Poll:Do you own any Apple products?

[IBWino]

After watching a news segment about Apple's new product releases yesterday, my wife and I both thought of a friend of ours who has to buy every new Apple gadget as soon as it is available. It seems like we are a minority in our circle of friends and family in that we don't own a single Apple product. It's not that we have anything against Apple, we just don't have any need or interest. This got me to wondering if we are unique in our indifference. Do you own any Apple products?

Edit: Just to be clear, this isn't intended to be an Apple bashing thread. I'm simply an outsider trying to understand all of the buzz and media enthusiasm that arises from their new product announcements.

[Onward]

Nope. I'm not cool enough.

[HFWR]

iPhone

[FIREd]

Between the 2 of us, DW and I own:

1 iPad
2 iPhones (3Gs and 4)
1 iPod Touch (1st gen)
1 iPod Classic (2nd gen)
2 iPod Nanos (1st gen)
1 AirPort Wireless router
2 Apple TVs
Plus a bunch of accessories.

I am not a die-hard fan, but their stuff just works.

[want2er]

I have an iPhone. Daughter has iPhone & MacBook Pro.

Would love an iPad but not in my new FIRE budget!

[Leonidas]

I resisted for years against the Apple. I was proud to own what I called my "not a damn iPod" mp3 player. But then one day while trying to get my new Zune to do something simple, like make a play list, I became frustrated and broke down and bought an iPod Nano.

Now, two-three years later, I have an iPhone and my original Nano. DW and DS #2 both have Nanos that I bought them as presents. And even DS #1, the CS major who is rabidly anti-Apple, loves his iPhone. Even after he owned his phone for a year he tried to get me to buy an Android phone recently. When I questioned that recommendation he admitted that the iPhone was better but he just wanted to have an Android in the house so he could play with it.

I love my iPhone - it's a constant companion stuffed full of books and podcasts that I listen to throughout the day, applications that I use daily, agenda, calendar, etc and so on. I'm not sure about the iPad, but I may go try one out one of these days.

Like Firedreamer says, their stuff just works.

I don't buy any of the stuff when it first comes out. In fact, I try to wait and buy an older version of something right after the newer version has come out so I can get it on sale.

I am not a fanatic about Apple stuff, but I am a believer because the stuff works and people like it. I've even bought stock in the company.

[aaronc879]

I have never owned an Apple product. The only time i've ever used an Apple product was the Apple IIe computer back in grade school. I have nothing against Apple, it just seems there stuff is high-end and my budget is not. They don't offer a single product that I consider a necessity and can't get somewhere else for less so I don't spend my hard-earned money on any of their stuff.

[IBWino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas ...I've even bought stock in the company.

Hey, maybe I should have included that statement in one of the poll options.

It reminds me of the old Remingtom shaver commercials; "I loved it so much I bought the company".

[Alan]

I've owned an iPod for about 5 years.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBWino It reminds me of the old Remingtom shaver commercials; "I loved it so much I bought the company".

I fought the good fight for years, believing that anyone who bought Apple stuff was a damn fool being separated from his money. But I got tired of trying to make all of that cheaper non-Apple stuff work.

Buying the first chunk of stock was a surrender. But buying the second chunk was after I saw how much money I was making on the first bit. Still, I don't think I love the company, but I own the stock for the same reason I own some of its products - it just works (but I also own shares in INTC, MSFT, and IBM, because those stocks have worked nicely for me as well).

No Apple computers here, yet.

[Lazarus]

I w*rk in IT and I use Apple computers at home. Just want something that works. Tired of dinking with computers. I have two old Imacs about 4 to 5 years old. A 3 year old macbook and two ipods. My Daughter has a I phone 4 that I bought her.

Probably will buy a new Imac this year or next.

Check the refurbished products on the store page.

[grumpy]

I had an Apple PowerBook G3 that I bought used. It lasted about 2.5 years. I then bought a G4, again used. It died after 1 year. Now I have learned my lesson. I bought a Toshiba Netbook and it is great.

[Ronstar]

Imac
Macbook (old & don't use anymore)
MacBook - DW
Ipod
Ipod touch
Iphone - DW

[Meadbh]

I don't have any Apple devices. I do have iTunes loaded on my Toshiba laptop. I use it to copy CDs to files to listen to on my Blackberry.

I think that the people who rush out to buy every Apple device immediately it comes on the market are just the innovators on the marketing curve. I have a colleague like that. It's a very expensive way to live.

[braumeister]

Bought my first Apple II in 1980.
Bought my first Mac in 1987.
Used to write technical documentation for a company that developed custom Mac software.
Have made a lot of money over the years in Apple stock.

