Ok, so I'm not the most fashionable person. Nor have I been, ever. And I though I'm not a trend setter, I'm certainly not one to follow them either.

But I did a lot of research, and saved a lot of overtime pay, and bought myself and iPod.

And in spite of what they say about how users feel like they're a special club, and how good the design and software is, it still doesn't prepare you for actually getting one.

The small box that it comes in unfolds like some sort of puzzle box, slowly revealing first a welcome from apple, then the product itself, all in a carefully orchestrated plan to build suspense and make you feel like your entering a new world. I know it sounds hyperbolic, but I think that was the intent of the package design: You're entering a special place now.

When you unfold the last flaps, there is the tiny, and I mean tiny iPod, with the documentation on the left. All the wires connections and messy stuff hidden behind it so it makes a clean visual look before you rip it out and start pulling stuff out.

You can really tell they spend a long time on the industrial design of it, something Apple's known for, and they strike new heights with this on. It's clean, minialistic, and easy.

OK, so, here I am with my great sacrifice to the gods of consumerism for the year, but I am satisfied I made the right technical choice. It's just nice that the right technical choice for the money is also the sexiest one.

I wish more items had half as much thought put into the design of them as this does. There's no reason that even common items can't have great design and art to them.