Ben Bajarin:
They create objects of desire and out of that focus comes a visually and easy to use user experience paradigm that drives emotional responses in consumers of their products.
Great way to put it. Apple products, like few others, elicit a response from its users. It’s not just the design or the interface, it’s the whole package.
They obviously know what they’re doing. I started out buying an iPod touch after being bored silly during a hospital stay. I was immediately smitten. I upgraded to an iPhone 3G and it snowballed from there to include a Mac, iPad, Airport, and Apple TV. It’s gotten to the point that I want Apple to make a television set and game console so that all my tech products “just work” seamlessly together.
Apple primarily aims to create devices that work better. It’s the degree of thought put into their design that makes them objects of desire.