You got another Apple gadget for Christmas, didn’t you? And you love it, don’t you?
So at what point do you officially declare yourself to be one of those Cupertino Kool-Aid-guzzling, Steve Jobs-worshiping, pathetically devoted Apple fans you used to loathe?
Ten years ago, there were two kinds of people: PC users (a.k.a. “regular people”) and Apple fanboys. At least that’s how it looked from the PC side.
Macs were pretty, but considered by us PC users to be overpriced, underpowered, insufficiently supported by either software or hardware, too hard to customize, optimize or repair and completely devoid of key application areas, such as games.
The world was black and white. You were either a PC or a Mac. Then things got complicated.
Just in time for the 2001 holiday season, Apple launched the iPod. After initial resistance, many PC users bought one.
For example, I bought an early iPod. Then another. Then another. They made great gifts for my family members. It didn’t take long for us to have several in the house.
But iPod ownership does not a fanboy make. I and everyone in my family were still red-blooded PC users for most of the decade.
When the iPhone hit, I was fascinated by the user interface, but underwhelmed by AT&T, call quality and general performance. The first phone I bought after the iPhone shipped was a BlackBerry Pearl. I loved that phone, because call quality was great and the size was amazingly small. The “pearl” trackball was the biggest thing going in cell phone hardware innovation. And I got really good at using the SureType system that enabled two letters per key that enabled the Pearl’s diminutive size.
I was happy. But then, on July 10, 2008, Apple did something really underhanded: They launched the iPhone app store.
In this single, bold stroke, Apple completely changed the iPhone from one gadget into thousands of gadgets. Friends, colleagues and online “influencers” kept bragging about this app and that app, many of them free.
Like millions of other PC users, I got an iPhone. I’m now on my third, and really love it. Several other platforms, most notably Android, have apps galore, and impressively spec’ed hardware. But it’s hard to move away from iPhone in part because of how easy it is to discover and download new apps.
Of course, when the iPad hit this year, I had to have one. As a daily iPhone user, I expected to be perfectly familiar with the iPad user interface, and I was not disappointed.
Like many PC people, I was completely blown away by the 13-inch MacBook Air that came out in October. I would have bought one if I didn’t already have an iPad. I just couldn’t figure out how to justify the purchase.
Meanwhile, without my knowledge or permission, Apple has been training me. The iPad keyboard has gotten me used to copying and pasting, for example, with the “command” key instead of the “Ctrl” key. I’ve really learned my way around iTunes and the app store.
When I got an Apple TV for Christmas, it suddenly hit me: What have I become? Sure, I still use a powerful 18-inch Sony VAIO as my main system. I’m still a PC guy. But that PC is surrounded by Apple stuff: iPod, iPhone, iPad and now Apple TV.
And my family has turned. My wife’s workplace is an Apple shop. She carries a MacBook Pro, and uses a 27-inch iMac at work. I can’t honestly say I’m not envious. My oldest son, who used to be a die-hard PC user, now has it all: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iMac.
My Sony VAIO still works beautifully. I never have any problems with it. But should it die today, I’m pretty sure I’d buy its replacement at the Apple store.
So this is how it happens. You don’t become an Apple fanboy in some great religious epiphany. There are no angels singing, light beaming down from the clouds or even a conscious decision to embrace Apple. You just wake up one day and realize that almost every gadget you own and love begins with a lowercase “i.”
Am I alone? Is this happening to you, too? Are you an Apple Fanboy yet? Tell me your story in the comments below.
107 responses to “Are You an Apple Fanboy Yet?”
I started out my apple love with a few models of iPods over the years, and then my laptop died and I decided to replace it with a MacBook. I was a steady blackberry user and then my love for the ease of use and the “it just works” capability of Mac OS that I traded in my blackberry for an iPhone! It was then that I felt that the term “apple fanboy” could be applied. I have since purchased an apple tv and an iPad! So definitely know what it feels like. You grab one or two apple products and their ease of use and design aesthetic become so appealing you just casually buy more apple products until you wake up realizing you own more apple products than anything else. The only two brand names in electronics in my home are Apple and Samsung, and I’m pretty sure if Apple put their hands to creating flat screen HDTV’s and Blu-Ray players I’d have only Apple products. But I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. The quality of Apple products are unsurpassed. It’s a trust thing – I know when I need one of my apple products to perform their intended function that it’ll just work.
Sounds like what happened to me except i sort already wanted the change a crappy several year old macne running xp without ram i went straight to making everything start with an ‘i’ also iphone and ipaf are killer and apple is awsome sorry fanboy shining through there!!
Android > iOS. Case Closed.
I’m not quite an Apple fangirl yet…I can’t financially afford to be. But as the first comment at the bottom of the page indicates, there is a progression that happens and I could already tell that was the case before reading any stories about it, from my personal experience so far. Not being a fangirl, I wouldn’t say that ease of use relative to other products and “always” working as they should is what has made me start thinking Apple products just MIGHT truly be superior to others. I know fully well that Apple products don’t always work as they should. But that doesn’t mean they’re not superior to others, and that is what I have found with iPods vs other mp3 players. I had other mp3 players before any iPods, including a Zune immediately before my first iPod Touch, and I used to defend the Zune over the iPod. I recently bought a Zune HD because it seemed cool, and now I just want to send it back. It completely pales in comparison to the iPod Touch, and a lot of things that I hated about using the Zune STILL are wrong with it 4 years later since my last Zune…including the annoying Zune PC software and the ridiculous number of “unknown” files that absolutely are correctly tagged in EVERY OTHER PROGRAM, including iTunes.
The iPod Touch is really what has made me start wanting other Apple products because the iPod Touch is like other popular Apple products right now–the iPhone and the iPad. For me, the attraction is the features, i.e. apps as mentioned in the article. I chose the Blackberry over the iPhone because it’s cheaper, but a year and a half later I regret it and long for an iPhone. Every time I turn around, the iPhone is coming out newer, better and with more mind-blowing features. I thought the Blackberry package I chose just lacked a few features compared to the iPhone initially and I could live with it, but now I know it’s completely untrue–the iPhone can do so much more–and I feel the iPhone would be worth the extra money you spend. At this point, I really would love to have a Macbook and a PC for comparison–I don’t feel comfortable completely abandoning the PC at this point since I have not used an Apple computer in years and years and don’t really know what to expect with it. But I can see the same thing happening with a Mac vs a PC that has happened with iPods vs other mp3 players for me. I just can’t afford a Macbook. Same thing with the iPad…I would buy a new laptop (PC or Mac) before an iPad because it costs so much but offers less. I believe if money were no object, I probably would be a fangirl by now because I’d have all those mentioned items.
The only serious problem I can find with the iPod Touch/iPhones/iPads is the lack of flash. I believe that is something that’s coming, but we’re having to wait too long for it.
I’m an Android Fanboy, Period!
After 10 years with PCs I felt the same way. I WANTED a Mac but couldn’t justify the cost. But I just found out about Mac Mini. It’s badly named, because there is nothing “mini” about the power. But it is tiny and quiet and inexpensive. So I bought one! Using my old PC keyboard and mouse, and my dual monitors. I have zero complaints and feel much relieved to be in a more hopeful computer than my clunky old PC.