The age of the Apple

 In the grand scheme of things, I'm an Apple and Mac n00b (newbie). I've only recently joined the club (or cult, however you see it) of Apple fanatics who swoon at the latest news/release of a new gadget or gizmo from the company. But it all brings me to a really interesting point - could this finally be the Age of the Apple? No doubt Apple has played a major role in media technology, especially mobile technology, the last few years. Afterall, how many of us haven't been fascinated with an iPOD at one point or another? Heck, even one of my parents, who adamantely refuses to join Facebook, rocks an iPOD! And trust me, that's saying something. Even my brother, who's certainly no one to rush out and buy the latest technology gadget, has owned an iPOD or two. And then of course, there's me. I have always been a die hard Windows enthusiast. I started a website back in 2001, that was devoted to Windows XP - and the site grew to over 100,000 registered members at one point. Vista of course put a major hurt on my enthusiasm (I suspect I wasn't alone) and Microsoft was fortunate that Windows 7 redeemed the company in my eyes. But Vista really burst the buble... making me think back to the days of Windows Me. *shudders*

And all this time I've been thinking it was Google who was putting the pressure on Microsoft. But, no, it wasn't just them. And I'm not talking about Facebook. Apple is becomming a force to reckon with, not only in the media devices sector, but in the computing market as well. I recently purchased my first laptop from Apple, and so far, I love it. It's pretty much convinced me that my next desktop will indeed be a Mac, especially if OS X Lion is everything I hear it will be. Unlike Microsoft, Apple seems to "get it right" with nearly every OS release, be it for computers or for mobile devices. Has any mobile OS been as successful as iOS, which runs the iPOD, iPhone, iPad, etc? Heck, even Google, arguably, copied them with the latest series of Droid phones. And if you can get Google... I mean come on, it's Google, to copy you, you're doing something right - no doubt about that.

And then there's this. According to Apple's last quarterly report, the company has amassed revenue of $26.4 billion, which is a record-breaking 71% increase from last year’s report from this same time.How on earth can anyone ignore that statistic?

Google has taken notice, Microsoft has taken notice, and now, no doubt, AT&T has taken notice that Apple is all business. Yes, the possible loss of Steve Jobs to health issues is a unfortuate event, but this is a strong company from the inside out. It's a company built on discipline and secrecy; which in the end, builds incredible hype for their products - and rightfully so.

I look around me at my recent purchases and I see an new iPOD, an iPad, an Apple TV, a Macbook Air, and soon enough, an iPhone and I can't help but think... if I, me, John Derrick, Windows enthusiast, of all people could convert to Apple - then who's next?

The new year is upon us, and I think this new decade may very well be the 'Age of the Apple.'