One aspect of being a writer I've very much enjoyed is the friendships I've developed with fellow writers. I've written several times about the comradery I've felt from them. Even though you get to know many when you become involved in the arts, writers are a little different--there's some jealousy among authors, of course, but not as much as I've experienced with other artistic mediums.
What does this have to do with an old MacBook Pro?
The other day I saw a post form an author I met several years ago, Brian Lee Durfee. He posted on social media a picture of an aging laptop computer--it was a prized possession. Brian gushed about the reliability of this particular computer. He said he'd had it for years, he'd written several novels--huge novels--using it, and the picture he posted showed the laptop's use, complete with the letters having been worn off.
I can definitely relate. My old MacBook showed similar wear and tear.
What impressed me the most about Brian's computer was the longevity of his machine. In my experience, most PC laptops don't make it past a few years, and maybe that's because the PC laptops we've bought have not been the "high end" ones. Ours have usually died after a year or two. But Brian's lives on--he's still using it and it's still going strong. One important fact about Brian's laptop--it's never been hooked up to the internet so no chance of viruses.
His post got me thinking...what if I did something with my old MacBook Pro, the one I bought after grad school and the one I wrote thousands of blog posts, and dozens of short stories. I wrote my first published story on it. I wrote my first contracted screenplay on it. I'd tried getting it reset to the original settings for years--no luck. The hard drive was so full of pictures, the computer barely worked.
Still, Brian inspired me. It took me about three weeks, but finally, earlier this week I did it. I erased the info on the computer and now it's ready to go. I do need a new battery--the one inside hardly holds a charge and it's expanding to the point where it's hard to click on the trackpad. I cannot say, like Brian, that my machine has never had access to the internet, but if I use it as just a writing computer, it might just work. I do like the keyboard on the old MacBook Pro better than on the one I'm using to write this post.
Time will tell if my experiment works, but for now, I'm pleased I was able to circumnavigate the hurdles and pitfalls that stood in my way. Thanks Brian for your post, the one that motivated me to action.
