There is no doubt Apple is a special company. Its iPhone has led the revolution in stylish smartphones and its computers are rightfully revered for sexing-up the laptop and desktop markets.
Apple's disturbingly loyal and vociferously supportive customers have been obsessing lately - along with the rest of the IT world - about the health of the company's chief-executive-cum-deity, pancreatic cancer survivor Steve Jobs.
This interest in a businessman's innards says a lot about the power of Apple brand, and explains why competitors all seem to be clamouring to imitate its most successful products.
We've seen a rush of top-end cellphones hit the market this year with Applesque features such as large touch screens, location awareness and connections back to their manufacturers' "app store" for easy software downloading.
Rival computer makers have also been busy trying to bring a little Apple mojo to their laptops, and I've been testing out a couple of the offerings.
Dell's suave Adamo is a shameless attempt to out-slim Apple's super-thin MacBook Air.
Here at the glamorous apex of the laptop world you need to be skinny, light, beautiful and powerful. The "precision detailed" aluminium-cased Adamo certainly has the credentials to join the Air on the elite notebook catwalk when checked against those requirements.
One thing Dell has learned from Jobs' mob is that first impressions count. Apple products are so elegantly packaged that de-boxing them for the first time has become part of the pleasure of the purchase. Apple geeks upload high-resolution slideshows capturing the unpacking-my-latest-gadget experience on to their blogs.
Likewise the Adamo comes well presented in its box. It is an eye-catching machine, light enough to grab in one hand without risking a wrist strain, and with the requisite processing grunt and hardware features to keep most ultra-thin laptop users happy.
The low-profile keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but is functional. The Adamo's only turnoff is its price, a minimum of $4499. But hey, if you've got the dosh, prefer PCs to Macs, and like to be spotted at your favourite Ponsonby cafe tickling the keys of some serious computer bling, then it won't disappoint.
An option for the more fiscally constrained could be the Acer Timeline, another self-styled "MacBook Air killer" but a contender that's less obsessed with its looks and less painful on the wallet.
Acer has had huge success over the past few years gobbling up a sizeable share of the laptop market, and has been doing well in the growing netbook (mini laptop) segment.
Acer's strategy has been to offer value-for-money machines and the Timeline is an intelligent tilt at the ultra-portable top-end of the market.
The Timeline range is thin, light and relatively cute, but not in the anorexic, body-obsessed manner of the Air and the Adamo.
Like its competitors, the Timeline comes with a decent arsenal of features and processing power for a light laptop, and lower pricing: from $1799 for the version with a 13.3 inch screen up to $2299 for the 15.6 inch model.
Producing Apple-inspired devices will continue to be a focus for the company's competitors who are attracted by the higher margins they can make selling these top-end machines.
But if Jobs' health goes downhill again it shouldn't be as a result of worrying himself sick about losing business to imitators.
Diehard Apple fans will stay loyal to their brand. What competitors such and Dell and Acer offer, however, is a useful range of alternatives that can only help grow demand across the wider laptop market.
REVIEWS
Dell Adamo
Price: From $4499
Summary: Very attractive but also very expensive.
Rating: *** (out of five)
Acer Timeline
Price: From $1799
Summary: A solid performer with a price advantage over competing models.
Rating: **** (out of five)
www.adamobydell.com
www.acer.com/timeline
www.apple.com/macbookair
