There are some good points in the article. However, there’s one aspect of the argument that I’ve never understood. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about Apple’s DRM and how it’s monopolistic, oppressive, and stinks of sulfur and brimstone. But, as a consumer, I have no idea why.

• If I put my own music into iTunes (from a CD or audio file) there’s no DRM on it whatsoever.
• If I buy music from the iTunes store and burn it to an audio CD, there’s no DRM on it whatsoever. I can even reimport it into iTunes on another machine.
• If I want to transfer my music between computers using my iPod, I can just put it into a folder. It’s true, I can’t reverse sync directly from my iTunes library. But that seems like a minor inconvenience rather than a dystopian nightmare scenario.

So help me out here, what’s so bad about Apple’s DRM?
[tags]Apple, DRM, iTunes, iPod, iPhone[/tags]

I knew going in that I would enjoy using the Mac more. But, what I wasn’t expecting were the million little things in OSX that sounded gimmicky at first, but actually make a huge difference in your user experience. I still use Windows at work, and it drives me crazy that I don’t have these features.

1. [tag]Spotlight[/tag] / Quicksilver: I don’t like having to deal with file management. I love the fact that on OSX I can let the computer worry about computer things, like where to store information, and I can access that information just by typing one word.
2. No Viruses or Malware: On Windows, the internet is a terrifying minefield. Every website and file is a potential enemy looking to gunk up my computer with spyware and viruses. To combat these foes, I need things like ZoneAlarm and various spyware sweepers. On OS X, the internet is a garden paradise free from predators and worry.
3. F9, F10, & F11 (Exposé): At first I thought [tag]Exposé[/tag] was just one of those neat visual tricks, like the genie effect, with no real practical value. But I was totally wrong. Being able to layout all of your windows, tab through them, or slide them all off the desktop is absolutely essential to working in a multi-window environment. In fact, it’s completely insane to try and work without it. This, more than anything, drives me crazy at work.
4. [tag]Preview[/tag]: On the PC, I have a few different programs that I use for browsing various image file formats, other programs I use for viewing PDFs and documents, and still others for viewing different types of media. It’s not uncommon to have a file open (slowly) in the wrong program when all I wanted to do is get a quick sense of what’s in it. On OS X, it’s easy to preview pretty much every file type imaginable straight from the OS.
5. Mounting and Ejecting stuff: Windows has a secret icon in the taskbar tray that lets you know when you’ve connected a USB device (like an iPod). If you just unplug the device without clicking on the secret icon and navigating through multiple screens of USB gibberish, you get, at a minimum, a stern admonition. At most, all of your data is destroyed. On OS X you need to eject these devices too. But they appear as icons on the desktop that look like the thing they are. When it’s time to eject, you drag them to “eject”. If you want to use them, you don’t have to dig down into “My Computer”. you just click on them.
   Well… Of course you do. That’s how it should work.

If you’ve been following Vista development, you probably know that Microsoft is incorporating similar features into Vista (Okay, not the Virus / Malware free one). I know a lot of long time Mac users are a bit peeved with Microsoft for stealing these ideas from OS X. But, as someone who has to use Windows to make a living, I look forward to seeing these good ideas on as many platforms as possible.

In case you’ve somehow gone without hearing about this marvel of the modern age, the [tag]iPhone[/tag] is a completely sex-tastic cellphone, PDA, iPod, wonder gadget that seems to have sprung, fully formed, from the thigh of Zeus.

When some companies attempt to design a device that combines the roles of several existing products, the result is often a clunky Frankenstein’s monster that fails to perform any of its duties particularly well.

What impresses me about the iPhone, is that it actually seems well-suited to each of the tasks you might ask of it. And then there’s the little things, like the way knows which direction you’re holding it, or the way it adjusts its brightness based on ambient light, or the elegant gesture navigation.

These features may not sound hugely important. But, once you’ve been spoiled with the mag-safe power adapter or the MacBook’s scrolling trackpad, you appreciate what a difference they make.

It seems like everything the iPhone does is designed with the total user experience in mind. Watching the demo movies on Apple’s site, I found myself thinking, “well of course that’s how it should work. Why hasn’t anyone done this yet?”

Granted, I haven’t actually seen or touched one yet. But in my head I’ve already had my way with it. After violating its glossy sensitive surface, my trusty [tag]iPod[/tag] – faithful friend and traveling companion – is starting to look mighty long in the tooth.