Just me and my iPad… or Ode to All the Apple Products

my iPadOkay, I admit it…my iPad and I live an Apple Life.

Thank you Steve Jobs.

It starts out simply, this insidious indoctrination into the Apple lifestyle.

First you get an iPod. Mine was the iPod mini eons ago before they dreamed up color or images. It was fabulous and wonderful and all things new and noteworthy at the time.

Several generations later, I was using my kids’ old versions as they kept moving on to the latest model with color then touch. I was perfectly happy to get the hand-me-downs. It’s no different than finishing the food off their plate rather than order a meal for myself. Parents, you know what I’m talkin’ about.

But here’s where they really got their hooks into me…those bastards…with their integrated product suite and clever marketing. I see it all so clearly now, looking back.

It was the iPhone that drew me in like a moth to the flame. People I admired told me there was nothing else like it on the face of the earth. Even putting up with AT&T’s crappy service was worth it to get your hands on one of these extraordinary devices. I couldn’t wait for my current service contract to run dry so I could pick me up one them iPhone 3GSes and be one of the cool kids.

No more flipping open my Razr (which was green and really cool looking) but couldn’t text for shit without a qwerty keyboard. No more asking my kids to text for me because I didn’t have the patience to run through the letters. And most importantly, no more being left out of the early adopters club. A club I officially joined when GM came out with the Saturn.

So what does Apple do? Are they satisfied that my home holds no less than 10 different iPods covering 6 versions of the product and not one but two iPhones?

No…

They roll out the next genius product, what will become my iPad

My husband, bless his heart, bought me the iPad for Valentine’s Day only to have the iPad 2 come out 23 days later. Up until that moment, my favorite gift of all time from the hubby was my Kindle, which coincidentally now lies dormant and unloved in the drawer of my night table. Another victim of my iPad.

When I couldn’t take it any longer…that June…I purchased my iPad 2 and an additional one for my parents so we could Face Time. The hubby got the hand-me-down.

Now, my iPad and I are inseparable

from the moment I awake to the moment I fall asleep with my precious still clutched in my hands. (Actually I set it on the night stand, but you get my point, right?) It contains my favorite apps, my schedule, calendar, games, live television, video of the kids and pets, electronic magazines and yes all my Kindle books. I don’t even remember how to hold a real live book any more. My entire life is accessible through it’s portals and it has become my favorite addiction. But who cares, because I’m with the in crowd. The coolsters who live online as much as offline and are enjoying their Apple life too.

So thank you Apple for your oh so clever products. Because of you iEat, iWork, iSocialize, iPlay and iRead my iPad.