[Sue J]

Our first Apple product was a hand me down Apple IIe from my FIL. He liked to pay full price for new gadgets. We loved it and used it all the time, but it didn't get internet.

-Son #1 bought an early 20GB iPod in 2004 I think.
-Son #2 bought a Mac laptop in 2004
-Son #2 bought an iPod mini which he later passed on to DH
-The family bought me an iPod Shuffle in 2005 (for my 50th birthday) which I have passed on to Son #2
-I got a free iPod Nano in 2008 for opening a bank account and making required transactions
-Son #2 won an iPod Nano at a raffle in 2009
-Son #2 bought a Mac Mini in 2010 to replace his 2004 Mac laptop because his OS was no longer supported and he couldn't upgrade
-I just got a free iPod Touch for opening a bank account and making required transactions

We're actually mostly a PC family but it looks like we have a lot of Apple products. I love my new iPod Touch.

One problem with Apple products is that they introduce new items and their older stuff gets left behind. My son's laptop from 2004 still works just fine but he could no longer update the browser so many pages wouldn't show up correctly. He needed a newer OS but the latest ones couldn't be used on his laptop. He came to a dead end so he bought the Mac Mini with a current OS.

[kyounge1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus I w*rk in IT and I use Apple computers at home. Just want something that works. Tired of dinking with computers. I have two old Imacs about 4 to 5 years old. A 3 year old macbook and two ipods. My Daughter has a I phone 4 that I bought her. Probably will buy a new Imac this year or next. Check the refurbished products on the store page.

I have been a Mac user since my second computer, a Powerbook 520c. (My first computer was a Commodore 128!) I currently own a relatively new Mac Mini, a beige G-3 (eventually I will get around to setting it up as an automatic-backup server), a Powerbook and an Imac (the one with the works inside the screen). I also have a PC laptop that I bought for two specific programs (one of which I haven't yet gotten around to buying), but the Mini is an Intel-chip machine and I may someday get the software that turns an Intel Mac into a dual-boot machine. Right now those two programs both want Windows XP operating system, and I don't know where to get a copy of that to install (legally) on my Mac, or I might well have added the dual-OS capacity already. One of these days both programs will be updated to use Windows 7 and then (probably) bye-bye PC laptop.

The only one of my computers that I've ever had any significant problems with was the iMac; perhaps not coincidentally, that was also the only one that was a refurb. (The 520c and the Mini, I bought new; the other Powerbook I bought used on eBay.) I don't have any of the other gadgets, but one of these days I will probably succumb to temptation and buy an iPad. My advice: if you buy a Mac, don't buy a refurb.

As others have said, Macs just work. I've never yet been reduced to tears of frustration trying to do something with a Mac. I can't say the same about PC's!

[audreyh1]

We've had Apple computers for years. For many years it was the only platform for doing serious photoediting, but we still had them before and since. DH got one of the earliest iPods, and we've bought a few since. We've had their Airport wireless routers as soon as they became available. Never got iPhones, but I got an iPad as soon as I could. We have been waiting for the new version of the AppleTV - it was just announced.

I did my Master's Thesis on the original Mac. We've had a Mac in the household ever since.

DH even had a Newton! That was the source of much amusement. Fortunately Jobs returned to the company, and stuff started working again.

We like owning and using elegant tools that work. Productivity matters, even in leisure.

We own a fair chunk of Apple stock too, and have since the 90s.

Audrey

[FUEGO]

No we don't own any right now. DW just was recognized at work for doing something awesome and they gave her an ipod shuffle (shipped to our house). Ebay or craigslist will soon have 1 more ipod shuffle listed for sale.

I'm sure it is a decent piece of equipment, just not worth the price. And we already have better, more feature rich mp3 players (non-apple) that we don't use a whole lot. Also, I HATE being forced to use proprietary software to get data to mp3 players. Our sandisk brand mp3 players are drag and drop just like a flash drive (actually you can use them as flash drives) without any software at all. So easy to get music on there how you want it. Simple. Ease of use and simplicity is more important that sleek styling, fancy interfaces, having a name brand device recognizable by others etc.

The one i-something I wouldn't mind owning is a ipod touch (or a similar device from a competitor). Maybe when I can pick one up cheap I might go for it. Mostly for a toy/entertainment, hence why I'm not really keen on paying a lot for it. Of course I would research competing devices to see if anything better and/or cheaper was available at the time. Unlike some, I'm not under the apple spell and treat their products just like all the other commodity electronics suppliers' products. Best value device gets my dollar.

[saluki9]

I have an iPhone 4. The screen is brilliant, the battery life is better than my older 3GS, but the dropped calls are totally unacceptable

On the other hand... I bought a Macbook Pro in January. It is possibly one of the best things I have ever bought, period.