Too much Apple Kool-Aid?

Hi. My name is Anne, and I'm an Apple FanWoman. I'm been drinking the Apple KoolAid since 2004.

My first computer was not an Apple product but a RadioShack TRS80 on which I learned BASIC programming. In college I upgraded to an IBM clone that helped me complete two engineering degrees. Connected to a phone modem, it ran iterations for cost efficient garbage pick up for a fictional city, patent discussions essays and my Master's degree on a particular semiconductor characterization technique. After many years of using the computer and learning a programming language (FORTRAN), I'd developed a familiarity with my IBM clone that let me use both DOS and the Windows OS with ease.

My first taste of Apple Kool-Aid happened during grad school and I hated it. In charge of managing my adviser's research budgets, I'd typed four hours worth of data into a special program just for the computer to crash, losing EVERY keystroke. Not knowing enough about Apple products, I couldn't figure out any of the back doors that I knew on an IBM-type machine. So, I had to retype everything, but before my adviser purchased the program for Windows based machines. With the awful taste still memorable, I avoided the Apple Kool-Aid at all costs after that.

I didn't drink the kool-aid again until I'd left the workforce and was a full-time stay-at-home mom. After  our Windows-based computer finally crashed, my husband, an Apple fanboy, suggested that we look at an iMac. Reluctantly, I accompanied him to the Apple Store, and WOW.  I've never looked back.

The best thing to say is that the devices are sooo easy to use. Be it an iPod (Classic, Shuffle, Nano, Touch), iPhone, iMac (PowerPC and Intel), MacBook Air, AppleTV, I've been happy with each and every purchase. And when our current Apple computers, devices and appliances give out, I plan to replace them with more Apple products.

And now there is the iPad. Do I need it? No. Do I want it? YES! While I could probably do with out one, I can too easily see where it would fit in very nicely in my life ... an eBook reader.

Over at TechCrunch today is a post addressing the iPad vs. the Kindle. And I'd have to say I pretty much agree with each discussion point. Even though we have a Kindle, I still do most of electronic reading on my iPhone. But if I had a choice, I'd prefer something the size of the Kindle with iPhone capabilities. And now, there is just a device; the iPad.

I can already imagine using it to catch up on shows that the cable-provided DVR missed, in the kitchen with ecookbooks and my own recipes in my Bento database, keeping the kids busy while we are out and about. Nevermind the ability to write on the go (using Evernote, WriteRoom, Safari). It remains to be seen if it would replace my MacBook Air as I use Scrivener as my primary writing tool.

Better go and get some water, I've drunk my fill of Apple Kool-Aid for the day.