It’s been said that in her later years, Erma Bombeck obtained a state of the art word processor to write her newspaper column, “At Wit’s End” and her last few books. After several attempts at being witty while following the cursor on the screen, she subsequently ignored said electronic wizardry and opted to use her trusty typewriter instead.
I totally understand where she’s coming from.
I have a Mac PowerBook G4 that’s approaching three years old. It’s still quite functional, it’s beautiful to look at and it purrs along like a content kitten. However, during our time together updates from Apple and the more and more software I’ve added have taken it’s toll on it a little bit and have subsequently slowed it down. It still trudges along doing it’s thing but it doesn’t have the zip or pizazz it had when it was a young chip.
When I started school last year we bought an HP laptop that had Windows on it but was converted to Linux (after a number of false starts) a couple of months ago. The computer is a delight to use and I’ve tried on numerous occasions to make it my main computer but I just can’t into it. Like a favorite pair of underwear or the t-shirt that makes me feel sexiest, I just like the feeling of using my PowerBook. So it takes a little longer to download porn or watch the BearForce1 video on everyone’s blog. While the cool kids at the internet café are doing their thing on their zippy MacBook Pros, there I am sitting in the corner with the MacBook’s big brother.
I guess as I get older I’m less concerned with keeping up with the Joneses and have ended up set in my ways.
I’ve been over to the Apple site to check out the new iMacs and I look at the MacBooks whenever I’m there. My trusty iBook G4 serves me well, but I just get sucked into that feeling of wanting the latest and greatest. I’ll treat myself when I get my debt paid off. Until then, I can always dream.
It brings a great sense of peace and control over our lives when we understand that we do not need everything that our culture says we do.
BTW, Breenlantern sent me. Blame him. 🙂
And here I sit on my Windows cpu (home and work). =P
I got my first Mac in 1987. It was a huge deal, moving from Linotype typesetting equipment to Quark Xpress on a Mac. Everyone said “you can’t set type on a Mac”. Well, we did. That, and a lot of other “board” tasks. I loved my Mac(s). In 2003, that job got outsourced, and I had to start all over in another job. When I interviewed, they wanted someone proficient in MSOffice. I assured them that I was. I did, however, neglect to mention that I only worked on a Mac platform. (ha ha). Can you imagine starting a new job in a totally IBM PC environment? OMG!!! I didn’t even know how to use Lotus Notes. I did manage to get thru it though. It took me about a week to admit to my manager that I was struggling with windows…”where’s all my icons???”.
I still miss my Mac.