2008 - The year Apple became friends with Abercrombie

There I said it.

Mac users used to be a small group of snobby, well-to-do black sheep. They would wink at each other in the hall, and they would relish in their independence from the tyranny of Bill Gates. They willingly put compatibility and stability on the sacrificial alter. When people woud say, "A MAC!? Ewww, gross!!" The mac user would simply smile and say belittlingly, "Silly girl/boy, someone with your brain capacity could never understand," and walk away. Steve Jobs was a douche as he's always been a douche, but back when macs were cool, he was their douche.

In the mid 90's, Apple computers became marginally more popular than before, and the Mac user rejoiced. Were the company to die, their souls would be forfeit to Microsoft forever. Colored plastic did good things for Apple stock. Then came ipods and itunes. With these products, everyone gained exposure to Apple, but the snobby base of OSX advocates remained unchanged. They gained converts one by one, and quietly withstood the mockery of their friends. In the beginng of the itunes era, buying a Mac was still edgy and unique, and logically, the purchase continued to be a relatively dumb decision.

Next the unthinkable happened in 2006. Apple left the Church of Motorola and converted to Intelism. Suddenly Mac's were no longer risky business. The finishing blow was delivered, surprisingly, by Microsoft in 2007.  A decade after their initial act of good will, Microsoft's deep, heart-felt love went public with the release of a product of such marketing appeal that consumers rallied to Apple in ravenous throngs. 

Windows Vista was truly Apple's greatest selling point. The diehard Windows zealots lived 2007 in denial, but by 2008, even they knew their cause was lost. Leopard was king and the iphone his princess.

To you people who think you get to be cool merely because you own a one button mouse or trackpad, I say you are the Rascal Flats of the computing world. I will allow you to say you like Apple Inc., but you do not get to call yourself a member of the club if you have never done at least a few of the following:

1. Expressed excitement at the release of System 8.0
2. Had an argument about why Windows 3.11/'95/'98 was ass compared to the MacOS.
3. Had a conversation about how System 10.0 was tough to navigate.
4. Lost sleep because Apple was doomed.
5. Feared for the future of the Cube.

At the very very least, you have to remember being happy that the G4 finally made it to the ibook. I realize Apple has been around since the late 70's, but my comments are not about arguing over who is the Apple supportiest of them all. They are about buying products that offer unique advantages despite being unpopular and/or illogical as a whole.

Don't you dare pretend we are part of the same clique because we both own a Mac computer. Don't pretend you are part of the elite; thanks to you, there is no such thing anymore. And please, don't pretend Mac users are a precious few. 2008 was the indisputable end to that era.

Cool people build bandwagons. They don't buy their way in, and they sure as hell never needed white polycarbonate to turn their heads.