Q. How long can you live without your computer?
A.
Are you sure?
This morning shortly after Michael got up he announced that his computer would not turn on.
End of story.
Nuthin.
No power, no matter what he tried.
It was a 2009 iMac, so it had lived a very long and useful life. In fact, he got it used off Craigslist from some tech nerds who needed to get rid of a couple of devices and it was a great buy at the time.
This morning, it just wouldn’t work.
There were no flames, no hurling of computers across the room.
Just silence.
(no iTunes)
We’ve been talking about getting new computers. Mine isn’t quite as old as Michael’s, but it’s getting there and I can’t update the OS anymore. It’s starting to show its age a bit, but still works decently well. At this juncture I’d like to point out that Macs last 10 YEARS or more, as opposed to PCs. Get over the price difference and make the switch. It pays off in the long run.
There wasn’t a lot we could do. A quick trip to the Apple store commenced, and I have to say they are quick and efficient there. We had a 12:15 appointment, and we were HOME by 1:20. A new iMac was purchased and off we went.
And now Michael has to wait up to a month for the computer to arrive.
A MONTH!
Close your eyes, and imagine what it would be like to go without your computer for a month.
.
.
.
Are you utterly despondent now?
We are SO dependent on these beastly machines. In our house, Michael’s computer is essentially our entertainment center. It’s the source of our music, and Michael watches movies on it (I’m not much of a movie watcher these days). He communicates with everyone through email and social media via that machine. Much of his music-making activity is tied to it. His life is wrapped up in it.
He spent a good chunk of the afternoon trying to resurrect an old MacBook that he’d stripped down for use with just his ProTools recording software. The good news is you can download an ancient browser to a flash drive and load it onto your computer, but if the computer is 15+ years old chances are nothing will work in that ancient browser. Safari still had all of his old bookmarks - MySpace, Mog, Multiply, etc. It was a trip back in time! But nothing worked.
The good news is we still have my computer, and Michael can log in and check email and whatever else he needs to look at. We can still ply vinyl, though that’s not really practical for continuous hours on listening. He can plug his solar powered radio into the speakers and we can list to KEXP. The sound is total crap, but it’s better than a poke in the eye.
He’s already moved his synthesizers around and he can spend time working with those.
He’s got his guitar pedals to work on too. It will take a couple of days but he’s already settling in to the bleak reality of the next month.
It’s just going to be strange without that computer.
Maybe the new one will arrive sooner than expected. If it doesn’t, I think we’ll get by okay with a bit of adjustment.
(he’s now apologizing for not having two turntables for smooth transitions between vinyl tunes)
We’ve just gone from The Cramps to DEVO.
We’ll be FINE.
What would you do if your technology lifeline suddenly crapped out on you and you couldn’t replace it right away?
I spend regular bursts of days away from electricity, not to mention internet, and it restores me so deeply I wish everyone could have it. But there is no way now I could do my job without a computer and internet connection. Used to be able to but not for years now.
I’d Sleep. I actually lost my laptop the same way at the height of the Pandy. Ive been without since and am looking finally for a new one. I hate not having one and I love not having one. Which squarely puts this in the classical sense right up there with the lovely paradoxes of living on this planet as a human. I know I’d be better off without a laptop but I know I’d be better off with a laptop. To be or not to be. Damn it I just want to sleep.