MACLove, PC Out, Game Over

I'm feeling a little like Lewis Black these past couple of weeks when it comes to Apple: Mac's in, PC's out, game over (include twitchy index finger pointin' straight atcha).

I've been committed to have my weekly one-to-one sessions at the Apple store and while my head isn't necessarily in the game this month (too much imagery on the gray matter), I'm enamoured with Mac.

There are sooo many nice surprises that reveal themselves to me as I work, that I wish I had someone with whom to share this adventure. Sure, Andrew understands -he initiated this change, but from a designer standpoint, well, it goes much deeper. The everyday way a person connects with the Mac is 'the way it should be.' I think the surprises are small features, but they're not -they're a part of the system. Like peanut butter is with jelly, the fundamentals are no accident, they're planned.

I do have one major complaint: Apple is too darned efficient. Period.

Andrew decided that it would be best if I had my own Shuffle and I agree. After borrowing his on a walk around the neighborhood this week on a most beautiful day, it was an extremely nice supplement. I really try not to fall in love with every gadget on set my hands on but this innocuous, simple tool encouraged me to keep walking -I continued enjoying the day. Miss Design-a-holic did not want to return the studio.

Andrew ordered the Shuffle from the Apple Web site Monday evening; it shipped from China Tuesday. An email encouraged Andrew to sign off on the FedEx slip that he could print out and hang on the front door for Friday's delivery, it arrived a day early. Imagine that.

Tomorrow, my Shuffle arrives (because I didn't answer the door). Now I just need to shuffle my butt back into the gym.

MAC + Podcasting: Embracing My New Frontier

Because I want to become intimately familiar with the amenities of my new iMAC PDQ, I have acquiesced to purchasing the one-to-one sessions at the local Apple store.

I had my first session last Friday afternoon with Andrea. Andrea was very good-natured and immensely tolerant of my forcing her to listen to my free-wheelin' intro created in GarageBand. Once she traversed my terrain of spotty MAC knowledge, she was able to provide succinct guidance into the world of 'look like you know what you're doing' within my chosen subject: Podcasting.

I have to say, I'm extreeemly excited to learn this vehicle of marketing and communication.

Another smart product that comes out of Apple are the session guides: this helps Andrea and myself go thru the checklist to identify just how much I don't know. She began to understand my MAC knowledge base and would interject crossover hints from one application to another -thank you for that! Since the one-to-one cost is ~$100 for 52 weeks, I'm getting some pretty hefty knowledge for just $1.92/per session or $8.33/mo or $.27/day.

Now that I'm becoming versed in the new frontier of podcasting, what subject matter would you like to learn from me?


Quiet Thought for the Day: I will learn to love MAC. I will learn to love MAC.