Computer Confusion!

I have not posted for quite a while due to my trusty old (read: very old) Dell laptop gasping its last breaths.  It has so many things broken on it that I am not sure the nonprofit refurbishing organization will even take it.  The funny thing is the computer part of it works fine, albeit slow.  But it will no longer charge the battery (even though the battery is fairly new), the sole USB port on the machine is completely non-functional, the CD R/W drive will not securely lock in anymore and throws error messages, and I could go on and on.

Now the good news is that a friend offered me a work trade in which I end up with a new MacBook.  He pretty much made most of the decisions for me and ordered it last Friday . . . and wouldn't you know it: Apple revamped their whole line on Monday so now the old models are on sale for less.  

WARNING:  The rest of this short post is a little more of a ramble than my other posts.  That is because I truly am in the middle of the indecision as I write.  And I am going to go ahead a publish the post because I have been silent for so long.  You have been warned!  Read at your own risk!

Apple is coming up to the plate and offering a refund of some amount because we purchased it within 14 days of the announcement of the new models.  But now I also have more options and thusly a lot more confusion.  I can get a higher powered aluminum model for not much more than we already paid.

But man oh man does that ever throw my brain into sheer panic.  It feels like there are so very many things to weigh in and then it all gets so confusing.  

Nice Ad however, I find the range of choices on the Macs about as overwhelming as the PCs.  

As I am writing this I realize that I also am getting somewhat paralyzed by fear.  I fear I will make the wrong choice; the wrong decision. Part of the fear is real in that it is a big decision.  I am someone who tends to buy for the long haul.  I have had my Dell for almost 9 years, my truck for 15, etc.  Even if I change laptops again in three years it is still an important decision because of how much I use the computer and also because it is a lot of money! 

The other part of fearing I will make the wrong decision has nothing to do with a laptop at all.  It stems from having made so many bad decisions in the years prior to knowing that I have a brain injury.  Now my trust of myself and of my decision making ability is in the basement, at best.

The thing about the computer is that I am having problems with sensitivity in my fingertips and this mouse pad on the new MacBook is bothering it as much as my old machine.  So right there is something telling me I may need to upgrade to the aluminum mousepad.  Either that or I need to figure out why my fingertips are so sore!

The questions are still looming and making a cacophony of mental noise.  The biggest one is, of course, Mac versus PC.  I have only had one Mac: the original MacDinosaur.  It had 128 kilobytes of memory. Nowadays we are talking in hundreds of gigabytes for hard drives and even terabytes in storage drive.  

As an aside regarding the original MacIntoshes; there is quite a move afoot to make them into great MacQuariums!!  Almost wish I still had mine!¹

Ever since I outgrew the MacDinosaur I have been PC; mainly because I worked at companies that were PC.  

There are camps that say the Macs are overpriced and the PCs have caught up to the Macs in bells, whistles, and software.  And then there are the diehard Mac users who swear they are the very best and would never go back to PC.  

I have to say that in using this MacBook for most of the day there are many things I like about it already.  Bang!  A small hole just got punched in the PC bucket!  

It is now hours later as I am finishing this writing and posting it.  Mac has won and so has an upgrade.  It means I am down to my last cent yet again but I think I will be very happy with my decision in the long run.  

Boy!  It feels good to be writing again.  Just wait until I get a Mac that doesn't make my fingertips ache!

Footnotes:

1. The Macquarium pictured was created by Cate & Kevin Byers. Kevin & Cate Byers put a little ingenuity into designing the lighting apparatus for their MacQuarium. Two nightlights, a 3-socket swiveling adapter, and an extension cord installed inside a custom enclosure provides a great glow inside the tank. There is a veritable world of macquariums out on the web. Google it and you will see!