It seems I have an idiosyncrasy - a little thing that, when experienced, can make me giddy with delight and happy for the rest of the day.
That 'thing' is the discovery of elegant and simple applications that can be used in the real world by real people with real jobs.
The discovery that really floored me and made me nervously aware of my odd software fetish was BearBoatPro (homepage.mac.com/rlivingston). This is a free canoe, kayak and small boat design application. I didn't expect much, both because of its price and because of my experience with other boat design software, which usually requires years of study before the application becomes useful. But lo and behold, minutes after downloading BearBoatPro I was tweaking my preferences into the appropriate windows - longer for speed, beamier for my weight, better wave penetration for the open ocean, reduced surface area for ease of paddling, and a tweak here and there for better stability. Soon I had a full 3D image of the oddest but most interesting kayak hull I had ever seen. I was instantly ready to build it and the application was ready to help.
When your masterpiece is finished, the application prints out sectional images every 10mm, or whatever measurement you desire. You can use these printed sections to trace and stack to get the form to build your boat. I was impressed to say the least.
But it got me to thinking: Were there Mac applications created with such loving care for other trades? Well, it seems there are. In my research I came across software to manage rental space, help sports coaches organise teams, help bicycle manufacturers control inventory, and even one app that helps daycare centres keep track of kids.