As I often mention, we bought our first Apple device, a MacPlus, in April 1989. Since then, we have always bought Apple when it comes to computers, and since 2008, also iPhones and later iPads. That is because we are happy and content users.
However, during the first years, we always had to defend our choice; it’s only recently that this attitude shifted to admiration, and it started when Apple launched the first iPhone in 2008.
From the beginning people said that the reason to why we used Macs was that we were ”design people”, meaning that ”since we worked with graphic design we were part of a small and peculiar group of persons who just wanted to have computers that looked nice”. That was a bit humiliating. Like if our knowledge in behavioural science, psychology, and pedagogy didn’t matter. Like if our technical understanding of the features and how to use a Mac didn’t really count, because Macs were supposed to be so easy, like handling a toy. It was like some kind of macho-tech culture suggesting that ”real men use PC”. One problem was that people without any knowledge of computers, people who got scared, needed good advice when they had to buy a computer, and somehow, many of them turned to these“macho PC users” for advice. Did they suggest a Mac for them? Noooooooooo…
I could never understand that. Even with the PC logic and the conclusion that Macs were toys, they should advise computer novices to buy Macs because they were easy to use, but they didn’t. Sometimes I have suspected that the true reason for advising people to buy a PC was to gain more power and status when they needed help with their computer. Because if they bought a Mac, they wouldn’t need that much help, right?
So, many people never got close to realising how much better Macs are. Then they discovered the amazing iPhone. Everyone wanted an iPhone (and they still do). I have seen a couple of workplaces that, for some reason, chose to buy HTC smartphones for their employees. The employees are ashamed to use them and get angry because the phones are obviously not as smart as iPhones. People wanted to talk to me about Apple. They wanted to explain how much they loved their iPhones; it was like they had a revelation: ”So THIS is what you have been talking about all those years? NOW I finally understand why you are so dedicated to Apple!”
Now, more people want to be in the ”club of Apple users”. The phenomenon with BYOD = Bring Your Own Device got a real boost with the iPhone – did someone even mention BYOD before the iPhone? Accumulated anger over all the spoiled years they had spent trying to understand how to use their PCs, frustration over all the viruses and everything that simply didn’t work, was released in the wish to throw out those stupid machines and buy Apple.
I coach a handful of Apple users, and one of them has always considered himself someone who just couldn’t understand computers. They made him sigh, sweat, and swear. He started by getting himself an iPad, then he wanted me to help him get an iPhone and an iMac. For the first time in his life, he said, ”This time I want to learn, I want to know how to use my devices!” And that’s how it works. I teach him basic stuff, but I also notice that he learns a lot on his own and really uses his devices. He’s happy. He’s curious and interested.
Then he“gave me as a present” to his mother when she turned 85, along with an iPad. A son gives his mother an iPad and an iPad coach. That’s like showing that you care by giving an Apple device. It’s been fun to coach his mother, and she’s also using her iPad frequently. She’s amazed.
I think we have only seen the beginning of this development. Kids use iPads in pre-school. So many people are getting used to Apple’s high standard; the combination of high tech and functionality, melded into a beautiful, clean design with a pedagogical user interface. I think there’s no going back once you get used to these high standards. I have a friend who loves Apple, but still has to use a PC at his work. ”It’s a pain every day I have to use my PC”.
Very few persons that buy Apple devices stop buying Apple. I don’t think it’s going to be like this for ever, but the competitors can’t still offer the whole package like Apple do. I have my opinions about things that Apple could do better and I always send suggestions to them, but even so, I am loyal to Apple and will be for more years to come.
At the same time, I welcome good competitors that understands the full concept and especially the importance of bringing designers to the creative process from start. Which for example, Google still hasn’t understood.
Some people argue that Apple isn’t hot any longer, meaning that trendsetters prefer to buy something different to stand out. I partly agree to that, we have got so used to Apple that some persons might find it boring. I’m not sure how much that will affect Apple’s forward development though. It seems they still have plenty of markets to grow on, like China. There are still so many persons wanting to buy their first Apple item in the world. On the other hand, there are also a lot of persons that get a smartphone as their first device that they can use with internet. Their first computer experience is a handhold device and in the developing countries the price is more important than, for example, in Sweden. So, there will naturally come up a lot of competing low-price smartphones that have a big value to persons that above all needs the internet connection. That’s why Verone Mankou has created the first African smartphone, or Congolese to be more exact.
Apple has shifted the world’s expectations of what computers and handhold devices can be like. Now, lets see how that affects the world…
