Remember when Apple customers felt hip?

There was a time when a glowing Apple logo symbolized radical nonconformity.

Being part of a miniature customer base was, to Mac users, like being a member of a holier-than-thou, secret society — a "Cult of Mac," if you will. But when Apple's ecosystem grew beyond notebooks and desktops to phones and internet services, that era came to an end.

Apple's ubiquitous presence in pop culture, news headlines and even politics prove that it's no longer special to be a member of the Mac cult.

Here's a list of examples showing just how mainstream Apple products have become. As you read along, take a look to your left and to your right and get the attention of the Apple customers around you. Now, raise a glass of Steve

Jobs' favorite nonalcoholic grape juice and drink a toast to being the same as everyone else. Repeat after me: We are all individuals!

Macs are big in Hollywood

It seems practically every computer used in a movie is a Mac. It's a little sickening, but it makes sense: The damn things are just so pretty, and if Hollywood stars have to be good-looking, their gadgets should, too. The new Pixar film Wall-E took Mac product placement to new heights: Whenever the miniature robot booted up, he played the Mac start-up chime. And his robot lover EVE even had a white, utilitarian design that epitomizes the Apple aesthetic. (Then again, it's no coincidence that Jobs used to be CEO of Pixar.)

Apple is skipping Macworld

__

Apple last week said that after 2009, the corporation won't be attending

Macworld Expo, the trade show that revolves around all things Apple.

The message was essentially, "We're so big and popular that we don't need a trade show full of Apple-worshiping losers to advertise our products." That comes off as a little cocky, but hey — it's true. Apple's secret product campaign generates so much buzz, the corporation might as well slice Macworld from its budget. Heck, a Harvard professor estimated bloggers drummed up $400 million worth of free advertising on the iPhone. Yeesh.

__



Some guy with a mullet is Apple's public face

Steve Jobs won't be throwing on his artsy turtleneck and delivering his famous Macworld keynote in January. Instead, some guy named Phil Schiller, who looks like the star of King of Queens

with a Swayze-esque mullet, is emceeing Macworld. Sure, mullets were hip — in the 1990s.

Apple is abandoning FireWire

Mac loyalists are still pissed about Apple's omission of FireWire on the latest MacBooks. The corporation invented

FireWire; devices were made with FireWire ports just to connect to Mac machines. How could Apple do such a thing? Answer: Apple is more interested in appealing to the mainstream than its loyal fan base, and ditching FireWire in favor of slimmer, sexy aluminum MacBooks (and the more ubiquitous USB standard) seemed like a good idea. And Apple loves consistency, so don't be surprised if future Macs leave out that connection port, too.



*The Simpsons *mocks Apple

Appearing in an episode of The Simpsons is like passing a cultural litmus test that screams, "You've broken into the mainstream!" A recent Simpsons episode hurled prickly jokes at the cult of Apple — everything from iPhones to overpriced Mac computers. Heck, Bart even goes as far as to tease Steve Jobs, saying he pees on every iPod. How dare he insult our fearless leader?

Walmart is selling the iPhone

You know the iPhone's pretty damn trendy if you can pick one up along with a bag of socks, a box of rifle bullets and some discounted Halloween candy — at none other than

Walmart, one of the world's largest retail arms. And Walmart is even selling the iPhone at a special low price of $197 — a whopping $2 less than the normal price tag.

The President-elect uses a Mac

Windows PC owners always pull the

"Macs aren't compatible with any decent software" card when bashing Apple. But that insult is clearly outdated if Barack Obama was able to win the U.S.

presidency with a Mac as his computing weapon (while using iChat to stay in touch with his family, no less). And wait — there's one more thing: Obama has his own official iPhone application! Can we all "think different" if we're all using the same trendy gadgets?

__

Apple stories = Digg bait

__Apple headlines are deeply, thoroughly and affectionately Dugg on

Digg.com, the most popular headline aggregator on the web. Check out the top technology headlines on Digg, and without a doubt you'll see at least one story with the word(s) "Mac," "Apple" or "iPhone." Don't see one? Then the world is probably coming to an end.

*Photos: Christopher Chan/Flickr, Pixar, Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com, Apple, Fox, * 24gotham/Flickr