What are your favorite brands and why?
All things Apple
My favourite brands
My favourite brands fall into a few clear categories: tools I rely on daily, services that have earned long-term trust, and a handful of personal or local loyalties.
At the centre is Apple Inc. I’ve been using Apple products since the early days—starting with the Classic II—and that relationship has only deepened. Today it’s a fully integrated setup: desktop, dual screens, laptop, iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. What keeps me loyal is the coherence of the ecosystem—devices that simply work together—and a design philosophy that has remained consistent from the beginning.
Alongside that sits Google software. As a qualified Google Educator, I rely heavily on Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Maps, pics, and Keep and Google Earth is mind-blowing. These tools are functional, collaborative, and quietly indispensable—they underpin how I organise, think, and communicate.
I also use OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It’s an interesting case—more a capability than a traditional “brand”—but it’s already embedded in how I write, reflect, and develop ideas. A ten year fifty years on tween/twenties project, dream analysis and recreation, story saga development, AI image creation, swim coaching analysis and plans, town planning and more!
K-AI or Kai, my name for ChatGPT may be a better brand name!
For publishing and long-form writing, I’ve stayed with WordPress since its inception. It offers ownership and flexibility, which matters to me given the scale of my blog work.
In terms of media, the BBC has always been in my life. These days it’s BBC News many times a day, BBC Sounds (especially Radio 4 and 6 Music), BBC iPlayer, and occasional BBC Two programming are daily fixtures. It’s less a brand I “choose” and more one that has become part of the background rhythm of life. For streaming, Netflix is my default, despite trying others.
Retail-wise, Tesco has earned a kind of habitual loyalty—reliability and convenience over time. I also value more personal or local connections: Bill’s, which began in Lewes, and a local veg box scheme Riverford Organics that reflects my environmental leanings. There’s also a nostalgic pull toward Greggs, which started on my hometown high street in Gosforth.
In social media, my engagement has dropped off significantly. I used to use Twitter regularly, but much less so since its recent changes. LinkedIn since forever – one of its founders was on Diaryland in the late 1990s where I started online journaling.
There are also smaller, tactile preferences that matter just as much: a good fountain pen (I’m particularly fond of a Loomy), Plenish for soya milk, Dovefarm for digestive and finer snap biscuits, and Give a Crap for something as everyday as loo roll. These choices are about familiarity, reliability, and a kind of quiet satisfaction in use.
Finally, there are niche or personal brands—like the ouze for jewellery—my son’s brand!
In essence:
The brands I favour tend to earn their place through long-term reliability, thoughtful design, or personal connection—rather than novelty. Once something proves itself useful and dependable, I tend to stay with it like a car made by Honda.
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