Assimilated

Nards says that I've been assimilated.   Just like The Borg at Star Trek TNG assimilated every possible being to their collective, that's how I've been reeled in by Mac.

He called my iTouch the gateway electronic.  In the beginning, like any other gateway anything, there was some resistance from my end.  Mainly because I wanted to clobber iTunes.  (I was strangling its figurative neck, while I was trying to import more than 5,000 mp3s from my hard drive.)  Eventually, I got used to iTunes and its nasty little quirks.  Then it got me hooked on its music features like Genius.  Then apps became readily available and I was soon seduced by the slew of $0.99 games and utilities that were so freaking easy to purchase.   

Which eventually resulted to me discarding my first iTouch (Nards inherited it, and I daresay, he's gotten hooked as well--he's been on that thing from day one and he's downloaded scores of apps -- but this is another blog entry all together), and upgrading to the latest generation.  

Which had a camera, and a fantastic thing called FaceTime.   

There was a whole new world of apps to be explored: Instagram, Angry Birds, Posterous, Pocketbooth, Cut The Rope.  The list goes on.  I even downloaded a Catholic Missal, and a comprehensive Prayer Book, so it goes with me even in Church.  

It was my pocket computer wherever I went.  I checked my email, surfed on Safari, updated my calendar, plurked, tumbled, tweeted, watched videos on YouTube and even purchased stuff on Ebay from this little gadget.  Then Nards told me I can get a bluetooth keyboard from the Apple store so that I won't have a hard time typing.  I even started using it for taking notes during meetings.

Friends were telling me to get an iPhone, but I adamantly refused because I didn't want phone calls or text messages interrupting my music.

It was so convenient.  I don't have to lug around my unwieldy laptop.   And Nards and I can go through our normal work day with just my iTouch and the slim keyboard.

Did I mention that we had three laptops that all died in the same year, nearly a week AFTER their respective warranties expired?  We needed a laptop for work.  With the advent of the second generation iPad, Nards and I were toying with the idea of just buying one to fill our laptop need.  I had qualms about the iPad because it seems redundant to have one given the two iTouch units we have.  The way I see it, it's an iTouch on steroids, and I didn't want to blow a truckload of cash on something that was unnecessary.

But we needed a laptop, so I started canvassing online.  I found some affordable Vaio, Dell etc.  But I had serious misgivings about these branded units.  My last laptop was a Lenovo.   I always handled it with great care, and bought accessories to safe guard it from heat and dust.  It was never abused from frequent travels like my old Vaio.  Yet, the motherboard died, and because it decided to do so a week after warranty expiration, I had to pay for labor and parts to get it fixed.  The fees totaled to more than half of it's buying price.  

Three days ago, I came across a week old post in a forum about uber cheap mac stuff.  I texted the seller on the off chance that the unit might still be available.  It was!   I told Nards about it, and we both agreed it was good deal.  So uncharacteristically dispensing with our usual month long rumination on whether to go for it or not, and to hell with the consequences of switching from PC to Mac, we met with the seller and bought a unit.  We got the latest MacBook Pro.

What amazes me is that it took me about half an hour to get to know the OS.  I find it simple, straightforward, and very easy to use.  And I can still access our home network.  We're still figuring out our network printer though.

And the best part is, my Sims 3 is running!!!  

So there.  Assimilation complete.