Apple is surrounding me.  It seems like almost every other day, someone else around me buys some Apple product.  At the current rate, it won’t be long before everyone around me is using all Apple products.  So far I’ve held my ground.  But I can’t say that I haven’t been tempted (see my previous entry on the subject).

It started a number of months ago when my manager at work traded in his BlackBerry for an iPhone and his PC laptop for a MacBook.  Then more recently a few of the Flash developers at my company switched to MacBooks.  Then a month ago another co-worker got an iPhone.  Then last week two of my friends from work switched over – one got a MacBook and the other an iMac – both for home use.  Now my dad made the switch for a new job.  As I sit here typing on my PC laptop, I wonder if there is any avoiding this slow trickle continuing to grow until it becomes a landslide.

In truth, I have no allegiances when it comes to technology (or much of anything).  I am generally always a fan of whatever works best.  From a strict technology standpoint, Apple has been making things that work well and for that I have to hand it to them.  But I’m a believer in choice.  If I had the time to support it, I would have switched to Linux years ago.  But I didn’t and don’t and while I commend their efforts in trying to compete, adopting for the sake of it would make me something else than I’m not – a fundamentalist.  And avoiding being one is what makes this dilemma so difficult – whether I buy in and tout it or I keep standing against it I’m in danger of becoming one.

But no – I don’t think so.  Again, I believe in choice and opportunity.  While Apple is flying high right now – possibly high enough that the launch of Windows 7 will fizzle out and cause Microsoft to fade even more – where will they stand when the competition falls away?  I’m sure they will continue to innovate and make better and sleeker products.  But at what cost?  So while I’ve had my share of anti-Microsoft sentiments in the past, I feel that I need to stand on their side.  Because to do so is to stand on the side of choice.