I mean, I think he’s right in that Apple is trying to change their image; he’s spot-on there. But I don’t think Apple folks get all googly-eyed because Apple=fun; I think it’s usability and design. Here’s the thing:

I have a Computer Science degree, about 10 years experience doing UNIX system administration, about 10 years on Windows PCs, I’ve been doing hard-core technical documentation on everything from high-level multi-processor graphical FORTRAN compilers to the text you see in those system wizard pop-ups. I’m a nerd, baby. And even *I* have trouble installing Windows software sometimes, or getting my wifi network to run right, or installing a new modem at home, or networking my printer to my wireless network. *And I write the documents that tell you how to do it!* I mean, I’m the guy who reviewed “Geek Squad.” Don’t you think *I* should be the *last* guy to call “Geek Squad?”

This is what Windows has wrought. Windows is bloated, overly-complex, a memory-hog, user-unfriendly . . . we all know what it’s like. On the other hand, you turn on an Apple system, and the durn thing *works*. You try to do things by poking around a bit, and you *can figure it out*. You make mistakes, *nothing bad happens*. Your printer doesn’t burst into flame; no blue screens of death; your wife doesn’t start cursing because you accidentally deleted all the pictures of the kids in the photos directory. The hardware looks nice, the software looks nice, and all the little pieces play nicely together. You buy an iPod and plug it in, *it installs the software for you*. Etc. My 65 year-old step-mother bought a Mac, turned it on, and the next thing you know she was downloading “Bookworm” and web surfing. My Mom bought a Windows box, and had to have one of her coworkers help her set it up for her.

And that’s what I think the difference is. You don’t see guys with C.S. degrees and years of sysmom experience cursing their Macs because they got their third blue screen of death this week. Apple systems work. And they’re pretty. And the software’s pretty, too. Some of it drives me insane: the one-button mouse, the prices (my GOD, the prices!), the way those roll-over icons work . . . but they’re better systems, durn it.

That’s what ol’ Doug thinks, anyway. At 1 a.m.

I do enjoy *some* of his editorial. I don’t care about his Girls Don’t Cry posts and some of his ranting on other things. I do have to agree that he’s got a lot of you know what to say what he thinks without any regard.

He does offer some interesting opinions from time to time and mainly the reason why I keep skimming for stuff I may find interesting.

(But, to put things in perspective, that was shortly after using my crusty, crotchety, curmudgeonly, old Tecra M4 that tends to to things solely to p!ss me off.)