Mine’s Bigger Than Yours

First, let me preface by saying, I am not a “fangirl” of anything. I own 2 Macs, an AppleTV, an iPod, an iPad, and lots of other random techie gadgets that didn’t come from the brilliant minds in Cupertino. I do not, nor have I ever owned an iPhone, originally because I had *just* upgraded my phone with T-Mobile and signed a new 2 year contract when iPhone hit the market back in the summer of 2007. However, I have done iPhone development, and I have used at great length many iPhones so I am well aware of what they are capable of and why people buy them, so don’t discount my opinion just yet.

When the first-gen iPhone was released, it was flashy (although lacked Flash itself) and new; it opened the world’s eyes to the potential of mobile experience (I will punt on the use of the word “technology” here because, let’s be honest, the original iPhone did not match up to other smart phones on the market at the time). However, by supplying an open SDK for application development and presenting users with a slick, user-friendly interface, it rapidly became a fad… although I’m still uncertain as to the reason behind the massive amount of loyalty and defensiveness that goes along with owning an iPhone.

One theory I have for why the launch was so intense is this: For many years after Apple’s Mac line was completely revamped, there was always an elite status associated with Apple products, simply because at the time, Apple was only known for making computers – really expensive ones. Then came the iPod which cost significantly more than (roughly double) other MP3 players, but it looked better and if you had iTunes, you were able to very easily purchase and download music, then sync it to the device, essentially taking your Library with you wherever you go. Rhapsody eventually attempted this same business model, but the iPod precedent had been set. The story goes on to say that next was the iPhone, then the iPad but we’re aware of what’s gone down in the last 3 years so I’ll spare the details. So now we’ve seen a trend in the last decade… iPod, iPhone, iPad, each of them continue to blow the competition away in terms of market share. But, why? They’re sleek, sexy and they scream “status”. For the same reason that BMWs and Lexus’ are popular and longed-after, so are Apple’s iProducts. In the U.S., we’re known for living outside of our means, which means if a sparkly new toy costs less than $500, you *probably* have a credit card with at least that much available to spend. So if you could carry around a status symbol in your pocket in exchange for … well, nothing up front … why wouldn’t you? Right? At least that explains why Apple’s handheld devices have caught such wind, while their stationary counterparts are still no match for PCs.

I own Macs because I believe in the quality of the computer and doing graphic design and software development is so much faster, especially when you work with Linux, there’s minimal knowledge transfer needed when switching between environments. I own an AppleTV because dollar for dollar, it’s cheaper than cable considering I only watch about 3 TV shows and on rare occasion rent a movie. PLUS, I can use it to stream music from my iMac which alleviates the previous requirement of getting up and putting a different CD in the stereo. So I feel those purchases are justified. My iPod Nano was a birthday gift 2 years ago and I think I’ve used it a total of 7 times, and although it’s shiny and pink and in perfectly good condition, it’s essentially useless but I don’t think it’s heavy enough to be a paperweight. As for the iPad, didn’t buy that one either, was a hand-me-down from the CEO of my company who badly needed the 3G version and unloaded his completely antiquated, way uncool WiFi version down to me. I must say, I have taken quite a liking to the iPad, I even cuddle it to sleep at night playing WWF and Angry Birds – because I’m just *that* nerdy. Nonetheless, iPhone iLack.

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