Apple

Creative. Innovative. Artistic. Inspiring. Genius.

Here's where it is. I heard a familiar tone. I reached into my pocket and grasped on to my iPhone. Breaking News. Steve Jobs had died.

Here's where it began. I was only nine or ten. My parents had just brought home a new computer for the family. It was the Macintosh LC III. It came complete with games and a word processor. It had everything.

I'll never forget the day I learned there were more than 32 colors

That was the beginning of my Apple experience. A few years later we purchased an iMac (sexy as ever in pink). My computer was now able to run advanced video games such as StarCraft and The Sims. A short while later we got the Internet. Instant messaging was all the rave and I was able to develop immaculate typing skills during those many late nights of chatting.

It was on that very computer that I created Facebook. Well... it wasn't exactly named Facebook. It was named G-House, but it carried all the same features that Facebook has. G-House had exclusive membership rights. Several of my high school friends were soon invited and a utopia of electronic communication was created. G-House had a message system, a calendar, and The Wall (Do you think the statute of limitations is up on our trademark Landon?), a message board used to post ideas, plans, and group conversations. I loved G-House.

All good things must come to an end

Things weren't always perfect with my Mac ways sadly. I often wondered if life would be better as a PC guy. You have to realize that during this time Apple wasn't considered cool. It wasn't necessarily uncool either. It was just why. Why? That was the question I always got. Why would you have a Mac? Why would you want to pay more for software? Why would you not want to be like everybody else? Why don't you want to be able to upgrade your computer? Did you know that black hides dust and smudges much better than white or pink? I would often have these questions myself. I asked my parents why we didn't get a PC and they just responded that they didn't want to learn a new operating system. So I made up some pretty cool answers to that question. "Because colors are cool" I said. "I like having everything in one. Less annoying wires." It was a tough argument. Deep down inside I knew that Apple made sense. The interface. The simplicity. Why not?

The day soon came that the iPod was invented. If I had money then I would have bet that anything made by Apple would not do as well as the generic mp3 players. I was certain that people would make fun of me for having white headphones instead of black. I was wrong. Apple suddenly clicked with the common man. It took an entire reformation of the music industry for it to happen, but it did. Suddenly the magic box that is Apple agreed with the people. Together with iTunes people were able to have their music on demand in the most simple way possible. You no longer had to drag your desired songs to your mp3 disk. They just magically appeared on your iPod after you downloaded them. You no longer had to push the scroll button six million times to get to the song you wanted. You just simply slid your finger around in a circle. Music was revolutionized. Apple was in front. White was cool.

But not everyone is a believer. There are those who believe the PC is simple enough. There are those who believe Apple is cliche. There are those who believe Mac buyers are throwing away their money for a brand. Lucky for you, I'm not going to argue those facts. Instead, I'm going to simply tell you why I like Apple, why I believe they are now successful, and how they have changed the world forever. And to make things more fun, I'm declaring this week Apple Week. There are more posts to come. I hope you enjoy.