I hear that Apple products are great. However, I do not own nor have ever owned an Apple product, other than the QuickTime and iTunes software that can be downloaded to a Windows computer. My wife does own an iPod though. And my son is eagerly earning his way to an iPod Touch.
My experience with Apple products has not been very encouraging. I remember typing up my resume on a Mac back in 1995 or 1996 and having a difficult time with it. The Mac just wasn’t very intuitive for me. I do wish I had stuck to it and learned it better though. But when I used a Windows PC, it just seemed easier. I figured it was a right brain/left brain thing. That struggle left me sour on Apple. So I gravitated towards Windows. There also was a period of time when I had someone regularly emailing me compressed files. He used a Mac and used the Stuffit program. I used a PC and WinZip. It was always a challenge to uncompress the “stuffed” files because the programs were not easily compatible with the competing Operating Systems. We did eventually get it figured out. But that is how fickle we can be as consumers: if it doesn’t work how we want, when we want, we look for a solution that will. But that is why Apple has done so well.
Steve Jobs knew people wanted a quality product, one without hassles or security issues. So while MicroSoft owned the market for personal computers, Steve Jobs was patiently picking away it and through the years has taken a large part of that market away from MicroSoft. But Steve was a visionary and knew that personal devices were going to be a larger market than personal computers and he invested in the innovation of those technologies developing the iPod, iPhone and iPad. As people became more aware of the Apple brand through these other technologies, and fell in love with the brand, Steve was able to leverage that and gain even more market share from Microsoft on the personal computer front.
I have to admit that I am much more likely to purchase an Apple product today for myself than I was 10 or even 5 years ago. I think of all the productivity lost waiting for Windows to update, or recover from a crash over the years and cringe that I have just accepted it as my reality. The variety of products that Apple offers for the various aspects of life sure do make it more appealing to invest in their products.
Steve Jobs certainly did build a great tech and media empire with Apple. It is amazing to think what a great part in technology he played. He had a great insight for what consumer would want and need. While I do not use it often, iTunes has changed the music industry, and as a ripple effect has changed the radio industry. Many naysayers believed these types of changes would be the demise of radio, however I think it’s plain to see they have enhanced the radio industry.
Now that the iMan, the great modern innovator is gone, it will be interesting to see where Apple takes us next. Did Steve share his intuitive insights with the leadership team he put in place to replace him? It would be logical that he did. The question more so is if they have the same intuition and know how to keep it moving forward. The proof will be in the pudding.
In the mean time, I am considering purchasing an Apple product. What would you recommend be my first Apple purchase?
