This is a more direct and obvious aspect to me, as the above image was my primary online avatar for over a year.
I’m not going to open this one with a talk about what Apple is, because let’s be real: everyone knows what Apple, Inc. is.
My first exposure to Apple products was in 1998 during a summer computer camp called Kids Byte at Marquette University. There were brightly colored Mac Computers that we would use to design movies, and we would use Apple software to film and edit our own videos. Considering that I was in Middle School at the time, I had no idea how much Apple products would become a staple in my life a decade and a half later.
My next exposure to Apple computers and products was at my first college, where the theater majors were very Apple savvy, to the point where non-Apple things were snubbed. I had just transition my music library into iTunes, but didn’t quite realize that it was an Apple thing, since I was doing it on my Windows Laptop.
2012 & 2013 were my “conversion” years to Apple as a tech company. I refused to get an iPhone until it could hold all of the music in my library (which was about 35 GB at the time) so it took until the iPhone 4S before I tried it out. I fell in love, and transitioned to a Macbook when my old laptop’s hard disk failed, and I lost nearly everything I had saved electronically at the time.
Since changing over, I have a much better organization to my electronic life, particularly my music library. Not that I ever expect for my Macbook to fail, but if it ever does I’m far, far better prepared to handle it than when my laptop’s crash permanently destroyed 99% of everything I’ve worked on electronically up to that point.
2014 brought my getting Apple TV, which had a major impact on my Netflix viewing habits, my ability to watch the video version of David Pakman, all of my video podcasts, and thus changed my TV habits for the better. I also switched back to iPhone, having done a brief stint with a Samsung Galaxy S4 when iOS 7 came out and before I understood how to use it properly.
Another thing about how much Apple has been an influence on me: Apple’s podcast suggestions led me to discovering both David Pakman and Armin Van Buuren, both of whom I’ve written about on here.
This article gives a nice slideshow about different tech products that Apple introduced to the world that created a sea change in the tech industry.
Here and here are examples of how Apple is also working on becoming a force for positive change in the environment. While Apple is nowhere near perfect in terms of harming the environment, the fact that the company is working to leave less of a footprint on the planet is something that the environmentalist in me agrees with.
Speaking of progressive and liberal politics, it’s been discussed that using Apple products can be a sign of political leaning as well. The implied political leaning has proven to be true in my case, even though my usage of Apple products has had zero impact on my political beliefs. Instead, my political beliefs have played a very tiny role in convincing me to use Apple products.
This is a famous infographic describing a “Mac” person versus a “PC” person:
Click on it for a larger version if you need one. Many things mentioned in the graphic resonate with me.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lukas Condie
My Little Corner Of The Universe: 