The Mark of a True Apple Fan

So, who is the real Apple fan? I was able to convince the wife to upgrade to Snow Leopard a few days ago (9/25/09). It took her a long time to agree, but she was having a little problem with her three-year-old Macbook (it belongs to the first batch of intel Macbooks) - she's running out of hard disk space! The wife is an astrophysicist and every time she makes an observation, she uses about 5GB of storage. We talked about upgrading her Macbook - I helped her with the specs for the new one and we planned out the financial side of the equation. But she needed a more immediate solution since she will be observing in the next three days! So, I told her we can buy a portable HDD while she's still contemplating about the purchase. Then, I told her something crazy - I told her that, with her permission, I'm going to upgrade her OS to Snow Leopard, and if something breaks, I will revert it back to Leopard. That's how much I trust the Time Machine backup!

Well, the wife kind of agreed. She just wanted to check her most vital astro-observation app before she gives in. She found out that the app was already Snow Leopard compatible so it was a go. But, we updated her LaTeX/TexShop first before we finally did it.

So, we finally went with it. We updated her Macbook. I inserted the DVD, double-clicked it, and the installer went its happy way. (After a few minutes, the Macbook re-started itself. The wife was greatly impressed because of the speed of the "installation". I told her it hasn't started yet - the DVD just checked some compatibility issues.)



After 43 or so minutes, the installation was complete! Yes, it was that quick! And it was around the same amount of time as when I upgraded my Macbook Pro. And the best thing was, and what made the wife really impressed, the installation actually produced 10 gigabytes of free space! I only got 3 gigabytes of free space on my machine. So now, the wife decided *not* to buy a new Mac yet! The disk space was enough for her needs for now. The Macbook is now on the last days of its Apple Care so she decided to take it to our neighborhood (authorized) Apple repair center for a check-up. She decided that she will only buy a new one when this Macbook has given up the ghost. She *really* was impressed by Snow Leopard.

Which brings me back to the original question: Who is the real Apple fan?

Some years back, Steve Jobs said that "Apple is a software company." This statement can't be more true today as when it was first uttered. The hardware specs of Apple products have dramatically changed throughout the years, but it is the software that drives them. It is the software that makes these devices great. Whether it is an iPod, iPhone or any of the Macs, their beauty wouldn't mean anything if the software that run them is run-of-the-mill. What makes a true die-hard fan? It is not the person who buys the latest Apple products. It is not the person who upgrades every time there is new Apple hardware. No! It is the person who upgrades his Apple products' operating system as soon as they become available. It is the person who installs a new operating system without caring whether their applications are compatible with it. It is the pioneer who tests out the new OS so that others, and other applications will benefit.

Am I a fan? I suppose, with this criterion, I am. My first Mac had Tiger and I immediately upgraded it to Leopard. When Snow Leopard came out, I immediately upgraded to it, albeit, the Amazon shipping got stalled for one reason or another. When iPhone OS 3.0 came out, I immediately upgraded to it; same for 3.1.1.

I am an Apple fan.