I try not to use this journal as a glorified garage sale flyer, but it’s not every day I’m selling something that was scrutinized in-depth in this very space.

In addition to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, a complete set of Frank Miller’s Ronin and a couple Wii games, you can pick up the infamous Zune on eBay.

Bid now and do your part to keep me from becoming like the subjects of Martin Hampton’s excellent documentary, POSSESSED. Read the rest of this entry…

Statement: Apple’s iPod was the first MP3 player.

Clarification: That’s a lie. The device was preceded by at least the MPMan, Rio PMP300 and Compaq PJB-100. But in the minds of iPod’s vast audience, who have consumed over 173 million of them so far, it might as well be true.

The fourth generation iPod was my first MP3 player. Until this week I had never bothered with anything else. Apple architected an experience smooth enough to insure I needn’t allow my gaze to meet that of another brand. For years this relationship sustained itself, until the iPhone. More specifically, its App Store.

I, like many designers and developers, have a flaw quirk. Whenever I see something cool that has a perceptible process of creation, I have to toy around with it. Before the App Store, Apple’s devices had always been fenced-in. With the introduction of an SDK that nearly anyone could interact with, my critical designer’s eye suddenly began to analyze the form and function of my mobile application experience. Then Apple’s own design. Then the very foundations of what makes a digital media player usable at all.

In short, it forced me to be objective. But true objectivity is not born from blind devotion to any one company or product. There had to be something else, right? Sure, the iPod comprises a gajillion percent of the MP3 player market. But allowing that daunting statistic to influence the scope of my device usage would be to defy the lessons I learned from the Sega Dreamcast and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Both systems had their butts handed to them by market leaders (PlayStation 2 and the Game Boy Advance, respectively) but both were also really, really great.

It had to exist: a media player with a cohesive experience not requiring mountains of technical know-how to set up. A player with a distinctive presence not derived solely from Apple’s design aesthetic. It had to be good. It had to be small.

It had to not suck.

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It is an anomaly among artists and designers to use anything but a Mac. And yet, I have somehow resisted. I own and enjoy the standard-issue iPhone and iPod, but no Apple computer has yet to gently (but forcibly) grace the contents of my wallet.

I happily work in Windows XP and Windows 7, the former augmented with a number of extensions but largely intact. It’s not that I don’t acknowledge that Mac OS X is more usable and elegant in most respects (especially in comparison to XP), it’s just that I know Windows well enough to anticipate and circumnavigate its quirks without precognition. When I’m knee-deep in my zen-like state of creative flow, designing with amazing tools like Adobe’s Creative Suite or programming in capable editors like Notepad++ or Textmate, the operating system is strangely incidental. Truth be told, application compatibility is really the only thing keeping me from ditching commercial experiences altogether and embracing Ubuntu one hundred percent.

There exists one caveat in my previous statement. While certain projects have required that I use a Mac for small stretches of time, I had never been given the opportunity to experience one as my primary machine. This changed when I started at McAfee, where each talented designer is equipped with a shiny Macbook Pro.

The emotional attachment Apple fosters between their products and consumers is fascinating. Never have I seen so many otherwise frugal individuals gratefully fork over piles of cash for what are, with the exception of the top-tier Mac and Macbook Pro, modestly powered machines. It is a testament to their brand that even after paying a hefty premium for their devices (and doubtlessly for adapters, peripherals and AppleCare plans), these consumers defend the company with a level of fervor typically reserved for political and religious discussion. Merely expressing curiosity as to the pros and cons of the Zune experience on Twitter resulted in no less than five individuals mocking the competing device without owning one themselves.

To those of us who use (and largely enjoy) Windows and Linux, this relationship appears undeniably parasitic. The only explanation is that the Apple experience is so overwhelmingly amazing, so above-and-beyond anything competitors could possibly attempt, that it manages to counterbalance the money and energy we shower it with.

While I will never understand complete and total brand zealots (especially designers, who without objectivity will predictably mimic their idols), after three months with the device I’m finally beginning to see what sets Apple apart. Simply put, my Macbook Pro is a joy to use.

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