Little things we love

Hypernate

Hypernate

McGeek
As a Mac user, you'll have noticed all the little things that Apple does, that just set it above anything else. Yeah, I'm sure this discussion has happened before, but maybe some comments regarding new products?

I'll start with a few.

When I bought both my iMac and my iBook, I thought it was a really nice touch how the powercord, rather than being just normal, tough battle with it to bend it plastic, was this beautiful soft flexible cable, which doesn't seem to kink or keep its shape if you roll it up (say to put in laptop bag).

My mum's iPod. (not on my old one though :( ) - she got a 20gb 3G iPod from my dad for christmas, and on the little booklet thing that holds the install CD etc. there was the little word enjoy printed there. Sure, it's fairly insignificant, but it is just another Apple touch that makes you feel like the company is different to others.

When I put my computers to sleep, rather than flashing an orange light, as on my old Hewlett-Packard, the white light pulses. And still on that light, I love how on my iBook, unless it's lit up, it's totally hidden.

And of course, the touch on all Apple 'books that everyone notices... the glowing Apple on the lid!
 
I like the little "x" that appeared in the upgrade from iTunes 4.0 to 4.0.1 (or was it 4.1)? That little "x" in the search box is just what the doctor ordered.
 
I like how easy it is to switch to OS X as your startup OS if you're in OS 9 (or something else even). I just wish it were as easy to go back.
 
Many many things....

That the music which plays when you install OSX (Jaguar anyway) is real cool, (off the K&D sessions by Kruder & Dorfmeister i think)

The way the clip which shuts my powerbook appears as if my magic out of the casing as you close the lid.

That almost every option and setting is exactly where i would expect it to be.

The power adapter/cord on my powerbook has those lovely clips which flip out from the transformer so you can wind up the cord. Also that the Adapter has attaches either to a plug or to an extension cord plug, and also that all the adapters come with little plastic covers.

My iPod in general- lets face it, they are just amazing machines. (Also apparently the best selling piece of electronics this xmas in the UK- from BBC news).

Target mode- has saved my so much hassle transferring files.

iTunes- all my peecee friends were so jealous when it came out. "What?", they said, "you can have more than one playlist?"

I could go on....
 
I love instant-wakeup on the notebooks. People just don't believe what they're seeing when I open the iBook in public and start typing right away.
 
the command key. (example: command + q = quit, command + h = hide). You can't do that sort of thing on a PC, and it's just so awsome.
 
I agree with Fryke, my powerbook was my first laptop ever and I was spoiled. For a long time, it didn't even occur to me that pc laptops don't have this feature and if they do it's like waiting to boot the machine again. My brothers HP laptop running XP pro takes ages to wake up. Compared to a mac, it's like turning it off and then back on again!
 
I like the little light ring around the power plug that changes to orange when charging.

The pulsing sleep light.

The backlit keyboards.

WiFi antenna built into the screen.

All the ports on the left side.

The way they package things.

The list really goes on and on.
 
Fryke doesn't know how right he is! When I was talking with some of my coworkers and I opened my 2 year old Powerbook, their jaws almost hit the ground!

Plus, they couldn't get enough of Panther's Exposé. For about ten minutes they just kept asking me to open more Windows. I think they were trying to slow the effect down but it didn't even hesitate! Then to top it off, I did the old trick of holding the shift key down and they all thought that was the coolest thing they ever saw in a computer effect.

The last personal thing I love about the Mac platform is the small, extremely helpful community that goes along with the computer. I feel like I'm a part of something special and I want to give back all the little things I have picked up. My PC using friends just don't get the fact computing can be fun even if the Mac platform doesn't have every brand new game at Best Buy. The Mac is just what I think a computer experience should be like!
 
the way that the UI is arranged, its so user friendly

Compared to a PC , my mum says that the Mac is more friendly
 
I finally dragged myself to the Apple Store yesterday, and the bags are so nice. A collectable bag, I only went to get some DVD-R's, but was i ever tempted, I had to get out of there before I purchased out of impulse.

It's really late, and I need to stay up so i can stay out till the sun comes up to ring in the New Year, shifting my sleeping time. :)
 
As a designer myself I never cease to be floored by the genious of Jonathon Ives and his design team. I've always believed that there is one hell of a difference between 'good' design & 'great' design. 'Great' design lies in the whole package, from concept to execution the piece should be thought through from every angle. Ives has done this from the self-tightening screws on the iMac armature to the breathing sleep light on my powerbook. The man and his team are, in my opinion, the finest designers I've seen in a long time. Just go out there and look around at similar products, you'll see what I mean. The new Sony desktop for example. Looks nice, it is obviously Mac inspired but, and it's a pretty fat butt, you can see from a mile off that the design was all about the look and not the 'experience'. Things are flimsy and clunky. 'Great' design should be organic, it should help you not hinder you. The ideal is to create something so easy to use, so subtle in it's magnificence that you're not even aware it's there. Long live Mr. Ives, (the greatest British export for years), & his team. They are the best in their field and long may they reign!
 
My personal favourite design element - the way my powerbook screen moves 'away' from the body thus creating more depth. Love it.
 
The superdrive-slot in the new iMacs is almost invisible! People always ask: "Where is the CD-Drive?? HAHA, Macs don't have CD-Drives!!" But then i just press the Eject button on the keyboard and from nowhere there comes a cd-drive out of the base. Soooo nice! :)
 
And the speakers of the iMac. It's unbelievable how they can reach such a high volume. Really cool.

The way how the CD-Slot of the G5's opens.

The mouse, definitly.

The box of the first iPod had a very cool picture of Jimmy Hendrix on 2 sides of the box.

I like this topic. :)
 
How about the fact that the power button on PowerBooks is so shiny and spiffy looking? It's spiffy looking and separate from the keyboard, without drawing too much attention to it.
 
I like how so many Macs have handles built in to the body. My iMac has a handle, all the towers from the blue G3 on have handles, even the G4 iMac has a handle: just grab the thick part of the neck.
 
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