I listened for years (albeit with one ear) to the adulation of the MacIntosh devotees, singing the praises of the computing system on which most of the software applications I used wouldn't work.

Every three years or so when my PC died (or was on life support), I would briefly toy with the idea of taking that plunge.  But nah, couldn't justify the 3x cost compared to a PC, not to mention the learning curve and aforementioned software incompatibilities.

Not that I was ever a huge fan of Microsoft.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I was a silent sufferer, resigned to put up with the quirks, shortcomings and stuff-that-just plain-didn't-work-right because That Was The Way It Was.  Deal with it.

All the while I had to scratch my head at how and why a company as big and dominating as Microsoft just couldn't get it right.  On so many levels.

For starters, the HomeGroup networking thing never networked, try as I might to get it to.  So my wife and I, working alongside each other, had to email files to each other.

My new Bluetooth headset never bluetoothed, so I put up with the USB cable on my old headset.

Our wireless printer/scanner never wirelessed, so, Patty, please pass me the USB cable.

MSWord?  Don't get me started.  Anathema.  The single most exasperating piece of software I ever tried to use. Frustration in a box.

Both daughters requested MacBooks for their high school and college years, and I obliged, even though they were double+ the cost of a PC. "Dad, you gotta get one of these," I would hear frequently, more vociferously from Daughter B than Daughter A.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  But DA's Macbook is just dying now after ten years of use.

My first hands-on experience with Apple products was an iPod. I loved unwrapping it (as I do all Apple products, gold star for packaging) but was less than enthused about using it.  Frustrating on it's own level. (How do you reset this thing?) And then there was the near-annual replacement of those of my daughters after theirs would methodically STB after an almost predetermined period of time.

When iPads came on the scene and I realized website design had to accommodate them, I bought one to see what it was all about.  Loved unwrapping it.  Figured out swiping and tapping, and got used to the fingerprints. Loaded some pretty cool apps, including ones for stargazing and bird identification. The screen was also viewable outdoors, which I liked in the summertime when my office occasionally moves down into the Adirondack chairs by the water, within wi-fi range.

In or about that timeframe a friend gave us an AppleTV.  Loved unwrapping that. Pretty cool "little black box". The little silver remote had an addicting, almost-sensual feel to it (how many of you roll that thing around in your hand the entire time you're watching AppleTV?).  Discovered the beauty of AirPlay, mirroring stuff off the iPad onto the TV screen.  Since we don't have TV at our summer place, I found I could access my Dish DVR remotely and stream it from the iPad to the AppleTV.  Pretty cool.

Sometime during that era my wife and I decided to upgrade our not-that-often-used flip phones for smartphones. We opted for the Android OS and Motorola Razr-M hardware because the iPhones were that-much-more-expensive and we-really-don't-use-them-that-much.

Upon first launch, when that obnoxious Dddrrrroiiiid tone came on, I muttered a very simple WTF to myself.  Seemed like that interface was designed more for gamers than old farts like us.  And as we got them set up and began to use them, we also started experiencing those things-that-should-work-but-don't. More frustration in a box.  Almost like Google engineers interned at Microsoft. Surprising and disappointing, as on most points I'm a big fan of Google.  But we suffered in silence.

A few months ago my three-year old, $699 Dell laptop-from-Best-Buy (I have to buy hands-on as I'm wicked particular about touchy-feely stuff like keyboards) starting acting funny.  The fan ran constantly, like a hair dryer, and was driving me crazy.

I decided that I would pre-empt the Blue Screen of Death this time.  As this was in- or around my 21st or 22nd year of Microsoft Suffering, and since so many of the PC applications I used to be married to now had web or Mac versions, I realized I was Free-to-Consider-A-Mac.  I also figured that after those two decades of suffering, I had earned the right to splurge and indulge myself.  So I went to Small Dog Electronics in Burlington, touched and felt, and then bought my first MacBook Pro -- with Retina screen and solid-state drive (no cooling fan needed).

I could barely wait to get it home and experience the assuredly near-orgasmic unwrapping.  It didn't disappoint. A study in less-is-more.  The entire package was only about two inches thick.

I fired it up (the battery even came charged) and started on The Curve.  Not too bad.  Had to Google a few things like "why does the delete key work more like a backspace key and doesn't really delete like I'm used to?" (oh, you have to "send to trash"... OK).

I basically liked it but didn't at first get all the hysteria. It felt great in the hand, was silent, and the display was incredibly crisp. As it should be for a couple grand.

Then I realized that my Bluetooth headset worked.  The wireless printer wirelessed. The MacBook networked and synced seamlessly with my iPad. Loved the backlit keyboard.

As things that are meant-to-be often happen, the iPhone 6 came out around then amidst more hype and hysteria. Coincidentally, we got an email from Verizon stating that our much-hated Android phones qualified for an upgrade.  My wife and I had about a three-second glance at each other and headed for the Verizon store, where the iPhone 6 was on pre-order but the 5s was in stock and half the cost of the 6.  Bingo.  I figured it was state of the art two weeks ago, so it would still be fine for us.

All the stuff we grappled and wrestled with on our Androids suddenly worked fine on the iPhones.  It also synced right up (even the passwords via Keychain) with my iPad and MacBook.  Hey, this is pretty cool.  And the interface was clean, spare and logical.  Very un-Android.  Phew, such a relief it was.

The saga continued.  Apple released OS X Yosemite, a new version of the Mac operating system.  Figuring it would be like a typical Windows upgrade ($ and hassle), I was delighted to see it free, easily downloaded and installed. Seamless, hassle-free.

The next day I was toodling along on my MacBook when a Messages alert popped up.  WTH is this?, I wondered. A text coming in from Daughter B.  Huh?  Turns out Yosemite is fully integrated with iOS (iPhone and iPad) to the point where you can receive calls on your MacBook or start an email on one device and finish it on one of the others. Share files wirelessly via AirDrop or save to iCloud. Use the phone as a mobile hotspot (great for those overnights at my mother-in-law's, a desert of connectivity).

Needless to say, this has been a revelation.  The monkey is off my back. I now Understand.  It's not perfect -- I still struggle a bit with the position of the command key for keyboard shortcuts, and I often find my hands lining up one-key-off so the last line or so of text I write is in Klingon -- but for the most part it's No-Looking-Back.

This is not meant as a Newbie-MacGuy-Beating-My-Chest thing, just an explanation of how my tech life got a pleasant upgrade.  

If the smoke signals are there, evaluate them within current circumstances and respond.