I have sold my soul to Apple

Five years ago, I made the switch from an Android phone to an iPhone. As I explained at the time, it's not that I thought the iPhone was really any better than Android. I had been an Android user for several years and had very much enjoyed it. It was just that the rest of my family had iPhones, and at the time it seemed as if the world was catering more to the iPhone.

Which it mostly is.

What has really entrenched me in the Apple cult, however, is the ease of integrating various Apple devices.

On almost any given day, I actively use five different Apple devices:

• iPhone
• iPad
• MacBook
• Apple Watch
• AirPods

These are all good quality products. They serve my needs. And as I said, they are designed to play well with each other.

It's the little things about device integration that I like. For instance, whenever I'm away from my MacBook for any length of time and it goes to sleep, it will awaken instantly when I return because it senses my Apple Watch and knows it's me. I don't have to retype my password or anything.

Being a very simple (and ultimately lazy) man, I like that.

Chances are there are Android devices that will do the same, but I stopped following technological developments in that world after I ditched the Android phone, so I don't know for sure.

There are perhaps ethical reasons for shunning Apple products that I comprehend, yet (and here I freely admit I'm exercising privilege of the highest order) I choose to overlook them. I'm not sure the alternatives to Apple are all that morally superior anyway.

The point is, the Apple folks have me. And given the extent to which they have access to my personal data, they know they have me.

I'm OK with that. I mean, they give me those free Apple logo stickers every time I buy another one of their devices. How can I say no to that?

The older I get, the more impressed by technology I am

I'm writing this post on an airplane. This may not mean much to you, but to me it's one of the coolest things in the history of forever.

In-flight WiFi has been around for a few years, and by now the techno illuminati are less than impressed with it (especially if it's slow and/or not working right). Then there's me. I'm sending real-time Facebook messages to friends who are several hundred miles away, and I'm doing it from seven miles in the air.

How can anyone do that and not at least think, "Huh, that's pretty cool."

My dad always loved technology, and I remember him saying that he wanted to live until the year 2000 just to see the latest gadgets and how they worked. Alas, he died in October 1999. I can't imagine how incredible smartphones and tablets would have seemed to him.

Terry and I are flying back from a trip to Los Angeles, and while there I used Uber for the first time. Are you hip to the whole Uber thing? You download an app to your phone, and when you're in a big city and want a cheap ride someplace, you just "hail" an Uber car through that app, and in minutes a driver comes and picks you up.

Chances are the fare for that trip will be half what you would pay for a traditional cab.

The first time I tried Uber in L.A., I was standing on Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. My phone knew my exact location, thanks to the miracle of GPS, and transmitted that information to the nearest Uber driver.

He got there in less than two minutes, and the cost of the ride from Hollywood to the Santa Monica beach was $15. Seriously, 15 bucks for what would have been well over $40 with tip in a cab. (There's no tipping in Uber.)

And by the way, I knew my driver was close because the minute I requested the ride, my phone showed me a little map of the surrounding streets and a little car icon pinpointing his exact location.

I just...I mean...isn't that amazing? I'm blown away by this. It was cheap, easy and fun. Which is exactly how life should be.

Like my dad, I can't wait to how technology advances in the remaining years of my life. It's just all so cool, and if I had the money I would buy every electronic gadget the minute it comes out.

Say what you will about technology destroying the soul of our society. I'll be too busy to hear you anyway because I'll be playing with my Apple Watch.