Computer Woes

My trusty laptop is almost dead. A couple months ago I managed to cajole the folks at Toshiba to pay for its repair even though it was out of warranty, but it’s going kaput again, and they aren’t being accommodating the second time around. Sudden shutdowns and ominous CMOS errors occur regularly, now.

I have newfound respect for the old trusty Gateway laptop, six years old and still ticking, though along with the ticking there’s the _clicking_ of impending hard drive failure. In a strange way it feels good to be using it again. I don’t know what it is, maybe something ineffable with the ergonomics, but it has a comfort level that the newer one never achieved.

The problems with the desktop are more obscure. There are intermittent problems with the on-board sound, which isn’t that unusual for a two-year old motherboard from “Newegg”:http://www.newegg.com/. But then there’s the mysterious reboots that have so far only happened when I’m using Word — but they haven’t happened before this, and my software hasn’t changed in a long time.

With all this happening at once, there’s only one possible explanation: gremlins. I haven’t seen any yet, but I think they’re hiding out in the bowels of the printer/scanner (which has been dead for a few months now).

It also just struck me that this might be the machinations of the Mac Cult, supposing that since they’ve established a “beachhead”:http://www.polytropos.org/archives/2004/11/ipod.html, this is the time to attack and conquer. The iPod looks innocent enough sitting on my desk, but maybe it’s sending out anti-PC rays that gum up the works in nearby circuitry. Attention Mac Cult High Priests: if this is your doing, I promise to buy a Mac if you’ll pony up 20% of the price, which I figure is about what the Pretentiousness Premium is these days.

UPDATE: I _knew_ they were up to something! In perfectly-timed coordination with my computer meltdowns, Apple has unveiled the “Mac mini”:http://www.apple.com/macmini/, which is dirt-cheap and (of course) incredibly slick. Clearly they mean for me to toss out the PCs altogether and buy an Mini and a PowerBook at the same time . . .