I’ve Got That Midas Touch
I’m pretty sure I have a curse.
Not that I’m personally afflicted by a curse, per se, but I carry a curse which affects things around me.
Electronic things, specifically.
Now. I’m not one of those completely obtuse people when it comes to all things electronic. The fact that there are wires connected to other wires connected to various pieces of equipment doesn’t scare me. I know word processing and spreadsheets and file types and images and even a bit o’ HTML for you webpage tinkering types. So. While I’m no computer genius, I’m not completely oblivious, either.
They’re just machines, right?
There is no logical reason for them to succumb to my curse — to know that it’s me, not Justin, tapping away at their keyboards.
Yet somehow, they do.
It’s like I’m King Midas. Except instead of everything I touch turning to gold (which, let’s face it, wouldn’t be all bad), every computer I touch turns to shit. And I’m sorry I’m so addicted to swearing Mom, but there is no nicer way to put this.
Two — count ’em, two computers have turned to steaming coils of doodoo just at the touch of my hands in the past week.
Thankfully I live with an un-cursed person who’s managed to save all of my data thus far, but the computers? They’re dropping like flies on a bug zapper. Minus the smoke and the funky smell. Which, frankly, wouldn’t surprise me at this point.
And this little phenomenon isn’t exactly convenient for my job — my job which involves writing and photo editing and submitting to people who run a gigantic website and simply don’t have time to listen to my sob story about fried hard drives and cold, lifeless motherboards and how I would have my piece done except I’m waiting for a full version of PhotoShop to install on a dinosaur of a laptop — a laptop which, hopefully, doesn’t yet understand that it’s doomed at my hands and will hold out long enough for me to finish my latest submission to Re-Nest.
That is, if it doesn’t crash while I’m writing this post.
And it’s things like these that make me long for the days of the simple machines — of typewriters and corded phones cassette tapes and VHS — things that didn’t scratch or crack or short a fuse when you tossed ’em around. Back in the day, technology could take a beating.
It wasn’t all prissy and didn’t ask to be handled with silk-effing-gloves.
I know old technology had its own set of frustrations, but sometimes I just miss wrapping a coiled phone cord around my waist while standing in the kitchen talking to my friends.
So. I have to buy a new computer now. Preferably one that can stand up to my particular brand of curse.
Any suggestions?
Comments
I have had bad luck with computers until I got my Mac Book Pro. It has not given me a moment’s trouble. Printers are another story. I got through printers like they were water.
Yeah… I may have had an “office space” moment with my printer not too long ago, so it may be a time for a new one of those as well…
No suggestions on the type of new computer but if you find one that likes a beating once in a while do share…there are good reasons why I’ve stuck with my old faithful Nokia cellphone without fancy cameras and games and internet access. Reasons mostly relating to its survivability despite falling (actually crashing) on cement and stone, getting wet numerous times, at least one dive into beach sand and many other things that would make more modern phones curl up and die in an instant…
You have no idea how much I WISH I still had my old Nokia. :)
Not a suggestion on specific brands, but try TigerDirect.com. They usually have great prices and offer refurbished ones, too. Both my boys laptops came from there and are still going strong. Yes, the 7yr old has a laptop, but it’s the teenagers old one – 8 yrs old and still hasn’t died.
You are like the ultimate source of… well, sources. :) Thanks for the suggestion!
I love my Mac. It was a bit of a kick in the gut to have to pay for it, but it’s given me less trouble in two years than my previous Dell would give me in an average day.
And I feel like a cooler person for owning one. :D
THAT is really why I’m thinking about getting a Mac. I’m tired of being so uncool. ;)
I totally and completely 100%ly recommend buying a mac. I switched from a PC to a mac and since that time every single person I know has switched to a Mac and has been thoroughly impressed and satisfied. MAC MAC MAC MAC MAC. Impervious to viruses and impervious to crashing and well of course if it does, (because lets just say that nothing is perfect), Apple has already taken the steps necessary to back up your data for you when you weren’t looking :D
Sounds like what I need! Because obviously I’m too lazy to maintain a constant system of backup. Now. Will it rub my feet, too?
“I just miss wrapping a coiled phone cord around my waist while standing in the kitchen talking to my friends.”
Wow – amazing visual – that brings back such good memories!!!
Doesn’t it?? :)
I don’t know the suppliers you have there but i would strongly suggest a PC Macs typically have smaller hard drives and ram than comparable PCs, on average, you will still see price gaps of several hundred dollars between comparable Macs and PCs.(“typically speaking” i have not done a “true accurate” price comparison to determine what the current market prices are ) as well a the fact that apple keeps mac and mac products proprietary so you can only by mac stuff from an authorized apple dealer which allows them to control the prices PC are interchangeable and non-proprietary allowing for more competitive pricing. That is just a few reasons to take into consideration. Happy Shopping!
You are probably one of those people whose smart enough to build your OWN kickass PC. If that were the case with me, I wouldn’t consider Mac because of the prices. Buuuuutttt….. that’s not me. And I’ve had so many failed PC attempts, I think it might be time to switch gears…
I continued to buy PCs because of the price issue, but after killing 3 (after fighting with crashes, freezes, slow loading and ALL sorts of other problem after problem) while my college-aged kids’ Macs continued on, problem-free, I spent the money. I still think my curse follows to the Mac a bit, because mine has strange little habits no one else’s seems to… But I turn my PC laptop on to use my drafting software, wait for it to reboot for 20 or 30 minutes (no exaggeration), then hope it doesn’t freeze, and I remember why the Mac was worth the expense… And why I really need to get Windows for Mac so I don’t ever have to turn that ‘piece’ on again!
That’s the thing! With all of the money I’ve spent on PCs and PC parts and upgrades, I probably could’ve bought a Mac by now! But I am worried about getting frustrated with not being able to use certain software…