I vividly recall taking ownership of our first Apple Mac 20 or so years ago (perhaps a little more) and instantly falling in love.
Until that time we'd struggled with a convoluted set of start up codes and log-in's (which by today's standards seem ludicrous) but which were part and parcel of owning a PC - back in the day.
I also have a fond recall of friends and acquaintances who expressed either their sorrow or disbelief in our choice of hardware - believing it would go the way of the technically superior but ultimately doomed BetaMax video system.
In fact - there were times when our children were growing up that some parents had the audacity to suggest that we were depriving our kids of learning experiences because of the limited amount of software available to Apple users.
We stuck to our guns - in the belief that what was right for us was . . . well right for us. Sure there were some limitations - but as we always plumped for creativity over book keeping - we were steadfast in our belief.
The fact is - our friends began to change their own minds as they noticed something quite outside the generational shift which was happening. Seems that fans of the Bill Gates appreciation society noticed that all of a sudden the newest, bright and shiny software being launched by the Microsoft was in fact stuff which was a rip off of something which had already been part and parcel of the Apple users' world for at least 12 months - sometimes longer.
I also have a fond recall of friends and acquaintances who expressed either their sorrow or disbelief in our choice of hardware - believing it would go the way of the technically superior but ultimately doomed BetaMax video system.
In fact - there were times when our children were growing up that some parents had the audacity to suggest that we were depriving our kids of learning experiences because of the limited amount of software available to Apple users.
We stuck to our guns - in the belief that what was right for us was . . . well right for us. Sure there were some limitations - but as we always plumped for creativity over book keeping - we were steadfast in our belief.
The fact is - our friends began to change their own minds as they noticed something quite outside the generational shift which was happening. Seems that fans of the Bill Gates appreciation society noticed that all of a sudden the newest, bright and shiny software being launched by the Microsoft was in fact stuff which was a rip off of something which had already been part and parcel of the Apple users' world for at least 12 months - sometimes longer.
Of course, with the advent of itunes, imovie, garage band, the ipod, ipad yaddah yaddah, it would be easy to say 'told ya so' but we like to think that everyone should have choice. Both systems have their pluses - both have their minuses - but to those who felt compelled to commit us to a colony of technical lepers all those years ago - perhaps it's time to re-think.
