The Write Thing

A long-time supporter of Microsoft-based PCs, I found myself heading towards the Apple store at the Galleria Mall in Houston last week looking for an Ipad.  Until now, I have not been ashamed of choosing Apple’s by-products to real laptops as a way of keeping a good source of entertainment at hand for long flights, restless nights or simply the pleasure of hitting the gym every now and then.  However, this time I found myself in front of a Macbook Air, which I had probably not heard of before, but could not help seeing on display as this cute, little silvery thing shining from a white table, almost as a beckoning gift of life.

Little did I know that my life would be changed on that Friday 13th as I walked out of the store with my Macbook Air hanging over my shoulder in a designer plastic bag with the Apple logo…which, by the way, I still refuse to sport on my car or in any place where its visibility could betray me.  No, if you ask me, I still think Apple is outrageously expensive, full of proprietary hardware that gets on my nerves, and cute for the sake of making computer users totally unaware of what goes on inside their machines.  I still say…if your Mac shows signs of distress, there is no way you can intervene.  Windows lets you interact with the inner world of your PC, and most of the times there will be a way of solving a glitch that will get you thinking you are a genius…but you are not, you can only barely google.

Now, I’m typing this on my new toy, which proved to me that I could be heard.  I was looking for a portable laptop that would be more than a netbook without being less than a notebook.  My voice was heard, and it was Macintosh that heard it first.  This is a very light computer that does what I need it to do, gives me a decent keyboard, flash-based memory and is slim enough to fit into my purse.  I only had to buy Office separately but, other than that, it came with the trimmings I needed to make my life easier.  I had never used a Mac before, but now I seriously wonder if, as I turn the page into a later part of my life, this is not the way I want to go.  Yes, maybe I want the ClubMed of laptops instead of the nice, decent hotel that is conveniently located but comes with few perks.  Oh, well….I am aging…so what?