Another reason for the lack of multiple posts per day lately is the fact that after a couple of years or so, I upgraded my computer. Taking advantage of the ridiculous discounts on Black Friday weekend, I secured a Dell Studio XPS 9000, with one of those brand spanking new i7 Intel processors, 6 GB of RAM, a video card that makes my games smooth as silk, and enough hard drive space to stuff all those random things I download. The installation was a project that took a lot of care and attention.
Geeks, I’ve seen, tend to treat their computers as pets. They have to maintain them, make sure they are happy and content so they don’t break, and love them with a passion that you could almost call religious. As an IT professional, I’ve seen many a computer or server come through the office, and they’re all treated like the best dogs, cats, and other assorted domestics ever. Even the birth and passing of machines is something that is, at times, treated with the somewhat hilarious reverence of holding a ceremony to flush Gus the Goldfish down the toilet and into the great fishbowl in the sky.
Like with any pet, computers are at their best when enough attention is paid to them in order to keep them healthy. Regular checkups by a certified tech “doctor” are encouraged for those cases that you can’t handle yourself. Programs and files need to be dealt with, and components, when necessary, need an upgrade. I’ve seen people treat their pet computers with varying degrees of care, and let me tell you, there’s nothing worse as a tech than seeing a pet computer hurting through some ongoing issues.
You might think that this is some kind of unhealthy obsession, me talking on and on about how owning computers is like owning a Fido or a Fluffy for a pet. But the next time you decide to get in front of the computer, take note of how much you pay attention to it, use it, or in some cases, even talk to it as you work. I think you’d be surprised at how like a pet you treat it. Just don’t try to feed it treats.
PS – My old pet computer found a new home, not to worry.
Ah, a new computer. Even though mine is only a year+ old, reading this makes me want a new one.
Sounds like a sweet rig. How much of a discount did you nab by getting it on BF?
Discount added up to around 200 plus the special during black friday weekend. It was a good time to buy.
I think of it as my 2nd car for pretty much the same reasons, though it wouldn't by hard to argue that I treat my car like a pet so, by extension, my PC as well.
My most faithful dog was my Commodore 64. It was my best friend when I was a kid. Always be a special place in my heart, for that mutt.