(desk)Topless

Earlier this year, I became annoyed. I was trying desperately to start a paper for my English class, but wasted three hours angrily spinning in my chair because I was confined. I needed space. I needed to be somewhere other than my room to try and distract my brain from the reality that I would have to work and sound intelligent. I just wanted to be able to have the freedom to work away from my desk from time to time. So, a little over a year after I practically stole my 2006 Mac Pro in a deal off Craigslist, I'm selling it. In less than six hours, I'll have to make my final backups, two if I'm smart, and start packing the forty-five pound behemoth up to ship to its lucky new home. 

I do need to get a couple things straight for you, the reader, who I encourage to continue to peruse my content which will not be affected by this lapse in keyboards because I wasn't entirely truthful in titling this post...

Technically, I still have a desktop.

I still use my first Mac, a 2006 17" iMac (The first generation of Macs with Intel chips!) for media like Youtube and iTunes because it's hooked up to a wonderful pair of Bose speakers. However, I got the Pro because I've put the old iMac through its paces to say the least. As a total fan-boy, I've taken the absolute best care possible and have even made some hardware upgrades, but there are many things I can't fix like the line-ridden screen...

I guess with all of that said, I technically do have a desktop, just not a fully functional one or capable one.

But why is this even a big deal? It's not really, but I want to try and take this chance to examine how not having super-powerful technology on a desktop computer readily available to me affects my overall use of technology. 

Could it take me from a Reddit-browsing fiend to a student who can actually focus and study? An insomniac who constantly blogs and blogs only to wakeup grumpy and groggy to a more majestic, whole wheat bagel-eating, toga-wearing, sandal dawning oracle? 

In truth, I'll probably just go from a self-proclaimed power user to the modern consumer who is more and more often conducting their tech-related duties on a mobile device, far from a desk. I'll probably realize that desktops--and even laptops to an extent--are becoming obsolete because using technology is becoming passive; less of an event to use. It will make me sad at first to see my favorite line of Macs, the big, towering Pros, face a certain death beyond Hollywood and marketing studios. On the other hand, it will again open my eyes and my mind to what I'm still for whatever reason referring to (somewhat epically) as The Wearable Device!

I'm planning on buying a Retina MacBook Pro, but I have two months until Apple's WWDC conference when updates to the line are expected to be made. As such, I have two months--Armed with a faulty Mac and an iPhone 5--to examine and share with you how, if at all, this deficit of computing power affects my daily life. 

I know it won't be as epic as Paul Miller's one-year internet hiatus, but it'll be interesting... Stay tuned.

Read the next story in this series here

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