In my opinion, the popularity of all Apple devices is due to a philosophical decision the company made a long time ago – and has stuck to. Apple, from Day 1, has built its products with the intent of offering a “full package” to users – hardware, operating system, and content. Of course, Apple ultimately decides what content you get – but losing that “freedom to compute” doesn’t seem to bother anyone. Just the opposite, in fact.

I’ve been with the “Apple family” since its now numerous progeny were in diapers. I started out with the infant Mac XL (if anyone remembers those) way back in the 80s, moved on to the teenager-ish Mac SE, Mac CX, and early iMacs, and eventually on to the current configuration of the family. In fact, I’m transgenerational in my Apple affiliation: I have a “big guy” (an iMac), a couple of “young bucks” (Mac Minis and Macbooks), “junior” (the iPad), and, of course, “baby” (the iPhone). So I guess that makes me as familiar as anyone with how the family is run.

It’s a well-run and tightly organized family – to the extent that some would call it dysfunctional, in some respects. One thing about iPhones and iPads that irks many people is the closed universe that Apple has built to manage the devices. The only place you can get official applications for iPads and iPhones is from the Apple App store; all applications used on these devices must be approved by Apple, the better to ensure the proper “customer experience,” says the company.

And that, it seems, is what distinguishes the Apple line from its competition. For in truth, Apple has been zealous to guard its “user experience” from the time it came out with its first Macs. The “closed environment,” which protects users from the “outside world” and is managed by the policymakers at Apple, was already greatly in evidence in the earliest versions of the Macintosh operating system. The Mac OS was (and is) even more closed than Windows, making it harder for programmers to “hook” into the operating system. Compare that system to Windows, with its wide-open Registry, where programmers were able to routinely integrate their applications – whether well-written or not – into the OS.

As a result of those differences – that philosophy – Windows and Mac users had significantly different user experiences over the years. One of the biggest complaints Mac users had back in the 80s and 90s, for example, was the lack of freeware and shareware for their computers, compared to the reams of freebies available to Windows users. As a dedicated Mac user back then, I remember combing the depths of download sites looking for free applications that did – whatever! It didn’t matter what they did, as long as they were free. And those finds were few and far between. It was like you were keeping “kosher” – you couldn’t load up the cheap stuff on your computer, and the applications that had “supervision” (ie, that were able to integrate into the Mac OS) cost more.

Even with the programs you had to pay for, the Mac versions were usually released much later, and were far more expensive. Note, however, that there was another side of the equation; by making it harder to break through the gates, Apple ensured that Macs were relatively free of bad programs – like viruses – as well.

How far we have traveled, in terms of content. There are well over 200,000 apps in the iPhone/iPad app store, many of them free. The “freemium” model – where users get a free limited version of an application, and pay to unlock more functions and features – seems to be the one most writers of cellphone applications have adopted. And most of the applications that do cost money, are quite cheap – most averaging just a couple of dollars in price.

So it would seem that Apple’s long-term philosophical bet – that keeping a tight lid on development, in order to ensure a superior user experience – has paid off. Ever since the iPhone first came out, developers have been falling over themselves to come up with apps for the device – while consumers have been falling over themselves to buy them. The same holds true for the iPad; after selling about 3 million of the things in barely three months, Apple expects some 30 million people around the world to have them by the end of next year. And while many of these untold millions may not be fully aware of the “Apple Way,” they are surely aware that their consumption of nearly all content – apps, music, videos, movies -will be tightly controlled by Apple. These people are entering into the deal voluntarily – they have no problem with Apple controlling what they can and can’t do with their devices.

And while it may be tempting to advocate for “freedom of choice,” you have to admit that Apple has a point; the reason iPhones and iPads are in such demand is because they just work. The UI is simple and elegant, the apps are available and work as promised, and the danger of getting hit with a virus is extremely low. In that sense, Apple users have traded in freedom for security, an apt comparison for our terrorized age.

As I mentioned, I, too, am “guilty” of allowing my “freedom to compute” to be compromised. I haven’t jailbroken any of my devices (ie reprogrammed them in order to install applications not carried in the App Store), meaning that I am relatively satisfied with the package I am getting with the Apple family – functionality, reliability, and safety. And that’s what the teeming millions are looking for, as well; despite all the talk about competing devices, whether phones or e-book readers, Apple has nothing to worry about. History has proven than when it comes to computers and devices, people don’t want freedom – they want to be led by a “benevolent despot,” a role Apple is more than willing to fulfill.

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As you’ve no doubt heard, the Israeli version of an Apple Store is up and running, in a 300 square meter space in the Ramat Aviv mall – very classy digs, with a nice layout. The store looks like other Apple Stores around the world, only smaller. It has a Genius Bar, where you can go in and check out equipment or pick the brain of an expert on hardware or software. And, there are displays of not only computers and laptops, but of peripherals – equipment that is sometimes hard to find.

