WITH corporation, through its own restaurant, to establish a magazine dedicated to Apple products. From Windows, to OS X, to the latest iPhones – but with control of what’s happening on Android. Being the editor-in-chief of the most famous Polish Apple magazine is not that easy. How he deals with it is revealed to us by Dominik Łada, who, apart from the aforementioned function of editor-in-chief, is also the co-founder of iMagazine.
– In your case, asking when you prefer Apple would mean not being prepared for the conversation. Just look at the iMagazine website for a note about the band …
-… and you can cut yourself pretty well. 2001 is the date when I made some male decision about Apple products. But I have been with mac OS and Apple devices a lot longer, because I started back in the 90’s. Here is such a curiosity, or a few words of explanation. I have heard many times that I look young, or that I am young for the position I hold, that I surfaced on the wave of popularity of iPhones. It is not for me to judge what I look like, but the older of my sons is over 14, so I’m not that young.
Coming back to Apple – this is why I often joke about myself with old concrete, because I became interested in Macs at the end of the 90s. I went the opposite way to many journalists who left for corporations after years of working in the profession. I started in a corporation, then my professional career went in the opposite direction. I worked in the corpo for 10 years, and because I am constant in feelings, it was one company.
Like in a corporation, I had a work computer with Windows, like everyone else in those days. But I had friends, mostly graphic designers who worked on Macs. I have often watched what they do, both while working on their own project and just out of curiosity. I liked the system, its intuitiveness and ease of use. But let’s face it, also the appearance, which definitely stood out in favor of the PCs available at that time.
I also remember how SAD, the first Apple distributor in Poland, and currently the owner of the iSpot chain, had its showroom on Polna Street in Warsaw. I used to go there to watch poppies, then iPods … about iPhones in those days, of course, was out of the question. And that’s how it all started. In the end I couldn’t stand it and …
… did you buy your first Mac?
– Exactly. It was at the turn of 2000/2001, hence the date entered in the editorial biographical note. The purchase was not accidental, it was well thought out. The first was the Titanic, the Powerbook G4 Titanium, and then the next Powerbooks and Macbooks Pro. Here is another curiosity – most macusers bought iPods first, because I would like to remind you that we are still talking about the times when there were no iPhones, but they were not able to fully use all their capabilities.
Only over time it turned out that iTunes works best when the iPod works with a Mac. I didn’t buy my first iPod until after about four years, in 2005. Before that, I didn’t feel that I needed it. But buying an Apple computer only confirmed that I made the right decision. The operation was easy and intuitive, many functions were logical, well arranged, and I am an esthete and such solutions suited me very well. In addition, graphics programs worked much better. From other software, apart from the aforementioned iTunes, there was e.g. iPhoto or iMovie, with possibilities that were not offered by any application under Windows.
However, I was still an employee of a corporation, where I had a work computer with Windows, and although I used OS X at home, I had to use a competing system at work, which was the only right one at the time. I never hid my preferences, so I often went to work with two computers – work and private. They were standing side by side on my desk. Often I preferred to do something on my private poppy and only transfer it to a PC.
Although I was dealing with completely different matters in the corporation – I was the country manager of a company that grew out of Siemens and dealt with power systems – it happened several times that I “ran” work done by my colleagues or friends through my private Mac’s graphics programs. I remember that it was the case, for example, with one of the first hot dog commercials at Orlen stations. The friends who were responsible for producing it couldn’t handle some technical issue on the PC, and I ran the material through iMovie and in a few minutes they had what they needed. Where it must be noted that, of course, I was never a video specialist. Anyway, I finally turned 10 years in a corporation and decided to go on my own.
– There was a specific reason, stimulus, or was it just that you decided to change something?
– It is difficult to pinpoint one particular one. It’s just that after ten years of working in a certain regime where you are a cog in a machine, I felt tired of it. Many people working in the corpo will understand what I mean. In my case, it was a decision to buy a restaurant.
– Did you really have your own pub?
– Seriously, although it only lasted 2 years. It turned out that this is not it, but I tried it, I found out the hard way what it is like to be a restaurateur. Fortunately, I did not lose out on this, I sold my shares to my partner, and I did not close. While running the restaurant, I decided to launch iMagazine. But this time one specific circumstance decided.
– I’m all ears.
