photo: dell.com
We had a death in our family over the weekend.
Some of us are grieving better than others. My wife and daughter are unfazed and have moved on. I was the one who had to be the bearer of the bad news. After a few minutes, I made my peace and was all right.
My son, I worry about him. Over the weekend, he accidentally dropped the old Dell laptop that I brought back to life for him. This time Dad wasn't able to get the old PC to fire back up again. The monitor had taken it's final drop. When I tried to boot up the machine, everything came alive except the glow of the screen. I turned to my son to share the news that his beloved "'puter" was about to join the recycle bin which caused him to run upstairs and throw himself on his bed.
After a few minutes of heavy grieving he came downstairs and asked me if he could get an iPad now.
No one moves on faster than a six-year-old.
We all can related to this. We all at some point have had a strong attachment to a piece of technology that when it failed, that moment tore apart our hear. For me it was when my iPhone 4 mysteriously decided to self-destruct and over charge the tiny wire that connected my back screen to the motherboard inside the phone. According to the Genius who diagnosed my phone, it was a freak malfunction that was not my fault - no amount of tender care could have prevented this internal error. Yet, it still out of warranty with a repair bill that cost more than what the phone was worth.
I too wanted to run upstairs and throw myself on my bed to shed tears. Instead, I made the long walk to the AT&T store at Crossgates to see what my "replacement" options were. Every time I see my outdated BlackBerry Curve that will have to serve me for another two years when my upgrade is ready, I share that same sadness my little guy has when he has to wait until Christmas to see if Santa will bring a replacement computer.
