What Apple Means To Me

Yes, I have an iMac and iPad at home but I work in a world of Windows and Linux. Apple for me is not a religion but opportunity. Not in the monetary sort of way but in mental or opening up of ideas and thoughts.

I've lived with the grey windowing boxes for so long following the needs of the enterprise that nothing seemed to really change. Faster processors, bloated software and frankly the same terrible UI that me and everyone developed. Yuck. The web has helped open up the options but it was still confined to the philosophy of mouse and menus. Even the new Ribbon toolbars in Office is a feeble attempt to break out of the same tired UI that has trapped us all. This tells you just how stuck MS thinking is. It's changing of late but I'm not convinced they can make their vision stick.

Event the news this week of Android royalty telling developers to ditch the menu button in their apps is another nail in the coffin of old UI's.

Apple has open the door to not only touch UI's but what it means for a personal computer. You hold it in your hand, you use your hand (and voice) to interact with it and it does not run Office. If Office is released on the iPad it will sale tons, but Office is an application of the old guard enterprise and the iPad is personal. This is not just a different form factor that contains the same business software, it has nothing to do with the enterprise and that confuses the old guard.

It's always been going in this direction. From main frames, to desktops, to laptops to phones, except Apple decided to ignore business and skip getting businesses (aka IT's) permission and cut to the chase. People where so confused by what the iPad was for, when just holding it you hands would tell you. It's yours alone to do what ever you want.

Even Google has a problem with this whole notion. What the heck is Chrome OS for? It's not personal as you can't use it anywhere (try standing up and use it) and it's appears still tied to working with business and IT. In fact the whole notion of providing Office type applications is, well still old guard thinking. People are not businesses, they need different tools in their life.

To me apple provides me with an opportunity to explore the tech world unshackled by IT and the past.

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