Quarter Life Crisis

The world according to Sven-S. Porst

Mac OS X.6 Snow Leopard available now!
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Exhibitionism¶

459 words

I was tempted to exhibit a photo of my Dock here – as everybody seems to do these days. While I liked the idea at first, I didn't find looking at those Docks too interesting, so you are spared.
I used the opportunity to clean my Dock up, though.
A little bit.
The obsessive voyeurs out there can have a glimpse at a dated section of my Dock.
John Gruber gives a deailed analysis of the difference between Apple's iPod, Apple's computers and the competition in both cases. What makes me sad about this that 'brand power' seems to be key for the iPod's success, rather than the fact that it's a good toy.
Yes, I want one.
Also on the differences between Apple and its competitors, in the article aptly named Lick Me, I'm A Macintosh.
This is the point. Detail and nuance and texture and a sense of how users actually feel, what makes them smile, what makes the experience worthy and positive and sensual instead of necessary and drab and evil. [...] Fewer and fewer manufacturers of consumer landfill crap give a damn for how consumers might actually, dare I say, care about the fit and finish of the products they decide to allow into their lives. And this is exactly the sort of nuanced stuff we so desperately need more of.
It's quite strange with those Apple products: First you anticipate them – be it hardware or software – feverishly, then you enjoy the sensation of getting and unpacking them and then... there's no step three. They stop being distractingly breathtaking after that. Sure, my Powerbook looks very sleek – but in a way that doesn't shout 'Look at me!' constantly. The same goes for the OS: X.2 was a great improvement – but can I still remember how exactly it is better than X.1 was?
I think that's a feature of good design as well: You get used to it quickly. You're only reminded of it when you've used inferior design in the meantime and getting back to your own, well designed environment, makes you feel 'home' and puts a smile on your face.
All of the above doesn't apply to the stinking heap of crap that is the OS X Finder. It will only be acceptable the day that I don't feel 'home' and relaxed when using the OS 9 Finder.
Fun links: Measuring the speed of light with chocolate and Why I love Sosumi – both via Juha Haataja.
The World Heritage Tour, featuring QuickTime VR panoramas of World Heritage sites.
The birth of an iceberg. Looking at the film in the article reminded me that interpreting satellite images – or any raw data – is hard.