Alright, I'll be the first to admit this; I'm a fan of Apple and their products. I currently own several (many) Apple products, and I plan to own more in the future, if I'm able. Right now, I have a Macbook (white), an iMac(orange), an iPod Classic (160 gig), an iPod Touch (2nd Gen, 32 gig), an iPhone (3G, 16 gig), and an iPad 2 (white, 64 gig). According to some of my friends and family, it's a bit excessive, but I disagree. Each and every one of my Apple devices gets used at least once a day (with the possible exception of the iMac, I use that less now that I have the Macbook). They each have different uses and I use them all.
No, I'm not one of the blind followers of Steve Jobs who just buys Apple products because he tells me to. I've shopped the market and tried plenty of other devices to find which will suit my needs the best, and Apple has always been the winner in the end. Up until a day ago, I was using an HTC MyTouch 3G with Android 2.2 installed on it. Everybody had told me that Android was the way to go with phones, so I caved and bought one. For the first week, I loved it. It was new and different and I couldn't stop talking about it. But, then all the issues entailed with Android started to get to me. There were too many glitches in the OS that I started to hate it. If I added a new contact to my list, the phone would delete it after about 30 seconds. I was unable to get into my photos folder to send pictures to people. When I wanted to scroll up a message thread, the phone was extremely glitchy and would keep pulling me back down to the bottom of the thread. There are many other problems I had with the phone, but I won't list them all here. So, after 6 months of using that phone, I decided to switch to a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone 3G. I've only been using the phone for a day, but haven't had any of the problems I listed above. That doesn't mean the phone isn't going to have other problems, but so far, it's leaps and bounds above the MyTouch.
I've also shopped the market when it comes to computers. Before I had my Macbook, I was using a Dell Inspiron 6000, and when I got it, I loved it. It ran everything I needed it to run, and it ran it all decently well. The issues I had with it were that it was quite large (15 inch screen) and it weighed quite a bit (almost 5 pounds, which is a lot for a laptop). There was also the issue with how easily it seemed to pick up viruses. It didn't matter what sites I went to, viruses always seemed to find their way onto my hard drive. The biggest issue, however was the fact that after a year and a half, the internal battery charger died on me. The only way I could use the laptop anymore was if I had it plugged into the wall. That's all well and fine for a desktop pc, but for a laptop, that's a huge inconvenience. After 6 months of only being able to use it plugged in, I broke down and bought a Macbook. It cost the same amount as my Dell did when I first bought it, but it ran so much better. I've yet to get a virus on my Mac, and I've been using it for almost 3 years now. Going along with that, I'm still able to get about 3 hours of battery life out of it before I have to plug it in again.
As for mp3 players, I just immediately went with iPods. I knew from playing with my friend's iPods that they were quality. I've still bought things other than iPods. I have an Archos 5 that I use rather frequently, mostly for recording TV, but my iPod Classic and iPod Touch get used more.
As for the iPad 2, I knew that I wanted a tablet, and before having owned an Android phone, I would have considered getting a Motorola Xoom. Sadly, Android has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think I'll be going back to it. So, I went with an Ipad 2. I have to say, I use that device more than any of my other tech devices now. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. It's perfect for watching video or browsing the internet, which is one of the main things I use it for. I also love many of the apps for it. *cough*Pocket Frogs*cough*
In summation, I know this sounds like I'm just defending an obsession, but in reality, the reason I keep buying Apple products is because I know they are going to be of the highest quality, will last me the longest, and will give me the best user experience of anything else on the market.
