Every 5 years, I buy a new laptop

Financially, it’s not the best decision as I hold out each passing year. Because I still believe that my current laptop, still running, will survive the ticking clock.

Ever resourceful, last week, I tapped a friend at Apple to buy a laptop using his employee discount. The order was finally made on Monday and suddenly Chris swung behind the Apple store in Union Square in San Francisco. This is no suburban Apple store, usually filled with tourists trying to check their email and searching for their next activity. “I’ll be back,” he said and left me in the passenger seat in the yellow zone.

In a few minutes, he jogged up to the car with a white box, placing it in the back seat next to the AV equipment we were transporting for my upcoming meeting. “Remember!” he exclaimed. “You have the next year to activate an additional 2 years of AppleCare!”

“Why would I do that?” Then I hesitated, “Did you get a hard sell from the Apple employees?”

“Yes,” he grinned.

Later, the new laptop was charged and massaged carefully alive. I tapped on the Macbook Pro I bought in 2009, an impulsive purchase after I got the first job after the big recession. A reward for me then. Now this laptop in 2014 is more for my constant freelancing and the frustration that seemed to bore in my forehead when Sketch and Omnigraffle spun the pinwheel seemingly in an infinite loop.

The 12″ powerbook I purchased in 2004 was a monument to my college graduation. Believing that I needed “proof” of my uniqueness, tech-savviness, and first job, I bought the laptop a few months before graduation. I had taken a UI Design class where all students borrowed IBM Thinkpads. I loved it, but as a computing consultant, I detested Windows, a machine that was so easily compromised by viruses and adware. I wanted something that was better than that. Plus I was hipster before it was cool to be hipster.

After commencement, I was still in my apartment on College Avenue cleaning. Cords, random furniture was everywhere. My powerbook was resting on my desk, playing music. As I vacuumed my room, I somehow got its cord tangled with the powerbook’s power cord. With one tug, the powerbook flew in the air and it landed on its side, creating a noticeable dent. I wanted to rub the dent in and pretend nothing happened to its clear silver baby screen.

I had replace the hard drive in a year. And it kept chugging along until I bought a new macbook pro in 2009.

Now 4 years later, I am writing in a new macbook pro. No lag. Every tap is a crisp data entry into the box. That it’s so smooth that I almost feel like once again writing on paper. How will the next 5 years go? Whatever the case, I can’t wait until I can deduct the cost of this mofo from my taxes!

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