What’s a Computer For These Days?
I have spent the last several months tracking websites and doing research in order to buy a new computer this holiday season. I’m thinking that instead of ordering from a place like Dell, I’ll go with one of the smaller operations that lets you pick exactly what pieces of hardware you want. So I know a lot more about cases and power supplies than I did when the summer started.
As much fun as I’m having, though, part of me wonders if I need a computer the way I used to. I bought my current desktop in 2006 when I was finishing my dissertation and needed to use a desktop publishing program to lay out the whole thing. Since then, I haven’t really been doing the graphic design or image editing that would require a really powerful machine.
I still do a decent amount of writing and reading on the Web, but I am very fortunate to have a school-issued laptop for that. I also use it to do my grading using a program provided by the school – although that’s changing to a web-based app, so by next year I may only need a tablet with Internet access to do my grades. The major drawback with the laptop is that I don’t love the laptop keyboard. It reminds me too much of the keyboards I used in college, when I wound up with a very sore left wrist. I have an ergonomic keyboard on my desktop. Thing is, the desktop is downstairs. The laptop lets me hang out in the living room or the dining room and not feel like I’m ignoring my family. I’ve started using Google Docs to do some of my writing and record-keeping, so I may not even need to buy a copy of Microsoft Office anymore.
If push came to shove I could probably do a lot of the reading and writing with a tablet, but as much fun as the iPad appears to be, I haven’t found the killer app that’s the reason to pick one up.
If I’m honest with myself, there is really only one reason why I am even thinking about buying a new computer, and that’s computer games. I would need to do some major upgrading to my current machine to be able to play Mass Effect 3 when it comes out, so it makes more sense to buy a new one. I’m hoping that if I do get an upgraded desktop, I’ll try to do some video editing or other projects for school that will leverage all that power. I’ll probably pick up a Blu-Ray drive to see if that’s worthwhile. But right now, I don’t know if there are that many tasks on my To Do list that require all the computing power that Intel and company are making available.
Still, in the end, I guess I’ll think of something.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.