Apple ?

I’ve really been in doubt about what to write for todays blog post.
I’m normally not the person to post something that is not a bit photography related but I decided that in fact this was photo related and not in a small sense so I thought why not.

This has been a shitty week for us.
First we found small lumps in the neck of our cat Joey, a few months ago he was given up and had maybe 2-3 weeks to live, however we found a doctor that was willing to do a very risky operation and much to our surprise Joey recovered and it looked like the cancer was gone. Up until a few days ago when we felt small lumps again and we just felt it was wrong…. we went to the same doctor and got the horrible news that it was spread out and this time there really was nothing more he could do. We will give Joey a really nice few last days or hopefully weeks. For some people it’s just a pet, but for people like us he is part of our family and has been for about 14 years so he will be greatly missed when the time is there.

Yesterday morning I woke up with the sad news that Steve Jobs of Apple died, and although we all knew he was very ill this still was a shock. For me it’s a bit of a addition to the shitty feeling I already had making my week even worse. Now one could say that Jobs was just someone you don’t know but although for us the passing of Jobs is not something that we will experience as the loss of a family member or even friend it’s still something that made me stop and also gave me a very sad feeling, in this blog post I want to pay my respects to someone that I think changed the world, well at least also mine.

I have been a PC user for many years, my first ever PC was a COMX35 followed by the MSX-2 and the Amiga to finally end with a PC. So you could say I’ve been there from the start as a little boy. In my youth I played guitar and most people told me that the Atari was the thing to have, well I never bought one, I strongly believed in my analogue multi recorder which for me was meant for music and not a computer.

When we fast forward a few years I started a computer company with my wife Annewiek and we sold and repaired PCs, we made our name with machines build to specific specs, real speciality machines for video editing and photography, and yes I knew Apple by then but always thought that they were overpriced and ran way too little software to make them interesting for our company, and most people agreed with us because you did not see a lot of Apples then.

When we fast forward another few years my wife had taken over the company and I was “free” to focus 100% on photography. When I bought my Leaf digital back I was one of the only ones using a PC with this back, because I already owned the back it was a BIG surprise that they did not have PC software… what is this for ridiculous system ? well much to my luck they gave me a beta from their windows software and I fell in love with MF…. however when shooting on location I needed a laptop with powered firewire and there was no PC that supported that, hummmm that’s a real problem but…. I knew that the MacBookPro did, so I bought my first MBP just for powered firewire and because at that time I was one of Leafs beta testers and featured photographer I thought it would be a good idea to also install MacOsX (yeah you read this correctly with my first use of the MBP I had my main user OS on Windows) and test the differences between MacOSX and windows.

This took me about 2 weeks and I fell in love with MacOSx, I do have to say that I’m that kind of guy that loves new things and switch relatively easy between systems, however the mac experience was something that stunned me, within days I knew how to work within MacOSX that took me much longer under Windows, and much to my surprise my MBP was even faster that my PC under certain filters in Photoshop…. oh and it never crashed. At the time it was time to reinstall windows again I decided it was time to switch to a MacPro, I installed my system by hand only to find out later that the only thing I needed to do was to run a firewire cable between my MBP and MacPro and everything would be mirrored. I think this was my AHA WOW moment. With windows I reinstalled windows on a regular basis (I love to experiment with software) and even had a mirror windows just in case. When I found out that with MacOSx there were no problems with reinstalling programs I was convinced out with Windows hello MacOSx.

In the mean time I also got my first iPhone.
Also such a weird story, I never wanted a phone that could do internet, I just wanted to be called and call myself, oh my what has the world changed I now can’t live without my iPhone…. and the same for Annewiek. I wanted a new iPhone and wanted to give my iPhone to Annewiek but she didn’t want it, somehow she did not like the idea of a telephone that did everything (sounds familiar ? :D) however the moment she started using it she loved it and now she is as we call it here an “iPhone addict”.

Now let’s take the iPad.
When I saw it announced I LOVED it, but was very disappointed when it was released, I hoped for a notebook replacement and what we got was a big iPhone pffff. Well my opinion changed when I played with it, it rocked and made me do my work totally different, and for me in MANY instances it is the replacement for my MBP, I hardly do mails anymore on my MBP and do it on my iPad or iPhone.

Also the AppleTV entered our house (and remember 5 years ago I did not like Apple, I did not hate them, but I just was not interested) and again I bought it just for watching kelbytraining videos on the big screen without having to run cables, and fell in love with all the other features.
That brings me to the conclusion of this blogpost about Steve Jobs, but maybe more Apple, but maybe more Steve Jobs….. you know what I mean. Somehow Apple/Steve Jobs did something that up until now NO other company ever did for me it turned me into someone that others will call “fanboy” and man do I hate that word, but I guess it’s true, but not like a cult or Steve Jobs is God kind of way, no way he is only human, but a brilliant one. But in a way that maybe most people feel, and when seeing all the responses of his death now maybe also must be clear to the Apple haters…. I think for example that remarks like “great device, just a shame it’s Apple” is more a dumb remark than one that makes sense, again I also was in the camp of no Apple for me, however when it can change my life and make it better ? why not.

For me Apple is more than a brand (and this sounds fan boyish but stay with me), Apple products seem to bring out the comfort and relaxation we all need, thanks to my iPhone and iPad I can now check my mails and social media while watching a movie without the need to run to my office to see if I missed that important email. But it also took care of my collection of magazines, somehow I don’t read them anymore, the most I replaced with subscriptions on the iPad and love that much more. But it also revolutionized traveling for me, I hated to fly I was bored to death by the inflight entertainment and somehow I don’t like reading. Thanks to the iPad I love to fly (well I still hate the seats, but it’s much more bearable thanks to my iPad).

And as a photographer I just LOVE my iPhone4 and looking forward to the 4S (for Steve ?), I never thought I would use the camera that much, but most of all I’m stunned by the video quality, it’s awesome and the 4S is improving that even more… I can’t wait. And let’s be honest a few years ago I laughed at the sales person who told me that the build in camera of my Nokia phone was good enough to replace a P&S ….. now they really are.

Apple products have revolutionized the way we interconnect, the way we get our news and the way we work with electronics.
I hear you think “yeah but don’t forget the other brands” and trust me I don’t.
However what I REALLY love about Apple is the way it all works, everything works out of the box. Everything is clear to operate without the need of a manual, to be honest I never ever read a manual or book on OSX, iPhone or iPad but I know how to operate all of them, and look at the remote control for the Apple TV, compare that the remote for my sat receiver (which has the simplest remote) it’s a HUGE difference.

And yes, most Apple products are expensive but they also never failed me and made my life a LOT easier and more fun.
So although I don’t feel the loss of Steve Jobs as a good friend, family or even distant friend I’m saddened without any doubt that the WORLD has lost someone that in my opinion was a real live changer and made OUR world (Apple lover or hater) A LOT better.  How would the “PC” look without Apple ? would we still carry around walkmans ? would we have internet on our phones ? would we…… etc. etc.

RIP Steve Jobs you have together with Apple the world a boost in connectivity and social contacts but most off all you have released us from the need to read manuals or explain to our wives, grandparents, parents etc. how to operate our gear. For that alone I think he deserves to be added to the icons of the modern age.