Date: 2010-08-13 10:09:37 Created: 2010-08-13 06:07:58
I currently have a gas stove. It was there when I moved in. It is probably not expensive (nothing about the kitchen indicated that the previous owner had any actual interest in cooking), in fact it did not even have a proper grille above the heating elements. Nevertheless, I have used it for a couple of months and have become a fan of gas-based cooking in the process.
Now, the gas is about to be turned off so it became time for me to, for the very first time, pick and buy a whole new stove for myself. During my investigations, I gradually came to realize that a induction-based stove is what I want. Close to gas in reaction time, energy efficient, modern et cetera. All good. The one downside (apart from higher average price than other options) is that all your old cooking ware may not work.
The fact that my cheap and cheerful moka pot will need to be replaced annoys me more than anything else about the switch. It is, clearly, the one piece of cooking equipment which by itself gives me some joy. It was cheap and it is not extraordinarily well built. But I went through a whole little process choosing and buying it and I have fun every time I use it. I can actually feel like making coffee just because it is enjoyable - I can feel like making coffee as a feeling distinct from feeling like consuming coffee. My little pot, in itself, adds to my whole coffee experience.
I feel something similar is the case with Apple devices. The things Apple create (hardware, software, ideas and emotions) make things fun to do and inspire the creation of more things in the same vein. It is not about any of the parts, it is all about the whole.
Who cares about processor versions,
graphics chips,
benchmarks
if I feel so happy making coffee that I can almost do it for the gratification of the process itself? Things like that never grow obsolete, either. They do not change just because a thing with bigger numbers come out.