Apple of My Eye

[ Just now, I read Stuff In My Head, where Van linked to a hilarious Switch spoof. I made comment about the Apple-love phenomenon from my own viewpoint; I'm reposting an edited version here, because I think it warrants an entry of its own. ]

People may not have noticed that with the iPod Shuffle, it's a USB connector. That's okay, but the key point is that it's not the Apple dock connector, meaning that you can't use a lot of the iPod accessories available today: speaker sets, in-car adapters from the major stereo and car manufacturers, etc. Keep that in mind, folks. All those things that you simply plug your iPod down into and control remotely ... they won't work with the Shuffle. Enjoy that uncertainty.

As for being "ripped off" by Apple's "elevated" pricing, a lot of people are looking at it the way I used to: based solely on goods for the money. But we shouldn't be just looking at the device in your hand. We need to consider the software package and the whole ensemble that you get for the price: the simplicity of iTunes with the iPod, the ease of using it all. It's the same philosophy as I chose in selecting a digital camera: the more usable it is, the more it is likely to get used, and the more you'll "get out of it", thus increasing its value-in-use. Making it that easy to use also introduces those who used to be "too scared" or apprehensive to even explore that.

There's another intangible for buying Apple products (at least for me). It's the joy and pride of ownership. The corners of my mouth turn up just slightly, every time I'm at my Powerbook, everytime I pull it out of my BOOQ (pb17-custom) laptop bag. When I use MacOSX, it pleases me at how it reacts to my bidding, instead of how Windows used to frustrate me. When I use my iPod, the clean interface makes it simple to change songs, volume, ratings, and listen to audiobooks -- it's really a joy to use, to sync up, to change, etc. For me, these are priceless, and worth the higher cost of ownership (though I am Chinese, and will go to the ends of the earth not to pay retail prices).

Granted, some people don't care about any of the above. Then in those cases, you're better off buying the barest, most functional unit you can get your hands on. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Yet, if we all thought of things in their basic need-solution components, why do we have fashion shows? Why buy suits from somewhere other than the outlets? We should all be shopping at Target and Walmart if we just have the basic need to be clothed. And then there's food, which we don't even need to go into. We all like nice stuff -- the question is where your personal threshold is for what you feel you're getting out of it. I don't buy concert tickets, because I enjoy buying their CDs more. I don't ride first class because I don't feel it's worth the price over the regular cattle class.

Anyway, I bought my gf an iPod mini late last year, and a lot of it was fueled not just because it was pink, but because it was the right size in her hand and had an informative screen, and because it's "so cute". She loves using it, and it means it will get used a lot, which is worth volumes more than a semi-okay device that doesn't get used much, right?

My name is Ben and I'm an Apple addict. And honestly, I'm quite happy being one.