I've mentioned before that I'm toying with whether to get a new computer.
My current MacBook Pro laptop is four and a half years old, and with nary an upgrade, it's been chugging along pretty well. Especially when you consider that I use it every day. But the software (Mac OS X Snow Leopard v. 10.6.8) is several versions behind the newest Mac products, and isn't even supported anymore by Apple. I can't get updates and newer software (like the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom) won't run on this machine.
I thought, well, maybe I just need to replace the operating system. Maybe the machine itself is fine. But the consensus online seems to be that more than four years is a full life for a laptop.
So I am slowly moving in the new computer direction. Dave -- who wants to replace it more urgently than I do, because it often drops the Internet connection while we're trying to stream movies and TV shows, annoying him to death -- wants to just order one online. But I'd rather go to the Apple Store and see what I'm getting, especially if they can help me migrate my information (like my iTunes) to the new machine. I did it myself when I replaced my last computer with this one, but as I recall it wasn't very easy.
We can save this old computer for watching DVDs (because it includes a CD drive, and newer ones don't) and simple Internet browsing that doesn't require the latest software.
See? I'm talking myself into it.
Yesterday was rainy. I thought Olga might be resigned to a day indoors, but in the afternoon we finally made it to the cemetery.
Then, last night, Dave and I watched "Man on Wire," the documentary about Philippe Petit and his walk across a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. More than seven years ago, when the movie first came out and I was living in New York, I went to see it in a special screening that featured Petit interviewed live by Dick Cavett. (My god -- another lifetime!) I wanted to see it again, because the book I'm reading now, "Let the Great World Spin," uses Petit's tightrope walk as the central event around which numerous characters and their stories unfold. It really is a beautiful, moving film about a crazy, magical incident of almost unthinkable daring. If you haven't seen it, you should.
(Photos: The devil, outside a costume shop on Abbey Road.)
I really think that's one of the best documentaries ever made -- I can be quite obsessed with Philippe Petit, and I just never can figure out or articulate just why. Oliver and I went to hear him speak at a very small venue and were so impressed. He really is a kind of magical person --
ReplyDelete"Man on Wire" takes one's breath away but the man in the devil costume is so passé.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the movie recommendation. As for the laptop I vote you go to the Apple Store and let them migrate the info for you. They're so quick and efficient and knowledgeable, those young geniuses. You go home and everything will already be up and running. I recently ordered a laptop online for my husband for his birthday, not a Mac as he doesn't do Macs (such heresy!) and I swear it took him three full days to get everything up and humming along. I'd rather hit the desk running. My two cents.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Angella. Just do it and get it done and there you are!
ReplyDeleteI just upgraded my operating system to the newest version OS X El Capitan and it wanted me to convert all my photos to the cloud. It sounds interesting because it would be a safe storage place but, it also scares me for some reason. I'll have to think about that before I do it. It says that all my photos would be available to me on all my devices, phone, iPad which would be convenient. Of course, there is a charge based on the size of your file.
ReplyDeleteI just did this with my IMAC and everything is so much better, though I still get some buffering issues with Netflix streaming which have to do with broadband and modem. I've always enjoyed that film and now will put your book on my list.
ReplyDeleteI have a macbook pro that seems so new to me, It is three years old and I only use it when everything else has gone fubar. I am still getting to know it and now it is probably too old? WOW. I do like that it can play cd's. I use my tank of a pc by the kitchen all the time, I like the clunky key board and the mouse, old fashioned, I guess. I like the devil, he has deportment!
ReplyDeleteThat is a truly scary mask.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the computer! Our son does everything for our home computer and it is such a relief as I am about as technologically competent as a chipmunk.
I agree, go to the MAC sore. It's exciting to get a new computer. Thanks for the movie reco and your great photo!
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