Electronic Love Affair

I just love my MacBook Air. 

As a rule, I don’t get too attached to “things,” because, after all, they aren’t really what’s important. But I must admit I have a couple of possessions that hold a special place in my heart, and my new MacBook is one of them.

My husband was the first to succumb to the iHypnotism. He got an iPhone when they first came out, and over time, we all joined the cult. I got an iPad (which I also love, but sadly..shh...it’s in danger of being edged out by my MacBook!). Then, my daughter got an iPhone and soon after, I followed suit (when the old model became a free upgrade). 

Suddenly, we had no idea how we’d used anything else before. My husband developed a need (which he will deny) to own the most cutting edge Apple product in the house and it wasn’t long before he began counting the days to new releases. 

As for me, I first discovered my MacBook in an Apple Store. Like a teenager buying a car, I was more interested in superficial concerns than about what lay under the hood. I loved the feel of the keyboard, the thinness of the machine itself and the featherweight quality that earned it its name.

I started saving. 

Then, a month after I’d retired from my job in education, our desktop (a PC, I might add) began flashing us the dreaded blue screen.

It was time.

Or was it? I’d just retired. We had a new standard of living to adapt to. Paychecks would look different and would come from different sources at different intervals. Was it really time?

Then, my husband made the suggestion that makes it clear why I love him even more than my new computer. “I think we should get you a Mac for your birthday.”

I protested at first - but not too heartily. I counted the money I’d saved and calculated how far I was from the purchase price, less the educator discount that would only be mine for another month.

And then I went to visit the Apple store.

In retrospect, I should have known it was all over the minute I made that decision, but I kept trying to be the bigger person. I don’t really need it. My other laptop with the defective keys is just fine. We can fix the desktop.

Uh huh. Right.

Even after brought it home, I was afraid to commit at first, as though that would somehow ease the buyer’s remorse I couldn’t seem to escape. But gradually, as I began to use my new toy and discover its many attributes, it won me over.

Not that it was that difficult.

I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what this machine can do, and my favorite feature  remains the most un-technological of all - it fits into almost any bag and is lightweight enough to travel easily - almost effortlessly.

Move over iPad.