So, recently I’ve had a few conversations with people (most notably Samir) about why I enjoy Apple products. I’ve been given a bit of crap about loving my iPhone and shunning Android. Apparently this is seen as anti-geek, a step away from the tinkering fool I once was. My argument has been, for quite some time regarding the iPhone and the Mac (I’ve had both for about two years now), that I simply don’t have the time or energy to deal with the nuances and bullshit of Windows and Android. I don’t want to hunt for drivers, verify version compatibilities, change out this, that or the other thing, anytime I want to install a new app. I want it to “just work,” and it does. This pleases me.
Another thought has been creeping out from my subconscious lately about the simplicity involved here. Sometimes it’s a matter of visual appeal – simple, clean interfaces – though Windows has been making great strides to this effect as well of late. Sometimes it’s a matter of overall simplicity. Last week I downloaded Pages rather than get a new version of MS Word for Mac. I love Word, I know Word… some might say carnally. Word and I have been involved for a very, very long time. I can make Word do just what I want it to, when I want it to, almost every time. The thought of moving to a new word processing app made me apprehensive, to say the least. After only a week with it, thought, I can say that apprehension was for naught. I still don’t have the working knowledge of Pages that I do of Word, but it’s just so… so… pretty. I don’t mean this in the typical geek way; I can’t skin it with Gears of War logos or a Star Wars font. I can’t make the borders match my guild colors. I mean it in an artistic way. It’s clean, sleek, even minimal, and I love it all the more for those reasons.
Maybe I’m losing geek cred with every conversation I have like this. If that’s the case, so be it. My hardcore days are over. I don’t use linux (despite the BSD shell in OSX), I don’t crack lines of perl out anymore, and I don’t play MMORPGs into the wee hours of the morning. Yeah, I said it. What now?!