It's fair to say that I have drank the "Apple Kool-Aid."  And I like the way it tastes.  No, the flavor isn't perfect but better than any other kool-aid out there... so, cliches aside... I am not a full-fledged "fanboy" but I am a loyal customer/user.  Let's face it... there are "fanboys"/"fangirls" of just about anything (anybody who is a fan of a particular product/brand... guess what, you are are a "fanboy" or "fangirl.").  There are few debates as bitter as the Mac/PC discussions... (the only others that seem to envoke as much passion are: Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft and before that it was Nintendo/Sega... Basically, Nintendo versus whoever else is popular...).

Funny that it's Nintendo vs the world... because it's often Apple vs the world... And that Nintendo and Apple are often in the same breath quite often.  Hmmmm...

Well, to the point... I am loyal.  Why?  I like their products.  Just that simple.  I fully embrace their business model.  One that has many challengers (open source advoates, Microsoft advocates...) but none of these have detered Apple from running it's business as it sees fit.  They are not violating any current monopoly or anti-trust laws, no matter how hard people try to state their case, otherwise.  It is their business model.  They have had the same model for almost the entirety of their existence.  With the exception of some Apple II clones (namely the Laser 2000 and the Franklin Ace) and some licensed clones of the Macs in the 90's... Apple has basically been the captain of their ship and they control who can board ths ship.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-418" title="Old AppleLogo" src="http://mmolenda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Old-AppleLogo-150x150.jpg" alt="Old AppleLogo" width="47" height="47" />I owned (well, my Dad technically...) and Apple //c back in the 80's and it was great but one of my friend's Dad had a PC (prior to this, the only contact with PC's I had were in school... no, not even running Windows.  In middle school, I did most of my writing on an IBM PC jr...) running Windows 3.1.  I thought it was fantastic.   In fact, I totally lost track of what Apple was doing beyond the Apple IIGS [I wanted one, but so expensive!].  I had to have one of these computers.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-420" title="windows_logo" src="http://mmolenda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/windows_logo-150x150.jpg" alt="windows_logo" width="73" height="73" />I convinced my Dad to buy a Gateway 2000 with DOS 6.2/Windows 3.1.  It was hard to choose when there is PC Magazine with so many brands of computers running Windows, most with similar specs and prices.  We settled on Gateway due to a friend recommendation... and thus, I began down the path of Windows leaving Apple behind.  Who has 2500 for a Mac then?

A few years ago, I got a 3rd Gen iPod.  I heard so much about these iPods and because I am a big music fan (and admitted Dream Theater fanboy) that I wanted an iPod... they were very popular and the Apple store was a very friendly and inviting place to shop.  I loved that thing.  It was the best piece of tech I had ever bought... yeah, I said it.  Well, like many, that started a passion for Apple that eventually led to me buying a 1st Gen Black MacBook, which I affectionately called "BlackBook."  I have never looked back since.  I bought a Mac Mini as my first desktop Mac, although it was meant for my budding home theater at the time, but my TV didn't really like it... never could get them to work right together, so I hooked the Mini to a monitor and began using it daily... and I found that I enjoyed using Mac OS X much more than Windows XP.   Well, the Mini got fried (and then so did my main HDD in my Dell.  Burns me up til this day.) and I was back to a Dell (running XP) and my BlackBook.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-417" title="logo apple" src="http://mmolenda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/logo-apple-150x150.gif" alt="logo apple" width="62" height="62" />I decided to buy an iMac and was an amazing purchase.  It serves my every need.  Rarely needs maintainance or even re-boots.  The hardware/software are so in-tune with each other, that I would not want Apple to licesnse out OS X to just anybody.  The clones would have to be tightly controlled as in the 90's... that does go against the whole Apple ecosystem they have cultivated (which is not much different than the ecosystem that surrounds a modern video game system... with the exception that you can't buy MS's Xboc360 OS or Sony PS3 OS as a retail product but would you if they offerend?  Probably not.).

Since then, I replaced my BlackBook with a uni-body MacBook (I wish it did have firewire, tho...).  It is, like my BlackBook before it, my constant companion.  It take it everywhere and neither laptop has ever let me down.  [Currently, the BlackBook is permanently attached to my TV where I can watch videos and surf the internet from the couch.]

I think Mac OS X is the best operating system I have used. (Note: I didn't make the claim as the best OS ever, but the best one I have ever used.  My opinion.)  To give some background, I have used: DOS/Windows 3.1;Windows 95;Windows 98;Windows XP;Windows 2000;briefly Windows Vista;Beta and RC version of Windows 7;Ubuntu 7.10;Ubuntu 8.04.  Sure, OS X has it's faults as no software is perfect but I prefer it over any of these other OSes.

I think of myself as a sort of techie... first computer was a TI99/4A and used many different machines over the years and I am quite happy with Apple... thus, drinking the kool-aid really wasn't a hard decision.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-421" title="windows_7_logo2" src="http://mmolenda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/windows_7_logo2-150x150.jpg" alt="windows_7_logo2" width="66" height="66" />(For the record, I did pre-order Windows 7 for my fiancee's old HP/Compaq computer.  I will have Windows in my house, but will be rarely used... 3 Macs and a PC all living in harmony... now if only the fanboys/fangirls could do the same.)