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which apple product would you own if you can only own 1

  • iphone

  • ipad

  • watch

  • mac laptop

  • mac desktop

  • airpods

  • apple tv

  • ipod touch

  • other


Results are only viewable after voting.
Yes. But this is a "pickup truck" example. Same goes for heavy video editing, scientific research etc.


Most of the people use their computer for web browsing, online shopping, checking email etc. And iPad is perfectly capable to do that. When they need to do a lot of typing, huge spreadsheets, they would use a PC. But this is just 5% of the time.
The error you're making is that there arent just two groups, one that does nothing at all beyond what an iPad can do and another that requires high end apps. There's a continuum and for a lot of people, the iPad doesn't cut it. That's why people have more than one device. Of course, for some, the ipad DOES cut it... as I said, it's a continuum.

My point, though, is that it's not that relevant how kids are introduced to computing because the requirements of a 12 year old are different from those of a 22 year old and even more different than a 32 year old. It's a logical error to blindly extrapolate the how a student (HS, college, etc) uses computing to how they will use it as adults. Usually, people add use cases... and so they add devices.
 
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My favourite is Mac but if I have to choose one I cannot do without then it will be iPhone. I need it far more than Mac even Mac is my favourite because my iPhone is my lifeline. If I get lost iPhone have map, if I need communicate with someone (I am Deaf) iPhone have notes app, if I need know which train/bus take iPhone have travel app cos train station/bus stop do give wrong info or use speaker so I cannot hear that, if I lose my credit card iPhone have Apple Pay, if I need contact someone then iPhone have iMessage, etc. So basically I cannot do without iPhone.
 
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the requirements of a 12 year old are different from those of a 22 year old and even more different than a 32 year old.
Yes!

that it's not that relevant how kids are introduced to computing

it is! People who used PCs before a mouse (pointing device) became a part of the set up, complained that it's useless and it's faster to use a keyboard. Those who started using PC with a mouse just couldn't imagine how can you do it any other way.


Usually, people add use cases... and so they add devices.

Yes! I agree with you. If someone is doing a lot of work from home (coding, video editing, typing etc) then they need a PC. But not everyone does it. The point here is the same as with cars: you have a choice. You don't have to buy a tower PC or even a laptop if you don't really need it. And as software develops, more and more task will be accomplished on an iPad. But of course some tasks would still require a PC.
 
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Well, I don't actually see where do we have a disagreement here.


it is! People who used PCs before a mouse (pointing device) became a part of the set up, complained that it's useless and it's faster to use a keyboard. Those who started using PC with a mouse just couldn't imagine how can you do it any other way.


Yes! I agree with you. If someone is doing a lot of work from home (coding, video editing, typing etc) then they need a PC. But not everyone does it. The point here is the same as with cars: you have a choice. You don't have to buy a tower PC or even a laptop if you don't really need it. And as software develops, more and more task could be accomplished on an iPad. But of course some tasks would still require a PC.
Yeah we do, actually (that's not a bad thing). How people are introduced to computing influences their perceptions, but it's not determinative. That's my point about 12/22/32 year old people. People change as they age and want to do different things.

To your last point, it's not all about work vs not. It's simply the fact that some things are easier to do with a keyboard and touchpad and some things that exist on the Mac don't and can't exist on the ipad (given the current state of ipadOS)... and vice versa. Of course people have choices... but that choice, for adults, isn't guided primarily by what they used as a teen. It's guided by what they do at the time they're making a choice.

Again, this is why most people have several devices. I spend a lot of time on a non-tech food forum and there are a surprising number of people who post there on their iPads almost exclusively. But they all own PCs of some kind too as well as smartphones of some variety.

The OP's question was what single device someone would choose and it's an interesting forcing question. If I'm allowed to have multiple devices but only one APPLE device, it's the Macbook. If I could only have one device, period? Probably the ipad Mini, actually, as it's small enough sub as a 'phone' and I could connect it to a screen and connect to other computers remotely for what I do professionally.
 
Yeah we do, actually (that's not a bad thing).
But I think we are talking about the same thing ?

The OP's question was what single device someone would choose and it's an interesting forcing question. If I'm allowed to have multiple devices but only one APPLE device, it's the Macbook.
Yes, I like the MacBook as well. But if you look closely, my first message wasn't an explanation of the vote. It was a reply to this comment:

You can see from reading the results of this thread why Apple concentrates so much resource on its phones. I miss the days when computers were the company's primary product.
 
My choice would be my MacBook Air, although I do use my iPhone daily. That's a hard decision to make under these parameters! What to choose other than iPhone? Not Android - had no fun learning it or using it and I don't know enough about alternatives.
 
