Published: January 31, 2008

When you hear the word “apple” these days, the discussion is more than likely not about fruit; what’s probably being referred to is Apple Inc., the company specializing in selling consumer electronics. Let’s forget about Wal-Mart for a second — it seems like Apple is taking over the world, our minds and our sleep. I don’t know about you, but I go to sleep sometimes dreaming about the company’s latest inventions, one after the next. I think a lot of people not just in this country and not just in their 20s, like myself, but from all age groups and from all over the world, can appreciate all which Apple has to offer. We can see Apple all around us, from the millions of iPods you see people sporting on the train to the variety of MacBooks that people bring to the classroom or the office. Let’s face it. We either like Apple a lot or at least need to admit that we are greatly impressed by its technological inventions even if we vowed loyalty to its competitors.

I tend to choose Apple for all of my technological needs, and for the same reasons, I think most people choose Apple. First of all, its product design is outstanding. They have a genius design team that makes some pretty cool looking gadgets to walk around with. Taking music players and computers with you everywhere you go is commonplace, and people are drawn to the beauty and distinction that comes along with owning apple products. I’ve known a lot of people who buy Apple products just so that people can distinguish them from PC computers and a variety of other music players. They need people to know that they are not walking around with something that can be perceived as “uncool” or just “a piece of junk.” I am not saying that this company is the only one capable of doing anything right in the field of technology, but I think that people do not have the time to truly find which PC or music player is good or can work for them.

According to Apple, “It just works,” and it does so for lots of very different people with very different needs. For example, PC computers are used by big businesses and people that don’t need artsy design applications, but rather something more along the lines of pie charts, graphs and presentations. This is also another reason why PC computers are associated with the adjectives old, geeky (if you will) and boring. No one wants to really be associated with or think of themselves as any of these negative qualities. That’s why you can see people from the age of 10 to 100 with Apple products. Something even more outstanding about Apple computers are that the newer models have intel cores, which allows the user to run a Windows operating system, almost making the need for a PC disappear.

Another important factor as to why Apple has blown up with success is that people feel that they can rely on their Apple computers, since they rarely experience the random shutdowns, random slow-downs and random viruses as the owners may have experienced with PC computers in the past. The line of Apple commercials help to point out these fatal flaws that hinder the success and sales of PC computers.

I saw how crazy many people actually are for Apple products when the iPhone first came out. The famous iPhone product packed an 8G iPod, as well as an amazing Internet browser, all into a phone, and got great media coverage—people started lining up outside stores weeks before its release for sale. I was one of those crazy people on line, but I think I own an amazing phone and know that many of the other buyers feel the exact same way. Even the busiest of workers took time off from work to stand on that never-ending line. Price never came up in the conversations people were having while they waited, and you could only see one thing in the pupils of these “starving” people, and that was the iPhone. You could tell that they just had to have the product, and under no circumstances were they leaving without it.

I have never seen more accessories for any other brand of products. There are cases of rubber, metal, plastic, crystals—you name it—for all the versions of the iPod. There are snap-on cases, fur cases, sleeves and handbags for all of the MacBooks out there. The quantity of accessories for the Apple line of products gives consumers one more reason to go Apple. From online Web sites to street vendors to stores in the mall, accessories for Apple products have become hot-selling partners with the actual harware.

Apple has become the new standard to beat among competing companies. However, with these products’ ever-changing improvement in design and functionality, the task seems close to impossible. Even Apple aims to outshine Apple every now and then, and they are successful at doing it, too. The best part of all is that they have managed to still make it all just work!