Macentizing Your Life – Apple Integration
My introduction to the seamless cohesion of Apple products occurred after I got my first Macbook. I was a Blackberry user who was faced with the incapability of syncing with Mac. At the time (mid 2000’s), there was no reliable way to sync your information between Blackberry, Mac, and my home PC except a single hack that was never dependable. When I was gifted my iPhone at the end of that summer it only made sense to take the plunge.
So when I bit the bullet and switched out our home PC with an Apple mini, I picked up a MobileMe subscription, and discovered the joy of continuity. Now suddenly I no longer had to look through my laptop, my phone, and my home computer, to find a single email or contact. The service would sync bookmarks, desktops, files, etc. Epic win.
Then I found I was having problems with my router at the time, man when it rains it pours…I was an Applephile at that point so why not go with the Airport Wireless router? I was amazed at the simplicity of replacing my Linksys with the Airport router. Like everything Apple does it literally was as simple as plugging in the router, giving it a creative and fun name, then clicking OK. Done.
With the capability of the iDevices and Mac computers, combined with the seamless and intuitive accessibility of the two OS’, the Apple devices offer an ease of use hardly attainable by other OS systems. Now I’ll be the first to say that if you’re used to Window’s then there is a short reeducation that has to happen, however in my experience with my own transition to Apple products and others that I know, it is a short lived and rewarding experience. In general after you’ve learned your way around the simple iOS interface, you may find yourself asking, “Why did I ever use windows?”
The interesting thing I’ve found about Apple products, specifically Mac computers, is that there are two general types of people that tend to be drawn to their use. There are the casual browser users that simply use their computers/ devices for basic functionality who are rewarded by the streamlined interfacing and clean-cut appearance. The other group of users tends to be the designer, art, web, and music sorts. For those of us who fall into this category, Apple offers a stable and reliable platform that out performs equivalent PC’s even on the basis of reliability. As a music engineer I’ve had multiple PC’s die on me in the middle of recording sessions, but never a Mac. In addition the streamlined clean interfaces are a huge plus for those sitting in front of computer screens for long periods each day.
Perhaps the biggest draw back of Apple for some consumers is the lack of the customization available on the users side. While access to software used to be an issue, due to the spread of Apple use, most software is available cross platform now. However, it’s essentially an impossibility to do anything to a Mac short of upgrading some RAM or a hard drive. Unlike a PC which aftermarket parts are available in abundance and inexpensively enough to build, upgrade, and rebuild your computer with impudence. And it’ll all probably still cost you less than the one Mac would.
The OS accessibility with a Windows machine is much great and more appealing to the heavy gamer, hacker, or the tinker. Of course the same accessibility that makes PC’s so appealing to users is often the cause of their headaches as well. Everyone who’s ever owned a PC is familiar with virus’ and the software required to combat them. Even having to fully restore the computer. No fun there.
One of the great pluses of the Apple line over PC is that as they are the only ones developing and working with their hardware and software, there is a cohesive feel and interaction between all devices that they release. One of the great things Apple has done is attack the multi-media market with all the iDevices as well as Apple TV, the Airport streaming of music, iTunes, and more.
I’ll go into further detail in another post, but my wife and I went cable free around 2 years ago and have never looked back. But ever since we switched to Apple a number of years ago we’ve been running a Mac Mini attached to our TV that has become our media device. As the future of entertainment media moves farther from broadcast and cable providers, internet access will replace cable boxes, as seen by Boxee, Google TV, Roku box, and numerous high def television makers that are including web browsers on their sets like LG and Sony.
While PC’s are certainly capable of connecting to TV’s for media access, the options offered by Apple products to meet the different needs of users is more diverse. If you’re not a gamer and don’t have a PS3, Xbox, or Wii to stream Netflix or web browse on your TV and that’s all you’re looking for, then Apple TV can offer you some great solutions for music, movie, and show rentals or purchases from iTunes, streaming videos from an external device or Netflix. A Mini or another model of computer may be more your speed in case you want a greater access to media on the web and the ability to use external drives.
What are your thoughts on Apple and Windows in terms of their ability to integrate into your daily life by meeting your accessibility needs?