A Mac desktop does all my heavy lifting. I see value in every other device, but if I could have only one, it would be that. Having said that, hoping for a replacement for the 27" iMac!
Same here. I would hate to give up either my iPhone or iPad, but I've been a Mac user since practically day 1. I had other phones before the iPhone came out, and I could adjust to other devices if I had to.
 
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Hands down, I’d keep my MacBook. I’d hate to go back to Android, but if came down to one device the iPhone and iPad are gone.
The iPhone is the device I use most, but I'd give it up. But I'd have to keep my Mac for productivity and work alone.
 
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Before Apple Silicon, it would probably have been an iMac. After Apple Silicon, the Macbook or Macbook Pro looked much more appealing. And after the Mac Studio... I think that's the perfect spot

But I do have a PC already, so if I still get to use that... probably just an intel Macbook Pro or an AS Macbook.
 
iPod. It's just elegant.

Everything else either has a "good enough" replacement, like the mac, won't matter if I'm not in the ecosystem (iMessage) or without the iOS juggernaught would have given way to another option, like with Windows Phone.

But the iPod? That's just classic, I still have my first gen 5gb model sitting in my drawer. I just need a Thunderbolt2 adapter to be able to use it.
 
People who used PCs before a mouse (pointing device) became a part of the set up, complained that it's useless and it's faster to use a keyboard.
That wasn't the common complaint at all. Most people saw the value in mouse-driven input immediately. The common complaint was that GUI-based operating systems themselves were very slow, because they were comparing textmode DOS to either the original Macintosh computers running off of floppies, or the original versions of Windows running on 1MB 286 computers. The ease of use that the mouse introduced was so obvious that most DOS productivity applications (Lotus, WordPerfect, etc.) adopted mouse input and menus very quickly, and even some DOS games (like King's Quest, for instance) quickly added mouse support.
 
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For me it's an easy choice, the Mac. I am not platform loyal. I have more Windows based PC's including several high end gaming rigs but there are things the Mac does really well. As far as phones, I have never owned an iPhone and I prefer Google phones. I own an Apple TV and I find them overpriced vs the competition. I was thinking of getting the latest Apple TV 4K and I purchased two Google Chromecast that support 4K at less than half price of the Apple TV and Apple TV+ has their app on the Chromecast.

The iPad is a close second but I have my phone and cellular service plus I own a Samsung S7+ tablet. I haven't worn a watch in 40 yrs and I can tell the time on my phone. My choice for the Mac is the Mini which I hope gets a refresh later this year.
 
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That wasn't the common complaint at all.

It was. Here's Bill Gates interview:

"The Star had a two-button mouse. And then went Apple went and did a mouse, they did a single-button. We believed the two-button concept was the right approach. So, we went to a Japanese company, Alps, got them to do some design work, paid the patent fees to SRI and Xerox for this, and came out with this as a low-cost add-on. So, even on a character-mode display, being able to move the cursor around in a natural way, we thought was a big advantage. We tied it to Word so that we had a bundle with Word and the Mouse. But then people who didn't like the Mouse thought they shouldn't buy Word. So, it was a little bit of a problem.

When we first brought this out we ordered 50,000 and it took over a year to sell the first 50,000.
Today we sell many, many hundreds of thousands in a month. But, at first it looked like maybe we had made a mistake. This did go on to be a very profitable thing for us and we continued to evolve the design going to a sleeker and sleeker appearance over time."

From Smithsonian Institution

Another take on this from the 80s:
We’ve done a cool $50 million of R & D on the Apple Human Interface. We discovered, among other things, two pertinent facts:

  • Test subjects consistently report that keyboarding is faster than mousing.
  • The stopwatch consistently proves mousing is faster than keyboarding.
This contradiction between user-experience and reality apparently forms the basis for many user/developers’ belief that the keyboard is faster.

Source: https://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html
 
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I really dislike rankings like these because I truly love all of my apple products, but the one I use the most and the one I would feel most “out of sorts” without is by far the iPhone.

There are days when I don’t use the iPad or the Mac but my iPhone is an indispensable workhorse.

It’s the daily tool for me in both my professional and personal life. It’s the first thing I look at in the mornings and the last at night when I go to bed as I drift off to sleep listening to podcasts. It keeps me in constant touch with people, it is my scheduling assistant and it is my window to the world that is with me at all times.
 
2019 iMac 27, Loaded. Max power, still minimally servicable, and runs 32bit, 64bit apps, has APFS prior to Big Sewer, has useful ports, runs Win from XP to 10 and CAD systems, doens't conflict with Wacom drivers, large format imaging equipment, CNC machines or Moog Synths. It's the pinnacle of Apple computers. From there, they just chopped away functionality til there was nothing left but a really fast chip that doesn't work with anything.
 
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