astro_rob's blog

Been a long time, but I'm back...

When I'm not fiddling with old computers, disrupting the smooth flow of the Internet or saving the world from impending doom, I'm an astronomy educator and writer. To be honest, I spend a great deal of time doing just that (it was my profession once). My interest in computing actually stems form my interest in space science.

I've had the opportunity to work with several different PDA operating systems now (GEOS/Zoomer, Palm, Newton & Windows CE), and I am still at a loss as to how these operating systems fail to capture more of the market.

A few months back, I posted about having to thin out my collection. The process continues, but it seems that for every step forward I take, something else comes along to knock me back. Usually, this is more machines.

PB 150's are the red-headed stepchildren of the 68k PowerBook line. Nobody really wants them. I often wonder why. My first PowerBook was a 150, and I thought it was a decent enough machine. The screen wasn't great, but it was fast running System 7.1. It also typed easily, and for me, that is always a plus.

My taste in writer's computers is wildly varied. I use a number of machines for basic writing chores, but ultimately it's an issue of portability. I prefer to write anywhere but my desk. So, laptops are a necessity.

I've written elsewhere in my blog that machines have life expectancies; in that essay, I was referring to my Portable. But the realization is starting to dawn on me that most of my computers will, indeed, one day die. That's how it goes; nothing lasts forever. My question, though, is this partially by design or by usage?

"If we have desecrated ourselves - as who has not? - the remedy will be by wariness and devotion to reconsecrate ourselves..."
- HENRY DAVID THOREAU "Life Without Principle"

Like many of us here on Applefritter, I own a multitude of computers, and like many of us, I lament about how much space they occupy. I've taken the steps necessary to shrink my collection to something a bit more manageable; so far, the PC's have flown away, but the Macs are doing so slowly. That's fine with me, as I'm still waffling over which machines to retire.

As I work on my iBook, I have the frightening sensation that it could be one of the last projects I work on for awhile. At first, I was content with the idea of winnowing down my collection to the most practical machines. Suddenly, though, an uneasy feeling has settled in. As my older machines find homes (Goodbye Ariel! Goodbye Archimedes!

What would an ideal writer's computer be? This is an idea that has been addressed many times, no doubt. Or maybe not. at least realistically.