Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Put not your trust in technology

On Sunday afternoon, as I was saving the powerpoint for OpenHouse, my mouse curled up and died.
Last month at OpenHouse the projector deserted us
This time it was the turn of my trusty laptop - which had been fine and happy when lent to LCM on Saturday evening, but which, on arrival at church, refused to respond to stern words, kindness, bribery or anything else (including threats with a screwdriver). The general concensus is that it is pretty conclusively dead.

It was an e*b*y bargain, and has given me a year or more's service - not bad for £90, so I'm not reckoning on paying anyone to plumb its depths for signs of life.Replacement is in order. The question is, (given that I'm no longer having to pay livery fees or insurance for the horse) whether I restrict myself to another bargain basement offer, or invest a little more. At the moment, I really only use it for OpenHouse and the odd foray into alt worship with the youth group - but of course things may look quite different in my new context.
So, you say, wait till you get there and see how the land lies....but I've got used to having the flexibility of a lap top and I want it (toddler moment) NOW!!
In fact, I'm already sulking gently at the prospect of not being able to take it to the diocesan conference which starts tomorrow - even though I'd almost certainly have nothing I really needed it for there (not one of the cool kids who take notes on their laptops yet..though I do type faster than write these days).

So, what to do? Any thoughts?
I can't afford to pay much more than, say, £300 unless it's something truly amazing - so please don't try to tell me I need a Mac. I know I do, but it'll just have to wait...

5 comments:

steve said...

wait?
huh?

how can i explain this ... so that you understand ... as soon as you own one you will get it ... and the first thing you do is go to that place of 'how did i ever manage without it' ... there is nothing you can throw at it that it can't do ... it makes your whole working life easier and smoother ...

there is nowhere ... and i truly mean nowhere ... in the world ... be it cafe ... friends house ... airport ... hotel that it doesn't just find a network and connect itself logically and without any fuss

it allows you to write presentations quickly and easily and present them in a variety of ways with no fuss and no messing about

one of the reasons that i didn't do so much on a PC was that there were often so many hoops to jump through to do something well that often it seemed too much bother and it was just easier to not

after 20 years of doing things with PC's i have never known such a powerful ... efficient ... instinctive and easy machine to use ... ever

wait !!?

as your friend i would advise the following ... beg steal or borrow the money ... as fast as possible ... (oh just ignore the moral arguments ,,,, so you are a priest and you think stealing is wrong ... the judge will understand the argument ... 'your honour it was for a mac') ... sell a child ... you have three! ... lose a child gain a mac :)

you would use it loads
it will never let you down
you would never regret it
you will love it

well i tried ... i did my best ... if people won't listen there is nothing more i can do

would you not even consider a 2nd hand mac ?
maybe?
perhaps?

Caroline said...

YOur honour, if i may i direct my learned friend to his own blog entry:

http://web.mac.com/stevevfoster/a_blog_less_ordinary/blog/Entries/2007/9/21__wi-fi_wtf!.html

which would i submit throw doubt on the, em, veracity of his statement that, and I quote "there is nowhere ... and i truly mean nowhere ... in the world ... be it cafe ... friends house ... airport ... hotel that it doesn't just find a network and connect itself logically and without any fuss".

sony vaio is the way to go. sleazy windoze operating system, the lot. not because i know about these things, but because that's what i'm lusting after, so you can just live my dream for me... :)

Steve Tilley said...

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Tescos are selling a pretty decent laptop for £300.

Disillusioned said...

I got hubby one of the previous batch of Tescos cheap laptop and it has proved to be great - reliable and with inbuilt wireless. I'd say go new every time - having had both new and 2nd hand.

theMuddledMarketPlace said...

( nothing to do with your technical problems- just an overdue "thank you" from 22nd August.
hope your technical whatsits resolve tho'....)