I have a lot to answer for. Just over five years ago I was visiting old friends, Frank and Janice, at their home in South Lancashire. They were not in the forefront of the technical revolution, to say the least, and relied on a fairly neglected Windows computer and a couple of pay-as-you-go Nokias kept strictly for emergency use. Paper played a big part in their lives.
But Janice had always been keen on painting and had read about David Hockney’s love of his iPad. Perhaps, she thought, there was something to investigate. So when I turned up with my original iPad there was an immediate spark of interest. And when Janice found out I was selling it there was a deal waiting to be done, despite the scepticism of husband Frank.
Fast forward seventy months and Janice was poised over the computer on Friday morning to bag an Apple Watch Sport with pink sports band in the first minute of availability. Since then the two former technophobes have been a-trying on at the Trafford Park Apple Store. This, though, is only the tip of the techno iceberg that has holed Frank and Janice’s technophobia beneath the waterline.
The iPad was the start. Soon later models followed, his and hers versions, not to mention a MacBook and a succession of iPhones, 4, 5 and now 6. Now you would be hard pressed to find a more dedicated couple of Apple fans anywhere. And Apple fandom has led to a new-found interest in all things technical, from sound systems to Spotify subscriptions. Perhaps most significantly, Janice now has a renewed interest in photography, thanks to her new ability to post-process on the iPad and Mac, and it is threatening to turn into a major hobby.
While discussing Apple Watch purchases today, Janice wrote:
I rather wish I had shares in both Apple and Bose, the amount of selling I have been doing lately on behalf of both of these companies.
My friend Dorothy has just bought a Bose Soundlink Mini after being impressed with mine and I am going over there this afternoon to fix it up for her.
Yesterday I was sitting next to a bloke on the train who was scratching away at his paper Times Sudoko with a pencil and was highly impressed with my iPad version. This sparked off a whole conversation about Apple products and he went away probably with the intention of buying an iPad.
I always hated computers until I got into Apple products, but now everything works so easily and smoothly, and there are always the genii at the Apple Store to fall back on.
Even Frank, the arch techno-hater spends all his waking hours glued to his iPad.
As I know from experience, the Apple effect is commonplace. It isn’t just the products themselves, it is the eco-system that, simply put, makes life easy. Once a technophobe takes the plunge with an iPhone or iPad everything progresses as day follows night, right up to the latest Apple Watch. It is the halo effect writ large and it is the secret of Apple’s continuing appeal and success.
Do I have any regrets at injecting this virus into my friends’ lives? Not a bit of it. They would be first to acknowlege that getting closer to Apple and all its works has enhanced their lives. If more people had such an open mind to new ideas they would all benefit immensely.