Of Laptops, the Pleasure and the Pain
Posted on
Oh, the joy of technology, and more specifically: laptops. Providers of entertainment, productivity, and communication; harbingers of destruction and pain. This past month, my trusty 2008 MacBook Pro decided it was time to give up the ghost, exiting this realm with a dispirited whirr and a black screen. Resuscitation measures were taken, but it was to no avail; my trusty companion was declared deceased.
So, the search commenced for a replacement device. Did I turn to the aisle of my local PC World? The Apple Store? Maybe a local distributer in an attempt to support local businesses? Of course not, I'm a writer. I can't afford the latest all singing and dancing behemoth, as much as I covet their sleek curves and lightweight profiles. Instead, I searched eBay for a pre-owned machine; my only criteria being a solid state drive, 8GB of RAM, and not looking like it had been dragged behind a truck at some point in its life.
To that end, I am now the proud owner of a mid-2012 MacBook Pro, with only some superficial scuffs and the odd dent. I'm surprised at how much cooler the machine is in use - my 2008 model could feasibly ignite tinder, and wearing shorts while using it resting on my legs was a definite no-go - and it's considerably faster when booting up. The low-profile keys will take a little getting used to after the chunkier variant on my old device; it's also smaller, having a 13" screen compared to my old 15.4" model. But none of that matters, I'm in love all over again. Technology bringing me right back up to date.
A mere 7 years late.
*
In other news, the 2nd edition of Darkness Calls is coming along despite technological setbacks (thanks iCloud), albeit slower than before (thanks iPad). The editing process wasn't giving me the results that I wanted, so I changed tactics in regard to producing the 2nd edition. I'm now rewriting the stories from scratch, using the originals as a framework reference, rather than trying to edit the text in place. This is essentially what I had ended up doing anyway because I wanted to address so many issues; by rewriting from a fresh, blank screen, I'm really just streamlining the process by removing the additional obstacle of navigating around the original pieces.
Vengeance continues apace as well. The full outline is now complete and I'm expanding on character histories at present. I am besotted with the concept and direction of the story and I hope that people who read it will feel the same.
For now though, it's back to my shiny new toy.
Andy.