final post from this computer

This evening I had to cave in and buy a new computer, the first time I have ever done so in Egypt (they tend to be well overpriced here). But I can’t go two months and wait until L.A. to buy a reliable computer.

The current one (I am now making my last blog post from it; it is the machine on which this blog was born, in fact) isn’t totally dysfunctional. But…

1. It already had one major crash, in late June. And from experience I know that these crashes are often grim harbingers of worse to come, even when recovery from them is relatively quick.

2. The trackpad is what’s really failing. The keyboard isn’t giving me any serious trouble, but the trackpad is sometimes maddeningly unresponsive– and yes, I’ve tried to address that problem in the various usual ways already, as have some professionals. I think the machine is simply beginning to fail from overuse. 20 months at my level of usage is significant enough that we needn’t call the machine frail. It has played its role.

3. I probably could have kept on going with this machine without noticing its decline. What changed that was the arrival of the new office computer last week, which reminded me that a new computer feels as good as new shoes or a new haircut: it livens everything up; energizes your day.