You always need a reason to buy something or to start using a new technique. When I bought my first MacPlus computer, it was just to get something more modern than a typewriter – hey, it was 1989, and we didn’t even know about the internet.
Soon, I found out I could also use Macs to draw and paint digitally, which was huge for me, but it didn’t matter to most people. When I discovered Fractal Painter in combination with Wacom’s digital pen, it gave me so much joy. However, this was not enough to make everyone buy a Mac or even a computer.
I think the Internet was the first major entry point to the world of computers for the general public, but not many of them bought Macs. Many believed Macs were toys, maybe just for creative people – oh, how wrong they were! They didn’t even realise that Microsoft Windows was a bad, ugly copy of macOS…
The next big entrance was music, or rather, the possibility of carrying music in a small, cool device called an iPod. I still remember when my daughter borrowed her dad’s iPod, and her classmates wondered how big the memory was. She said 15GB, and they laughed at her, thinking she said 15 MB, so she had to repeat herself: 15 GB. Then they understood. Wow! Her coolness factor skyrocketed at once.
The iPod became a big success for Apple, and it also led to the sale of music on iTunes. A legal and easy way to pay for digital music. So music, combined with the cool factor, was now the big entry point for many into the Apple world.
Then Apple launched the iPhone. Hallelujah, jackpot! Everyone, I say, everyone around me bought an iPhone. This time, it was not something for kids or young people; this time, it was a tool that many CEOs found useful, and, of course, also for employees, and the iPhone became the norm for mobile phones. As we know, other companies tried to produce smartphones as well, but they are all iPhone wannabes. I remember, for example, when a man from a newspaper apologised for having to use an HTC smartphone because of the company’s policy. He was not happy.
The iPhone has changed how we handle our daily tasks. We use it as a telephone, but it’s also a tool for email, the internet, reading, taking notes, and much more. In fact, one of the features that has totally changed our behaviour is the camera. It has changed the camera market. The average person doesn’t need to buy a camera today because the iPhone’s camera is so good!
The next thing was the iPad. It didn’t become as successful as the iPhone, but still, very successful and it changed the way we work, study and entertain ourselves, even when we travel. It sure became an entrance to the Apple system for many.
By this time, we had become used to buying not only music, but also apps and e-books via Apple. With one Apple ID, we get access to so many digital items and services. One category is the bank apps, which are very useful.
Today, there are so many ways Apple makes our lives easier, and as people discover more, no matter which entry point they use, they become more curious about the rest of Apple’s devices. This has led Apple to sell more Macs, even as other companies report declining computer sales.
This autumn, Apple released Apple Pay, which might be the next major entry into the Apple ecosystem. It’s such an easy and safe way to pay that I think it will set the standard that people expect.
Next year, Apple Pay will continue to grow, and it will get a boost when the Apple Watch is launched. The Apple Watch will also serve as a major entry point into the Apple ecosystem. Many have already heard of health bracelets, but as usual, when Apple adds health features to a device, it does so much smarter and cooler than the others. The Apple Watch will be used for so many things. Health is a big reason to buy the Apple Watch, but imagine the coolness and simplicity of paying just by tapping your Apple Watch!
And I haven’t even mentioned how much cash Apple Pay will bring in for Apple…
Once you start using an Apple device, you’re very likely to keep buying more Apple devices, which means you’ll also buy more digital items or services, and then you will start using Apple Pay to pay for other things. To think about this almost makes me dizzy… Imagine how much you buy at AppStore, iTunes and iBookStore, add everything you will be able to buy in your local stores or online – paying with Apple Pay. Is this the future, where almost everything we buy goes through Apple’s transaction system? If that becomes the daily reality, Apple will have so many streams of money flowing to it.
And I will still use Apple because I think their devices and services are outstanding.
I think the best way to get some money back from Apple is to buy Apple shares. It’s like a variation of ”if you can’t beat them, join them!”, except I don’t want to beat Apple. I want to be a happy citizen in the Apple Global Country. As long as Apple keep on doing well. And that’s the danger in all this: the moment Apple starts to do something evil, the system will fall apart, because we are all in it by our own free will. We can still choose other products and services outside the Apple system. But we don’t.
We enter Apple, and very few of us leave once we have discovered what Apple can do for us. As long as they keep on making our lives better, we will stay.
