Wow, what a work of art! The new Magic Mouse is so beautiful! We got ours last week and we couldn't wait to try them out straight away. As I expected it was as easy to install and use as it was beautiful! With every generation of Apple products (or toys as I like to think of them) they morph into something a little more beautiful and a little more ergonomic. The new Magic Mouse feels so much part of me that I'm wondering if the logo is suddenly going to appear on the back of my hand.
Why do Apple consistently get it right? And what is it they get right? For me the user experience is exceptional compared to that of (clear throat... long pause... eh, hem...) Windows (ew!). Having used both systems I think I can safely say that Mac OS is leaps and bounds beyond anything Microsoft throw at us. Tiger, Leopard and now Snow Leopard can all stand proud and roar through the window of superiority. The fact that Vista, an attempt to be appear more cool, has been replaced by Windows 7 (imaginative!)... it seems that Microsoft have finally realised that cool is not something they do well. If I am to be a little PC (did you see what I did there?), don't get me wrong, Windows does have it's place... but not in the creative arena and certainly not in the digital photographic processing and retouching realm.
One of the main things about Macs that make them cool is their reliability. On the whole, if a Mac hurts itself, it seems to have the almost intuitive ability to heal. Now that's cool! It does what it says on the tin.
I guess it was inevitable that Mr Gates was going to leave the playground. How was he ever going to contend with the marbles that Mr Jobs had in his bag? Even after stepping out of the limelight for health reasons, Mr Jobs' creative genius seems to be living on in the ever changing Apple family.
As a brand, Apple has had its ups and downs but since Jobs' return in 1996 and in this century at least, it seems to understand and anticipate the needs of its users. Yes, it has become a global corporation (and much has been said of Jobs the man), and yes it seems hell bent on global comms domination with the iPhone (which you have to say is another work of art), but it does seem to give us what we want rather than tell us what we need.
In summary, as I sit here staring into my iMac, typing on my somewhat dirty, yet still perfectly formed silver/white keyboard, I am happy... happy in the knowledge that all it takes to order my favourite album on iTunes is my magic mouse and me.
Ian
