You’ve probably noticed my posts have become less frequent this last week or so. You see, the thing is,  I’ve run into some devastating computer troubles. My old Vista-ripped-out-and-replaced-by-Ubuntu HP laptop died a couple of weeks ago, which was fine because I rarely used it (I’ve explained why in an earlier post). I predominately write, read emails, do research and blog on my iMac. It is a fine computer and I’ve had it now for six years. But it’s getting long in the tooth and last week, out of the blue, it crashed. I spent a day just trying to get it started, which eventually happened, but now the thing is wonky. It’s slow and cumbersome and I fear not so reliable anymore. Just today It kept dropping the Wi-Fi to my network.

Now I am religious about backing up. I back up to Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive and an external drive just to be on the safe side. My problem or issue is therefore productivity, or lack thereof. I don’t want to be without a machine in case my desktop decides to die finally. It already affected my workflow over the weekend as I was unable to do any significant writing.

So, I decided to close my eyes and buy a Macbook Pro. It is not meant to replace my desktop. That I’ll do when I have the necessary finances. The purpose with this purchase was to get something specifically for writing and blogging. Something that’ll make me mobile without affecting my productivity. That will help me write while I look after the kids.

Yes, I am excited. New gadgets excite me. Plus I wrote part of this post at my dining room table with the little one looking fascinated at daddy’s blurred fingers, and part of it on the couch drinking coffee while the kids ran and shouted and pretty much reverse engineered chaos.

I also decided to get Apple’s Airport Time Capsule. Two terabyte’s worth of backup space plus it also boosts my existing Wi-Fi network. It’s larger than the existing external drive I’ve been using which has pretty much reached its full storage capacity.

There you have it. I won’t bloat this laptop with crap and things that are unnecessary. I’ll use it solely for writing and online collaboration with the Virtual Writer Workshop and my colleagues over at Kōsa Press. I did consider getting a Chromebook at one stage, but at the end of the day it was just to limited in functionality and I already had an Apple ecosystem in place in my home.

And let’s be honest, I’ve had no hair-pull-out-sessions with any Apple products the six years I’ve used them, which is something I cannot say for Microsoft. I want things to just work, because when they do, you don’t waste time. Work gets done in time and watching children full-time means I don’t have that extra time to waste. If I suddenly get five minutes to write, I don’t want to spend four minutes starting the damn thing or waiting for it to update first. So far Apple has impressed me with their dependability in that regard. I’m far from being a fanboy, but I will stay with them until they stop meeting my needs. It is really as simple as that.

By the way, typing on this thing is bliss. It feels so soft. The keys make a muted sound when you press them, like they’re giving you a whispery sigh. It’s like I’m pressing mini pillows. Yes, I am exaggerating, but damn am I enjoying the tactile experience this little machine is giving me.

Cheers!

Woelf