One of the consistent weaknesses of the entire iPod/iPhone line for its entire six year life is the iconic white earphone set that comes in the box.

They’re not absolute dreck, but neither are they up to the hardware they come with. Merely adequate, there hasn’t been much improvement since 2001, save for the inline remote/mic built into the cord with the ones that come with iPhones. And hey, what about those foam things, huh? They don’t last long - if you can keep them at all, that is; I wonder what Apple was thinking including them in the box. Using them’s a clear mark of an iPod newbie.

It’s as if the earbuds were mere afterthoughts they threw in the box with the iPods and the iPhone; maybe they assumed it was an unnecessary effort and expense to give nice ones we could actually appreciate, spending all the R&D budget just on the hardware. But if they assumed that we’d dump them eventually in favor of better third party buds, it doesn’t make sense that they made it exasperatingly difficult for iPhone users to swap out the buds for better ones with the repressively off-sized audio port they built into the phone. I mean, WTH?

There are very few third-party buds with plugs that fit, and even rarer third-party iPhone-specific buds that have the same remote control/mic built into them (one of the better ones is the V-Moda Vibe Duo, but its bassy, in-ear noise-cancelling style isn’t for everyone; in fact, users have noted that it’s an unsettling experience to use these in-ears as a handsfree set for some reason.)

So to the rescue come enterprising companies that literally bridge the gap. Ranging from cheap to ridiculously expensive, the adaptors can be as plain as can be, or savvy enough to find a way to add a mic function to your existing third-party multimedia-ready buds.

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Was able to get a full body kit from invisibleShield (Version Two) for the iPhone the other week and resolved to get it onto my unit despite my foreboding over self-application of these things (we have lotsa rowdy dogs in the house - imagine swirling dust and floating dog hair and you’ll understand my apprehension).

The invisibleShield’s hype is that material was originally meant to protect the leading edge of helicopter rotor blades, which is indeed something to think about. While the invulnerability seems spot-on, the invisible part is a bit overstated. After final application the surface is a bit ripply or wavy (not overly so, but you can tell if you look close), like a flat lake a coupla minutes after someone skipped a rock on it. Or another description would be a vaguely dimply surface, like a gigantic orange seen up close. But yeah, you can’t tell right off there’s something there.

So I locked up the dogs, found a quiet place and went at it.

The package includes the skins, a spray bottle, a squeegee, a warranty card and instruction sheet.

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It seems odd to think that a publication such as PC Magazine, that seeming bulwark of all things Windows and PC, would even deign to review Mac OS X, much less give it the highest accolade and praise they’ve ever given an operating system.

(It’s an unfair and misguided notion of what PC Magazine is, whose “PC” is really plain-vanilla, non-partisan “personal computer” - meaning everything is fair game, including Apple products. It’s a prejudice I fought against when I was Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine Philippines, but it was like asking the tide not to come in.)

Well, don’t be too shocked - PC Magazine, in a PCMag.com review by Edward Mendelson gives Leopard a near-perfect rating, and says the new version of Mac OS X is…

…by far the best operating system ever written for the vast majority of consumers, with dozens of new features that have real practical value—like truly automated backups, preview images in folders, and notes and to-do lists integrated into the mail program. Propeller-heads with IT know-how will no doubt hold up Linux as the better choice, and Vista has its devotees as well (and will probably have more when SP1 is widely available), but, for the average user, Leopard is the most polished and easiest to use OS I’ve tested.

…I found Leopard to be startlingly fast, brilliantly streamlined, and packed with conveniences and innovations. Leopard’s rich set of built-in software runs faster than I imagined possible”

To be fair, Mendelson has some pointed criticisms about Leopard as well, but generally seems almost shocked at how good Leopard is. I feel a sea change coming on.

Read the full PCMag.com review here.