These days it's hard not to notice just how awesome Apple has become. Sure, you pay a premium price but you enjoy the best of the best with an aesthetic quality unmatched by even their most sincere imitators.

I've been an Apple guy since 1979 and devoted 10 years of my life to the 6502 nestled deep within the Apple II series. I admired the Mac but wasn't a Mac nut until the latest OS release, Leopard. And now the Mac just simply rocks.

It started with the iPhone I got back in June. Coolest device I've ever owned and it's still the best. Frequent firmware upgrades make me really happy. Because of the phone I went out and got a MacBook laptop with Leopard installed so I could see if Mac OS X with all of NeXTSTEP's awesomeness inside it was really all I was hoping it would be. And wow, was I blown away.

Until you've used a computer where the OS was written FOR the specific hardware you just don't know what you're missing. The world of the PC is based on the reality that everyone's computer is different and requires special drivers to make it work right - but only with that one device. The Mac is different - it's designed to work together as a whole and you can really tell the difference. Even the pixelicious scrolling in Safari is enough to show you how smoooooth the experience is.

So, in love with the MacBook, I went out and got an Apple TV since I had tired of the buggy-ass D-Link streaming video box I have (and the garbage one before it). And again I was totally amazed at how awesome and easy this device turned out. I'm a total iTunes devotee so the Apple TV just worked exactly as I had hoped. Better in fact.

And now MacWorld 2008 has shown promise that Apple's long awaited rise to prominence has begun. I'm excited about the future of Apple again.