This occurred to me upon awaking this morning to more iPad news on TV and I've reached this conclusion with admittedly, very little thought. But, let me start with full disclosure. Through the years I've used many different brands of PCs and Laptops - off the top of my head -Dell, IBM, Sun, Compaq, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Gateway, Acer, and even Wang (yeah I know, 'she said "wang"'). I've also used a macintosh, imac, macpc, ibook, and ipod. I'm not a techie, just an average worker.
Don't get me wrong, I get the whole Steve Jobs as usurper revolutionary kind of thing about Apple and through the years I've heard the pro-Apple/anti-Microsoft arguments from friends. And I do really dig iTunes (sometimes) and think the iPod is brilliant and keeps getting more brilliant. But, as much as I'm for the sparking of almost any revolution, it sort of comes down to how I was raised. Basically, Mr. Gates taught me his language first. And since the first time my fingers used a keyboard that didn't require super-metacarpal strength to depress the keys, I've been indoctrinated into the PC environment. And when Windows 95 came along I rocked out to "Start Me Up" and felt my first taste of digital freedom. And I've been pretty much happy ever since.
But, along the way certain friends of mine started killing my buzz. With their "Microsoft is just blah-blah-blah too much control blah-blah-blah just making money blah-blah-blah, but Apple is much better for blah-blah-blah and you can blah-blah-blah." I hate to admit it, but somehow these arguments made me feel a little...I don't know, clueless, naive maybe, or gullible, who knows -they did shake my faith a bit.
So I've stuck my toe a few times into the Apple world. The first time was out of necessity. I was working in a law office and one of the lawyers was a mac user who needed my help on a case he was working on. All his files were on his mac which at that time, due to compatibility issues which no longer exist today, meant that he couldn't easily share them in our PC environment office network. Sad to say, this wasn't a great first impression as to me the mac meant tedious work which could have been avoided if he was using a PC and on the network with everyone else in the office. But, no! Mr. Super Cool mac guy had to have his mac. I guess it wasn't the greatest impression of a mac devotee either.
Most of my work life has been in jobs where efficiency and deadlines were crucial and versatility important. PCs have helped me get the job done, macs have as well, but have taken more of my time. But, again it's probably how I was raised. I never took the time to learn the mac language and even on my own Apple machines the interface (even just the desktop) bugs me a little. I guess today I realized it's a prejudice that I'm willing to admit and just accept.
With the release of the iPad and the unending free advertising all press outlets seem to be giving it, I couldn't help but be a little curious. So I've watched the demos and read the reviews. And I realized this morning, I don't want one. More importantly, I don't need it. I've got a G1 and an Acer netbook. I'm only one external dvd drive away from complete satisfaction. I refuse to have my head turned by some pretty young thing that thinks it's smarter than the rest of us and puts us down for loving Flash.
So to all you Apple eaters out there with money to burn, I say Go for it - to each his own - get your new-fangled book reader/web experience device. Just don't try to rub my nose in it. It won't work. I just don't care.
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