– It was a time when there was a flood of colorful trade magazines devoted to the computer industry and the increasingly popular mobile industry, which I readily reached for. Unfortunately, I was disappointed very often, because, for example, in a thick newspaper, I was interested in a 2-page article. In another, for example, the entire section interested me, because, for example, in this issue it was devoted to topics that I wanted to learn more about. But when I bought the next issue there was nothing fun to read.
After another time, I became convinced that this is a nice niche that has not yet been developed by anyone. We banded together with a few people, and those were the times when Apple and related products were not as popular as they are today and we decided to publish a newspaper. It was a group of enthusiasts, Apple lovers, who helped each other, had a common passion, and not only approached the topic in business terms. Many of them are in iMagazine to this day, or collaborate in some form with the newspaper.
– And when was the first time you came across an iPhone?
– Back when the first iPhone came out. In January 2007, a new device was announced, in June it saw the light of day, in July I already had it. I brought it from the US through my own channels. It did not bother me that it did not have 3G, MMSs, that it was made for the American market and that it had to be adapted to the Polish market, e.g. by the need to have a turbosim. It all didn’t matter to me.
Anyway, it happened at a time when Steve Jobs was still alive. What he said and how he said, his vision of the development of the mobile market reached me. In addition, the first iPhones had some magic, everyone wanted to have them, they caused envy among the owners of Nokia, which was still popular at that time. It was then, in 2007, that I switched almost entirely to Apple products and Mac OS and iOS operating systems.
– Can you imagine going back to Windows?
– Absolutely not. Especially since I have a comparison. My older son gets some homework from his school, which is written in Windows, so I must have at least one computer with this operating system at home. In our case it is Windows 10 and when I help my son with homework, I use it a bit. I would be lying if I called working on it a passionate journey, but it is not a pleasure. Many things are illogical, difficult, or absent at all. No, Windows and Dominik Łada are not compatible with each other.
– And for Android?
– Here the matter is more complicated. Of course, my main smartphone is the iPhone, usually the latest model, but mainly for professional reasons I have to use Android smartphones in parallel. In iMagazine, 90% of the subject is devoted to Apple and products aimed at this ecosystem, but there will also be room for flagships from other manufacturers. The second reason is mobile payments.
I would like to use Apple Pay, but until it arrives in Poland, I cannot do that, so I use Android Pay. However, Android smartphones for me are rotary, test devices. But thanks to this, I can be tempted to compare both systems and say why – in my opinion – iOS is better than Android.
– I turn into ears once again.
– Let’s start with why iOS. Well, as I have already mentioned, I am an esthete and, in addition, I am pedantic. In iOS, everything is logical, something stems from something, it is easy to use and each new version is not only a continuation of the previous one, but is improved, has additional possibilities. In addition, all applications are matched to this operating system, you can see a whole, consistency.
This is not in Android. The “bare” operating system itself is, don’t be afraid to say it, poor. Its strength lies in the overlays of smartphone manufacturers, and sometimes also operators, hence Android is unequal to Android, although it seems to be the same version. It’s even worse with applications. In my opinion, they are not made for this operating system, just as developers like it. As a result, we have a mish mash that someone may like, but not me.
– And if you were tempted to indicate the manufacturer of Android smartphones that you somehow liked, would you find such a company?
– It would probably be Xiaomi. First of all, “what is Chinese” has long ceased to be synonymous with ****, plastic and cheapness, which you throw away at the first failure and buy a new one, not repair it. These are really good smartphones, both in terms of the quality of workmanship, technical parameters and design, while maintaining affordable prices, except maybe for some flagships.
The Chinese started to draw on good designs and that is why they conquer the European market so quickly – they do not impose their solutions, but use those that are popular in Europe. Why exactly Xiaomi? I like the MIUI interface for Android a lot, it reminds me of iOS. Maybe that’s why I like it.
– Back to Apple. Are you using a Smart Home application?
– Not all of them, but not because I am their opponent. Probably if I lived in a single-family home, I would use everything that has HomeKit support. But I don’t live in a house, but in an apartment. In addition, in new buildings, so I do not have gas, I do not have a stove, so I do not need various sensors that would inform about e.g. gas leaks.
I also don’t have an alarm, so I don’t need webcams either. In fact, from the level of the iPhone, I only manage the lighting at the moment. But if I ever live in a single-family house, it will definitely change.
– Thank you for the conversation
BIO
Dominik Łada – MacUser since 2001, a hardware fanatic with a bitten apple, besides, he is crazy about photography, good food, his wife and sons – Frank and Leon. Founder and publisher of iMagazine.
