Why Apple - An Opinion

A couple of years ago, Blackberry was quite relevant in the world of technology. Boys in suits swore by it and flaunting BBM was cool. By then Apple had made a dent in the mobile world with the iPhone, but companies like Nokia and Blackberry soldiered on with a loyal fanbase. I'm not denying my love for Nokia here, but BB was never my thing.

When Apple took the wraps off the iPad in 2010, no one believed it had any future, dismissing it as a blown up iPod Touch. Five years since and it's definitely not true. The compeition of course did not stand back doing nothing, instead tried to take the iPad head on with designs that were not appealing or operating systems that lacked the utility of a tablet. Despite all this, I bought myself a Blackberry Playbook during a fire sale and was very pleased with my decision. I immediately dismissed the iPad as an expensive piece of metal that Apple as usual wants me to burn all my savings on. Guess we all love hating Apple at some level or the other. The Playbook did serve my purpose well - for a few weeks. It was simply not useful enough without the ecosystem that Apple commanded at that point. And we are talking about an era where Android tablets were still questionable; the tables have turned now though and Android is now a pretty solid OS now thanks to the Nexus lineup and other affordable tablets pressurizing developers to take the platform seriously. 

For the next few months, I used the spartan browser on my Playbook as a work around for the lack of apps and games in Blackberry world - which didn't go all that well. Mobile sites simply do not offer the functionality of full desktop sites and neither do they function as efficiently as dedicated apps. Soon, the decision from being different became downright miserable and the Playbook was safely tucked away into my drawer. Even side loading videos became a chore and I was only looking forward to selling it, when BB announced Blackberry 10 - a modern operating system that would take iOS and Android head on, not to mention, the then relevant Windows Phone 7. They said it would be the most powerful mobile operating system and what not. Time passed and once the dust had settled down, the Playbook was excluded from the upgrade. It was a shocker since the hardware was more than upto the task, but for some reason an OTA or even a traditional flashing of the kernel was ruled out. So here I was, stuck with a year old device with all the capability to run the latest OS with a promise of a better app ecosystem etc., let down by management decisions. What a wasteful investment, considering that the build, bundled accessories and branding were top notch. 

It was time for Apple to announce the next generation of tablets with the iPad mini now. Again, once the fan fare died down, Apple was heavily criticized for not incorporating their latest hardware, especially in terms of the display. Bloggers and reviewers lauded the design but were heavily critical of the screen and the aging A5 chip, which was already a year old. However, casual users such as yours truly did not need cutting edge specs. Something that would let me check e-mail, watch videos online and play arcade games would suffice, but the need for a strong ecosystem was necessary, not just in terms of apps, but cases, cables, etc.,

A few months after the mini was made available in India, I exchanged my dying Playbook and noticed a world of difference. There was and to this day is so much to do with the iPad. Regardless of your feelings towars Apple, you can't help but agree that it is considered the forerunner when it comes to apps and services. Whether you want to binge watch a series, kick back with a book, play a game or be productive, there are enough apps and third party accessories for the iPad to keep things interesting. Though the hardware is now obsolete, my iPad mini holds itself rather well and Apple has promised an iOS 9 update as well. Sweet, right? If you think of electronics/gadgets as an investment, the iPad has been my best so far. Tablets of various shapes and specs have come and gone, but the iPad simply holds it's own when it comes to the number of things you can do with it. Giants like Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG, etc., have had short bursts of success against the iPad, but as an experience, there is nothing like it. In terms of design, materials, quality, accessories, software and numerous other intangibles, the iPad has a charm of it's own. It's definitely a locked down eco system and you may not be a fan, but it definitely works for me.

To judge a company by one product would be harsh, so let me narrate another experience. Microsoft as we all know is huge in terms of business and consumer electronics. Windows powers over a billion computers on this planet and with the tech world moving at a rapid pace, the next billion is not that far behind. However, it is also a company with mixed success. Office and Windows work well for MS and so does the Xbox brand, but little has managed to make a dent in the consumer electronics world. Their experimental music player, the Zune and their initial attempts at phones were a disaster. To overcome this, MS collaborated with none other than Nokia to build an exclusive range of smartphones powered by Windows Phone 7. Nokia's legendary quality with Microsoft's OS expertise was a match made in heaven for most of us. With this in mind, I took my first plunge into the modern smartphone world and bought a Lumia 710. Again, once the honeymoon phase ended, I wanted to do more with the phone, but there simply weren't that many apps. Buyer's remorse set in and I was desperately looking to either toss out my device or upgrade to something better. This was further fueled when Microsoft announced that WP 7 phones would not be upgraded to WP 8 due to some limitations with hardware etc., Let down again then! 

Just a few months into my purchase of the Lumia 710, I switched to an iPhone 4, which was something of an eye opener into a true smartphone. It was designed beautifully, built with a lot of attention to detail, had a gorgeous screen and a passable camera too. Not to mention, the ecosystem of apps and accessories were so strong that I actually invested a lot in them. There was just so much I could do with the iPhone. Arm bands, cases, bumpers, you name it, they are there - at a price of course. Still, it gave me an experience of owning a smartphone and a premium device in general. Couple that with my iPad which I bought in due course and Apple literally was my go to company for all things mobile. This is courtesy the puny iPod shuffle. 

Looking back at all my purchase decisions, there is little doubt that I try the path less taken and experiment with products time and again. But Apple simply seems to be a lot more consistent in terms of planned obsolesence and updates to keep consumers happy for at least a couple of years, which in today's technology world, a decade. 

For a couple of years now, I have switched to Android phones and truly enjoying the experience, but there is something about the iPad that makes me want to go back to Apple time and again. Maybe once the iPad no longer holds, I might become a Fandroid, you never know. Either way, this was just an opinion as to the factors that make Apple great and what it is today. The ownership experience is just a bliss. Maybe other companies like Google and Microsoft will also integrate hardware, software, services and payments one day and compel us to switch, let's see. In the end, as consumers, we only benefit from competition.