But the store is just one aspect – albeit the major one – of iDigital’s efforts to make Macs for popular here. As Mac sales have taken out throughout the world, Israel has remained woefully behind the pack. Israelis are said to be “afraid” of Macs, having been intimidated into believing that they’ll be paying more money for a “toy” (I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard this from). The iDigital store (not an official Apple Store, but close enough) is apparently intended to be a center for “missionizing the masses,” trying to educate Israelis about the benefits of using Macs.

The iDigital website has been refurbished to look more like official Apple websites around the world. That, too, is part of the effort to popularize Macs, whether or not that was the intent of iDigital in putting together such a site; by standardizing the local persona of the products to match those in the rest of the world, Israelis can feel more connected to the international Mac community, and not have to feel that they’re doing something “crazy” by buying an Apple.

The company has gone a long way towards reaching out towards Israelis. Several weeks ago, iDigital released the first Hebrew localization package for Leopard (OS X 10.5.4 minimum). The package converts all Apple system menus and applications (like Safari) into Hebrew – although, of course, you can write your documents in English (or any language). The localization package is free to download from the iDigital site, http://www/idigital.co.il. And you can also download a helpful guide to Leopard – in Hebrew – from the site as well, also for free. iDigital is also offering classes on various aspects of the Mac experience – how to use Leopard, making movies with iMovie, etc. – free for customers, and NIS 70 or so for people who bought their Macs abroad.

They’ve also opened a new service center in Haifa – making it more convenient for people up north to get their products service without having to to run down to the service center in Rosh Ha’ayin. iDigital is even offering a local version of AppleCare- the extended warranty package Mac owners can buy to extend their worldwide warranty.

So, even though iDigital is “only” an independent Apple distributor, the company has gone a long way into emulating the total, authentic Apple experience here in Israel. Now, of course, comes the several thousand shekel question: Should you actually buy an Apple product from iDigital? Prices have even come down at iDigital – as much as 33% on some items – although they are still extremely high, relative to almost everywhere else. For example, a 20 inch iMac with 1 GB of memory and a 250 GB hard drive sells for NIS 6,199, instead of the previous price of NIS 7,699. At NIS 3.50/dollar, the new price works out to $1,771.

The only problem is that the same iMac sells for $1,199 at the Apple USA web site, making the iMac $572 more expensive here. The Apple site price does not include sales tax – which you wouldn’t have to pay anyway if you were having your computer shipped. If one were to buy the iMac at the popular J & R Music World in Manhattan, they would pay 8.375% sales tax – making the total cost $1,288.58, with $99.58 sales tax added to J & R’s price of $1,189 for the iMac. That makes the retail iMac $482 cheaper than the iDigital version.

In a recent interview with someone from iDigital, I was told that one of the reasons Apple products are more expensive here is because Israel orders its products European distribution channels, which are more expensive. Note, however, that the price for the iMac at Apple’s UK site is 799 pounds, VAT included – which translates into NIS 5029.89, or $334 more. That’s less of a differential than the US price, but still significant. The 2.4 ghz/2GB/160 gb HD Macbook costs NIS 6,699 – or $1,914 – $1,299 at the US Apple site, or 829 pounds (NIS 5,218) at the UK Apple store.

The last time I wrote about this phenomenon, I suggested that you might consider pickup up a Mac if you were traveling anyway during your summer vacation. Now that the prices at iDigital have been reduced (about as far as they are going to go, I guess), we still see a stark differential in prices (the higher end the product, the bigger the gap). You get the same exact one year worldwide warranty (three years, if you buy AppleCare), with the same service provided by iDigital as they would provide to their own customers no matter where you buy your Mac. You can’t really blame anyone for deciding that it makes more sense to fly abroad if they need to buy a couple of Apple computers (a Macbook and an iMac, say). It would be like getting a free trip to New York!

But maybe it’s not a such a great idea to run off to New York or London to buy a computer. Travel is a hassle nowadays, as everyone knows – and more importantly for our purposes, it’s expensive. Let’s face it: There’s no way you’re going to get off the plane at JFK, take the train to the city and go to the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, and then go back home the same day. Any savings on the computer would be wiped out by your hotel bill! If you have friends in New York, you can save money by not going to a hotel, but of course you have to bring them a gift. That’s more money spent! And how could you avoid the “landmarks,” which for Israelis in Manhattan entails lots of shopping. You do pay more at iDigital – but at least you know what the computer is costing you. Macs here in Israel may be more expensive, but if you’re the type that can’t resist a bargain (New York is full of ‘em), you might find it cheaper to pay more money for the same product here in Israel. It’s a paradox, really – one of the miracles of the Holy Land!