Thank You Apple for making me Love Technology…
It must have been, 2009 or maybe 2010. I was visiting my cousin on the occasion of an Indian festival. I was just moving around because I was eager to see what was being served.
And I noticed a small black device, placed on the dining table. It looked as if it was some sort of a block. A black block with curved silver colored back, with one button on the top. And I knew, seeing that button, that it was something electronic! But what could it be? I couldn’t see any more buttons, because maybe I was just amazed by the sleekness and the color combination.
My cousin came to the table and picked up the device. And the screen turned on.
OMG! What did just happen?
She picked up the device and the screen was on. I didn’t see her press anything. How did that happen? By this time, I knew that it was a phone. But who makes a phone with a single button! (PS: Now I know that the button was present but I couldn’t notice the movement of the fingers when she pressed the button to unlock the phone)
And I was eager to know more about it. That’s something, I was looking at the whole time I was there. Now, I was there to stare at the device than to celebrate the festival.
When I was back home, I searched online as to what was that thing and yielded no result because I didn’t have any clue on what to search for. And one fine day, I learnt that it was the iPhone 3S by Apple. Till now, I had only heard about Apple and their products being priced at premium but had never seen one of them! I always thought, why pay double or even triple for a device that I can buy from any other brand in the market. Much cheaper and would not be financially broken if the device was lost.
I had mixed feelings about Apple. On one hand, I loved their design of the phone. Because, that’s all I knew about Apple back then. On the other hand, I was confused about the fact that, if you have a single button, how do you pick up or hang up on calls? Because all the devices, that I had come across, had 3 buttons at least, Home Button, Call Start and Call End.
And the journey began to learn more about the Apple and their products.
It must have been the Winter of 2010 and I encountered another device from Apple now.
It was the iPod Classic.
I’m not an avid listener but I saw it when my cousin was using it. He was just playing some random music and changing tracks.
I was blown away by the design and the concept of it. Not that it was new, but because it was my first experience with it. The interface, the buttons, the scroll, the design, the color, everything seemed so perfect!
And I moved towards Apple a little bit more.
A wish to own an Apple product some day!
Now, in the year 2011, I think I grew fond of Laptops. They were hotshot and popular. And mainly, I was to move to college in another 2 years now. So, eventually, I’d own a laptop. So, I visited this electronics store in my home town.
Eager to buy one of my own, I went ahead to look for the price of the Macbook Pro. That was the first time I was seeing the
Macbook Pro in Metal and Plastic!
I’d only seen the pictures but nothing in real, nothing tangible, nothing I could touch and feel, nothing I could hold in my hands.
But again, the price difference was huge, between what I could afford and what Macbook Pro was priced at. Unfortunately, Indians pay a premium on the prices of the Apple products and hence, it was out of the scope to consider buying, even after I’d have collected a few more bucks.
And this day I decided:
I’ll always pay from my pocket for any Apple Product I buy! Ever! My salary! My savings! My Apple!
Probably, my dad could afford it. But I never dared to ask him because it was a premium product! It was costly! Out of our hands.
And I started following Apple’s launch events closely. To see if I could just afford the previous models after the prices were cut. I would eagerly wait for the launch to happen in India and prices for the older models to go down.
But still they were out of reach!
And in 2017,
Apple launched the new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X
I had just saved enough to buy an iPhone 6S, after the price cut that was to be announced after the launch of the new iPhones.
I worked for a startup in Bangalore. Lived at minimum expenses because I knew, it’s time for an
Apple Experience!
I needed a new phone and this time I wanted to try the premiums.
Now, I was in a dilemma. I had used Android for almost 5 years now. And Google had launched their Pixel devices. That’s one hell of a device, for sure! On the contrary, iPhone 6S was quite an old one! Added with the complexity of shifting to a new OS with lower memory and RAM. (PS: I never acknowledged the fact that the memory requirements was different for Android and iOS. I was more worried about the numbers than the actual value.)
And so I decided to go for Google Pixel XL…
It wasn’t that old. And Amazon offered me a great price against my old phone. Mainly, I could save enough to maybe go out for movie and have popcorn, like 5–6 times.
Unfortunately, the device was faulty. It had some hardware issue which was very well covered under the warranty. All I had to do was just wait for the technician to show up. But even after repeated requests and complains, Amazon delayed and I had to ask for a refund for the product.
I was annoyed at this moment because, the device was Awesome! But due to some internal wiring issue, it wasn’t working properly. Amazon was kind enough to refund me the whole amount without any questions asked.
Now, I had no phone, as I had traded my old one for Google Pixel and I needed one badly. Now that I had held a premium faulty device, I was not in the mood to spend so much on a phone. And I ended up with a cheaper Android which would just suffice my needs. I’m not an avid gamer so all I needed to do was: Use a few apps, make a few phone calls, check mails and take down some notes and events.
When I told them that I ended up buying a cheaper phone, all the way from Google Pixel, they were shocked and
Doubted if I had gone Insane!
Because I could have bought almost 5 phones against the price of 1 Google Pixel! Yeah! That Cheap!
And so it was the time of festival and so I visited my parents. My dad was adamant on buying me a new phone. But I was stuck on the fact that I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I’m okay with this one.
And one fine day, I get up from my bed and I tell my dad, at the dining table while having breakfast, that
I want to buy an iPhone today!
I just feel like buying it.
PS: Please be advised that I didn’t have a dream about it! I didn’t ask anyone for a review! No one convinced me to buy an iPhone. It was just spur of the moment. And maybe the fact that I wanted to try something new was pushing the adrenaline!
So, that evening, we head down to the Electronics store. It’s been just a few days after iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X was launched. So, the prices for iPhone 6S and 7 were dropped.
I asked the sales guy to show me iPhone 7. Because I had saved a few more bucks, I could afford iPhone 7 now. I liked the piece. But again,
My heart was stuck on iPhone 8. Yes! I loved the design of iPhone 8 more than X!
And this was noticed by my brother who accompanied my father and me. And he nudged my dad to buy me an iPhone 8 instead of iPhone 7. I knew I didn’t have the money to buy it. But, my dad agreed to buy me iPhone 8. I just had to spend a little more from my other savings. And I could just own the latest iPhone 8. It looked exactly the same as iPhone 7. No difference except the Glass back. But I knew that I held an iPhone 8 and the specifications were out of the sky high than iPhone 7.
And that’s the day I transitioned from Android to iOS
After almost 8 years of admiring all the Apple products, I finally held one in my hand. I finally had saved enough to buy one of those! To buy innovation! To buy a piece of Art! To experience something that I couldn’t have possibly dreamt of!
Why did I like Apple so much?
Because of their amalgamation of Software and Hardware. Because of their memory management. Because of their ability to put under the hood a tech far ahead of its competitors. And the biggest reason:
Privacy First Policy…
User’s privacy is considered the first principle at Apple! And that’s what glued me towards buying an Apple product. I do use non-Apple products even today! But I was amazed, mesmerized, attracted and so much more by that principle.
Today, I still own an iPhone 8. And the recently launched iPhone 11 and 11 Pro caught my eye! Some people might disagree but
I loved the looks of iPhone 11 and 11 Pro!
Hopefully, I should be able to save enough to aim for Air Pods by 2020 and then probably a Macbook Pro by 2022. Because even if I have to wait for years to have an Apple, I’d prefer waiting because:
I want to buy my own Apple Products!
Apple is a Feeling! It’s an Emotion! It’s Innovation! It’s Invention!
