The first computer that I plunked down my own money for was an Apple Macintosh. I thought I was so cool when I pulled the all-in-one out of its carrying case, which resembled a tall pizza delivery bag. Pretty much the only application I used on it was for word processing. But somehow it seemed worth it.

I also was darn proud of my first Powerbook in the 1990s. I believe it was the 100 series. It had a rolling trackball and the grey plastic casing seemed like an industrial fortress. I toiled away at word processing and email as it was connected to a baud modem (yes, I said baud).

After that, I was swayed to the land of Windows-based PCs, because that's what companies --- more specifically, my employer -- used. I always kept a lust in my heart for Apple products but they were considered too expensive, too niche, and certainly not for the enterprise.

Well before I bought another Mac, I would venture into Apple stores just to test-drive the array of gorgeous looking and feeling machines. It was like wandering through a luxury car lot and imagining myself behind the wheel. However, having a PC desktop/laptop for work and a Mac at home made little sense -- especially at the elevated cost for hardware and software.

As I mentioned in , I have phased back into the land of Apple products since going free-lance and have found them to be as functional and sleek as I imagined.