The Apple Plunge!

So this past Friday we took the plunge and bought a 14" Apple iBook! I've been curious about whether Apple products really delivered the superior user experience that many claim. I've toyed with the idea for quite some time, but the kicker for me was asking my friend Barry - a long time PC user which PC laptop we should buy and having him recommend the iBook! I also realized that many very clever and artistic friends of mine are dedicated Apple users. Finally, our recent experience with our new iPod has certainly been a positive one.

So Friday was the day. I came home (late) Friday night and unpacked it. In no time I had it setup to retrieve e-mail from our existing accounts. By Noon the next day it was on our in house wireless network, streaming audio from the PC upstairs and delivering it to the Apple AirTunes unit hooked to our stereo downstairs. So far - and there is alot more to explore - I'm very impressed with it. As was pointed out by Walter Mossberg in a very good article in the WSJ about 'switching', some of the UI paradigms are different from the PC, but it certainly seems managable. Will it be worth it to have a hybrid house? We'll see.