Worms

Having an Apple computer was once a rare and nerdy distinction. Nowadays it firmly pegs one as an average wealthy consumer, much the same way as a family car and a nice suburban home might. Pity.

There's only one way from the top and it is inevitable that Apple-tiredness sets in. My moment came last weekend, when deciding between a new Mac to replace my 5 year old MacBook or buying new furniture, and I decided to spend on the latter.

Even a year ago this would have been unthinkable. Regularly mocked as a fanboy in the days of the PPC processors, my love for Apple computers is a well known trait. What happened?

Seeing a Chromebook in action. It's not its extremely bad video performance, nor its very limited offline usability. It's not its cheap, plastic look and feel either. What uttely charmed me about the Chromebook is its edgy 1.0-ness. The fact that few people who are not serious webheads would consider using one regulary. The fact that it's new, niche and not a Mac.

I still love my iPad, and I will continue to use my old and trusty MacBook until it's good and dead. However, I doubt that the latest and greatest from Cupertino will be as utterly compelling to me as once it was. With mass adoption of Apple devices and the death of Steve, Apple has somehow lost the savvy edge. Maybe I just woke up from deep reality distortion field hypnosis. I don't know.

Either way, I'm in the market for something with a Penguin or a Pokeball. Apple has to do a really convincing job with its rumored 15 inch Air to tempt me back to the Mac.