Two Steps Forward Means Three Steps Back

I have been using the same laptop for the past four years now. I'm sure there are some people out there who spilled their coffee just now after reading that line but the laptop serves its purpose and works fine but there are occasions where the laptop seems to be slowing down a little bit. Much like a dog, computer technology ages a lot faster than we humans do. I began considering looking into getting a new PC or laptop and started doing some research. Now I am not an expert like my father or some of the other computer junkies that I know out in the real world, but I am good at research, so I began looking into it. I knew what I wanted and what I needed and I checked out what little extras I would want. Dell offered up some good options and I was seriously considering it.

A little further research revealed that the next generation of processor is getting ready to come out and, like Kirk on "Star Trek", you can always do with more power. I began to weigh options and continued to do my research. In picking up magazines that were literally weeks old, I came to realize that the technology that was currently being offered up was called 'cutting edge' only a few weeks before. And now, it was considered archaic, slow and outdated. What to do? I could wait for the new processors to come out but who's to say that Intel, or AMD wouldn't come out with their new hyper-fast processor a week after I place my order? Murphy's most common law is that "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." A corrollary to that law is the law of computers. "Buy any computer and it will be outdated by the time you complete the transaction."

Even cars don't depreciate as fast as computer technology. Anyone who argues that it isn't worth buying a car because of the cost depreciation obviously has never owned computer hardware. For those that want basic functionality like e-mail, internet and word processing, even the slowest computer will suffice but I want cutting edge. No, I want bleeding edge. I want the capability to rip music, to download files faster than I can click, to edit movies, to play the fastest games, to burn DVDs. I want all these things and I want it to be modern for at least a week before it goes the way of the dinosaur. I recently watched the original "Mission: Impossible" movie, before Tom Cruise did his sofa jumping and all. In the film there's a line where the computer expert talks about using computers with dual pentium processors. That was cutting edge then. It's barely worth mentioning these days. So you see? Even the top Mission: Impossible guys are struggling to keep up with the most advanced technology.