Having been a dedicated Mac user for the past two decades, every time Apple releases some new toy, I’m usually filled with envy. I look at my iPhone, nearing its second birthday, covered in scratches, and wish I had an iPhone 4. Or 4S, or whatever Steve Jobs is going to announce next. I sit in front of my MacBook I bought two and a half years ago, which I use as my one home computer to this very day, and think to myself, if only I had a new one, I wouldn’t be stuck staring at the beach ball of doom every time I watch a few videos on YouTube or play some game on Facebook that uses Flash.
But then I think to myself, I can live with what I have now. I mean, sure, sometimes my computer is so unresponsive that it’s basically unusable for the better part of a minute. But for the most part, it works. Sure, my iPhone only has one, kind of sucky camera instead of two, slightly better ones. But when would I use the front camera, anyway? And think of all the money I’m saving. I could buy a whole bunch of liquor instead of buying a laptop!
Plus it’s not like I’m not used to having a less than state-of-the-art computer at home. Being the son of an Asian father, I’ve experienced first-hand the unwillingness of a parent to shell out money for something new, even when they can easily afford it, and instead forcing the kids to get by on what they have. (I sound bitter and spoiled, but I assure you, as an adult I now totally understand how unappealing it is to part with a four-digit sum of money.) All throughout high school, my brother and I scraped by on a single 100 MHz computer. This was in the late 90s. And then through all four years of college, I used a Power Mac G4 Cube. Yes, it looked cool. And in the beginning of college, I was so amazed by its speed, compared to what I was using in high school. But time has a way of slowing down any computer. During my senior year, it was painful. When did 64 MB of RAM become not enough?
So when the new iMac was released earlier this month, I went through that whole mental process again. Where I want the new thing, thinking how much better it is than what I have now, with double the number of cores, double the memory, double the hard drive, for less than what I paid back in 2008. But then I think to myself, I don’t need that. It’s not worth it to shell out over a thousand dollars just to avoid the beach balls. And so what if the bottom of my MacBook is now warped because of all the heat that gets generated while it’s sitting on my desk running with the lid closed. It’s not like it doesn’t work. And what would I do with my 24-inch monitor, since it comes with a big monitor attached to the computer now? I don’t need it. There, I’ve convinced myself. At least for this weekend.