Just a Little More...

The laptop is back from the spa with more energy. New battery and powercord, that is. Still awaiting the operating system. It isn't the most recent one, it is the second most recent one. The computer memory/processor can't handle the newest and is already at the max it can be. Of course, the geek who was fixing it for me asked, "Are you sure you want to spend money to fix it when you could buy a new one for a little more?" First of all "a little" is relative! Spending "a little" more on a new computer is the same amount of money as spending "a lot" on plants or yarn! Secondly, I can't stand how disposable things have become, and how important it is made to seem that we all have the very latest. Now, if that is your passion and your priority, I say go for it! Have the latest, greatest toys. But, for my use of the computer (which is at times pretty heavy, but not my passion), I can make do with the second to last operating system! When I buy a new one I always upgrade as much as I can and that policy has meant that my computers last a long time. My first Mac lasted me 10 years! I finally upgraded so that I could get the internet in 1998. The next one was the most shortlived--only five years. It was working fine, and still doing everything I needed, but I fell in love with the iMac and convinced myself I needed it in 2003. (Remember the commercial?) We still have that iMac 7 years later and EE uses it in his office. I got this powerbook in '04 to help with finishing my dissertation in a house that was being upgraded with new flooring a little at a time. I needed to be able to work more portably. At least that is what I told myself!

So, as you can see, I understand the desire to have new toys! But I want to be the one who chooses to get new rather than having something fixed/maintained. It is easy to think, "Oh, for just a little more I could get a new one," even if you really don't want/need a new one. I am grateful that the problems I was having were fixable because I know that isn't always the case. So my laptop stays out of the electronic landfill for awhile longer and I still have some money in my wallet for plants and yarn!