I’ve always been interested in technology. I enjoy learning about it, thinking about it, and much to the annoyance of those around me, talking about it. Technology was my first love, and when you’re in love you want to tell the world. At the time, I didn’t realize how much of my world was built by Apple.

The Macintosh, which defined the modern idea of what a computer is and how it works, was released a decade before I was born. The PowerBook was a revolutionary new design that is now used by every laptop in the world, and that was three years before I was born. I was seven when the iPod came out. By the time I was a teenager, all these things just seemed normal. The GUI, the mouse, laptops, a thousand songs in your pocket… this was simply the natural order of things. It wasn’t until years later that I learned the history and gave Apple credit for their role in creating the things I love.

The iPhone was released the summer before I entered eighth grade. By the time I graduated high school, it had changed the world. How lucky I am that I got to come of age with the most important computer ever made. At some point during those years, it seemed obvious that I should be paying attention to the company behind it. But it wasn’t just the iPhone that made me a fan of Apple: it was their events, hosted by Steve Jobs.

At the time, nobody else had events like this. It was fascinating to see someone not just talking about about their products, but also talking about their philosophy behind why something was designed in a particular way. Basically, Steve talked about what they believed in.

Companies don’t usually spend any amount of time talking about their values and principles, but Apple does. They claim to have strong opinions about what they believe is right, whether that’s about product design or human rights. They frequently say that they want to leave the world a better place than they found it.

However, Apple is also a for-profit corporation in a capitalist system, and sometimes that conflicts with their values. And money usually wins. Apple, like all of us, is at their best when they stick to their principles and at their worst when they prioritize profits.

I will always be a fan of Apple, partly because of their undeniable impact on the world, and partly because I really enjoy a lot of their products. But it also goes deeper than that. I believe in many of the values that Apple claims to profess, even when Apple itself seems not to. I will always be a fan of Apple because I will always believe in what they could be. Cut me and I bleed six colors.

So here’s to the first 50 years of Apple. Here’s to the crazy ones.