Me and Mac.....and Heinz

No, this is not about me and a friend or me and a pet; it's really a semi-catchy title for a post about me and Apple products...kind of. I love them......it's that simple. Like BMWs, I love them too. I even bought one of them back in my pre-wife/pre-children days. And let me tell ya; they are the Ultimate Driving Machine! And I wasn't just any BMW driver, I owned an "M" car, the M5 to be specific. Not just any M car (notice the lack of quotes here?), but the E28, M5 that were actually assembled at their Motosport facility in Munich, of which, only about 600 or so made it to the United States in 1987, sold as '88 models. You could have any color you wanted as long as it was black, and you had one choice to make (tan or black leather seats) and there was one option....heated or non-heated seats. It was the fastest production car in the world when they first introduced it at the 1984 Amsterdam Auto Show. Not surprising since it had the M1's engine in it. The top end was limited to 149mph (here in America) due to the aerodynamics being similar to that of a brick.....as you can see.

 What does this have to do with Macs? Am I going through middle-age crisis and about to run out to buy something like this again and try to win over some young lassie? No, of course not! I'm happily "Daddy", and driving my very utilitarian Chevrolet Trailblazer and responsible Honda Civic Hybrid. The point I'm making is this.

What is technically or design-wise "the best" isn't generally the best choice. I chose the title "Frugal Propellerhead" for a very specific reason. Although I love technology, I work within some very clear confines AND to some degree, I revel in that fact. The fact that I can accomplish what I do with the compromised that I need to make given my circumstances AS WELL AS personal philosophy of getting the most "bang for the buck". Of course that's opinion; it is a blog after all, so by nature, about opinions, right?

So I'll continue this with an explanation of what shapes my thinking in regard to Macs. I'll have to start by saying that I have a bit of an aversion to "prestige" type products. An example was the BMW. Let me just be clear that I LOVE cars (also virtually all other forms of transportation including everything from airplanes to locomotives and even scooters)! However, I couldn't get myself to buy a BMW. Despite the basis of the companies history being rooted in performance and motorsport, much like Ferrari or Porsche, the majority of their buyers are well-heeled buyers purchasing based on prestige. These are for the most part, people who wouldn't know first thing about performance driving. Here in the United States unlike Europe, we think driving is a right, not a privilege. Therefore, we often simply buy what we can make payments on, and not what we need, much less what we can use in it's intended manner.

What made me think of this was a message from my friend Rich. He's a professional database programmer who makes his living using computers. He uses Macs because for what he does, it works best; also because they are well-built and well-designed. So, after reading my post on using my ThinkPad Tablet, he pointed out that there are software APPs for the iPad that would allow it to do what I did on my tablet. Ahhhhh, if only all users/buyers are rational and informed like him! It'd be awesome if they weren't to originally, that they'd education themselves after purchase, but no, like most Starbucks sipping, cellphone talking BMW drivers out there, the majority of iPad users don't buy it because of it's design and performance excellence, but due to it's popularity. Therefore, in an almost perverse manner; it is form over function. 

It is a bit of a double edge sword though and I'm ambivilent about it. On one had, I decry the fact that Apple charges what I consider an absurd premium for it's products, which is mostly due to the fact that they can. At the same time though, like gamers, their designers pushing the envelop leads others to improve their designs as well. If we never had the MacBook Air, we'd probably never have today's UltraBooks.

However, I and others like me, the frugal tech-lovers of the world should really thank these folks! They buy for looks and popularity, not for function.....so when something newer, and perceived to be cooler comes along, then they buy that and get rid of what they had. That's what I really LOVE. It allowed me to buy my wife's less than year old $550 tablet for $202, my friend Steve's iPad for $215. This works for DSLRs as well. My "Plastic Fantastic" Nikon D50 cost me less than $100.

So.....Love Thy Ignorant Neighbor!