one company $1500 instead of giving another $3000 doesn't fundamentally change who I am... does it?
Post a Comment