Apple announced, way earlier today, that it had new iBooks and Mac Minis. However, I don’t really want to spit out the specs on them ## if you want to know, go to Apple’s website at apple.com. What I do want to talk about real briefly is my migration to the Apple platform, way back when it was OS 9.

The first computer I ever had was one I actually bought when I was 11. It was a Tandy and barely had a hard-drive. In fact, I think the hard drive was 20 MBs. I thought, at the time, how could anyone ever possibly fill that much storage up. As I got a bit older, I progressed to a 486 processor and now started seeing some GBs along with spec numbers… now we were getting somewhere.

Needless to say, I was never really a computer-wiz, I just thought they were kind of neat and I know enough to be dangerous. I have never really been a hardware guy, either. I like the software end of technology.

In any event, I started working heavily as a computer operator at Lehman Brothers Bank in Manhatten on the Windows platform. I learned the MS Office suite better than nearly all who touched it. I learned tricks and secrets on how to do things with the software, but I was perpetually discouraged with Windows as a platform. And then, something miraculous happened: I just up and bought a Macintosh.

Now, at first I couldn’t stand the Mac. Having had Windows and even DOS instilled in my brain, the Mac wasn’t making computer sense to me. As I forced myself to use it more and more, I found that the Mac was a far more powerful and user-friendly machine. And, it infact MADE sense. When Jaguar came out, and then Panther, I was off to the stars… Nothing can bring me back now. No Longhorn! No vistas! No windows are large, fast, or stable enough for my blood.

Apple has been innovative in the industry. From a computer manufacturer, and desktop platform programmer, Apple is perhaps the only true innovator. They keep their hardware/software licensing system locked, but that has insured a level of quality and integration not even dreamed of in most Windows environments.

With Apple lowering its threshold prices on machines and software, more people are realizing the power of simplicity and efficiency ## two components far lacking in most Windows machines.