[Jeff Atwood] The appeal of the Mac Mini is totally lost on me. It’s an underpowered, expensive box– like every other computer Apple has ever introduced. And yet, a certain contingent of PC users are buying this thing on release day. I never understood that.

Jeff goes on to point to an article from Ed Stroglio that tried to explain it: “For PCers, a computer is a tool, an animated screwdriver. You don’t have an “experience” with a screwdriver. It either works well or it doesn’t. If it does, you like it; if it doesn’t, you don’t. You don’t admire its aesthetic features, or find one a reflection of your good taste, or a symbol that proves you’re an {fill in the blanks: admirable, special, creative, artistic} person. For Macsters, it’s just the opposite. The object is an extension of themselves just as much as their clothing or interior decoration, it’s a part of them in a way a PC never is for a PCer.”

Bingo. This is also why people love moleskine notebooks, why the iPod has also been so successful in an overcrowded MP3 player market, why ‘blank is like Tivo for blank‘, why the Palm took off and why fat shoelaces were so popular at one time - people view these items as an extension of themselves. But why?

When I first heard about the possibility of a new headless Mac, I mentioned that “OS/X is an awesome operating system that really encapsulates a computing ‘experience’ rather than just running applications. In some ways it reminds me of the Amiga - it was just fun to use and got the job done.”

I wrote this because over the last few years, I’ve personally started to uncover the answer (at least, for myself): Pleasure and the ‘Experience’.

Back in 2002, a Slashdot article that I linked to talks about the ‘pleasure’ effect and operating systems: “I used to derive pleasure when using my Apple, Amiga and SGI because they had a unique personality through various touches and tools that made the interface more cognisant of my existence. Windows completely lacks that interface. It’s dumb and arrogant. It’s heartless and ultimately disposable.”

In 2003, I wrote (about OS/X): “Every time you fire up the desktop, you begin to salivate because it’s fun to use. Apple understands that the most important part of designing a user interface is that its job is to create an emotional response with software by creating an experience around it. They understand people.”

While I certainly don’t agree that Windows is ‘dumb, arrogant and disposable’, I primarily view them (as Ed mentions) more as ‘tools’. Contrast that to the entirely different experience firing up Windows Media Center (even though it’s basically Windows XP): it’s exciting and much more captivating than when I start my day to day tasks staring at the start bar on Windows XP or 2003. Starting up Media Center feels like I’m about to experience something cool and I’m in complete control of it.

One last thought. If “The Exploding PC” is ever going to transform the home, embedded devices are going to need to encapsulate the concepts of ‘pleasure’ and ‘experience’ to be accepted (and desired) by the masses.