My philosophy for products is simple: It must be rugged and reliable. Whenever I decide to go with a specific product I check to see if the company that creates the product is public and the current price of its stock. When I started buying Apple products (AAPL), its stock was at $70 a share; today its at $170 a share. When I decided to go with a BlackBerry for my phone, RIMM was at $40 a share; today its at $122. I was using Google long before its IPO, but I wanted to buy some stock shortly after the IPO when it was at $175 a share. Today? GOOG is at $555 a share. If you believe in the products you use, invest in the companies that sell them.