I didn't watch the release of the original Macintosh, and I don't even quite remember exactly when the iMac or the iPod were originally released. I was not that interested in Apple back then. But Apple eventually caught my attention and I must say some of its products truly amazed me. Not all of them, though.
Here is my list:
2007: iPhone / iPod touch. I didn't see the keynote, and I was not aware of how amazing this product was until I first saw an iPod touch for sale in a store, months after its release. Then I understood why everybody was so crazy about it. It was unprecedented. I ended up buying a first-generation iPod touch, but in the end I missed cellular Internet access.
2008: Unibody MacBook. The unibody aluminum design and the multi-touch trackpad caught my attention. It looked and felt much better than anything else in the market. I ended up not buying one, since I had bought a polycarbonate MacBook a few months earlier.
2009: Aluminum unibody iMac: This is the iMac that truly impressed me. Previous iMacs failed to catch my attention because they looked like underpowered machines for daily usage. They had low-voltage Intel processors, just like laptops. But in 2009 the larger chassis allowed for the use of desktop processors, and the iMac became more compelling. And the 27-inch IPS screen with a 2560x1440 resolution caught my eyes. I did not buy one, but I wish I did.
2010: iPhone 4. When I thought Apple couldn't make the iPhone any more compelling, and that the models were just getting faster, the iPhone 4 with retina display was unveiled. Such a high resolution display was something I was really missing on all products, especially on smartphones. I did not buy this one, but I ended up buying the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 did not impress me as much at launch (I found the specs underwhelming), but after a few months using it, I can also testify it is a worthy upgrade.
2010: MacBook Air. The first generation MacBook Air was interesting, but not impressive: a thin and light, yet expensive and slow laptop. Not practical. But the second generation, with a much lower price and SSD storage (in a time when SSD was rare), was impressive. I did not buy it just because Apple put a Core 2 Duo processor on it at the time, when Sandy Bridge was almost being released. I bought a PC instead, and I regretted it later.
2012: iPad 3. While I was not impressed by the original iPad, I just thought that the retina display on a tablet was fantastic. The clarity and sharpness of the screen made images look like photographs, and text to look like it was printed. I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing such a screen would look on a Mac. I bought it on the day of launch. I still find it not as useful as it could be, but I am always impressed by the beautiful display.
2012: MacBook Pro with retina display. This one was truly amazing. It was like the climax of retina displays. Everything I wanted and expected in a laptop (except the price): an ultra-sharp display, SSD storage, thin and light, and premium materials. Expensive as it was, I did not buy it at first, and I spent a whole year drooling on it. Finally, I got the courage and bought one, and it's simply the best piece of hardware I've ever owned. A joy to use.
What's yours?
Here is my list:
2007: iPhone / iPod touch. I didn't see the keynote, and I was not aware of how amazing this product was until I first saw an iPod touch for sale in a store, months after its release. Then I understood why everybody was so crazy about it. It was unprecedented. I ended up buying a first-generation iPod touch, but in the end I missed cellular Internet access.
2008: Unibody MacBook. The unibody aluminum design and the multi-touch trackpad caught my attention. It looked and felt much better than anything else in the market. I ended up not buying one, since I had bought a polycarbonate MacBook a few months earlier.
2009: Aluminum unibody iMac: This is the iMac that truly impressed me. Previous iMacs failed to catch my attention because they looked like underpowered machines for daily usage. They had low-voltage Intel processors, just like laptops. But in 2009 the larger chassis allowed for the use of desktop processors, and the iMac became more compelling. And the 27-inch IPS screen with a 2560x1440 resolution caught my eyes. I did not buy one, but I wish I did.
2010: iPhone 4. When I thought Apple couldn't make the iPhone any more compelling, and that the models were just getting faster, the iPhone 4 with retina display was unveiled. Such a high resolution display was something I was really missing on all products, especially on smartphones. I did not buy this one, but I ended up buying the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 did not impress me as much at launch (I found the specs underwhelming), but after a few months using it, I can also testify it is a worthy upgrade.
2010: MacBook Air. The first generation MacBook Air was interesting, but not impressive: a thin and light, yet expensive and slow laptop. Not practical. But the second generation, with a much lower price and SSD storage (in a time when SSD was rare), was impressive. I did not buy it just because Apple put a Core 2 Duo processor on it at the time, when Sandy Bridge was almost being released. I bought a PC instead, and I regretted it later.
2012: iPad 3. While I was not impressed by the original iPad, I just thought that the retina display on a tablet was fantastic. The clarity and sharpness of the screen made images look like photographs, and text to look like it was printed. I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing such a screen would look on a Mac. I bought it on the day of launch. I still find it not as useful as it could be, but I am always impressed by the beautiful display.
2012: MacBook Pro with retina display. This one was truly amazing. It was like the climax of retina displays. Everything I wanted and expected in a laptop (except the price): an ultra-sharp display, SSD storage, thin and light, and premium materials. Expensive as it was, I did not buy it at first, and I spent a whole year drooling on it. Finally, I got the courage and bought one, and it's simply the best piece of hardware I've ever owned. A joy to use.
What's yours?
