Shiny and New

I am always tempted this time of year by all the pretty, shiny things blinking Buy Me! Buy Me! Buy Me! And I so want to. Every year I agonize over which of these shiny new things I should buy - nay, need - but here's the thing. I don't really want to buy them. I would feel guilty buying such an expensive toy - since that is all it really is - when I could, I don't know, save my money. Pinch it just a little longer in my pocket full of coins. Besides, I already have lots of shiny things. More than most, truth be known, so I have no idea what the hangup is.

But, if it showed up under the tree, that would be okay.

I am getting an iPhone but I weaseled it into a business expense so I really don't have to pay for it. I live and work in MicrosoftLand but play in the world of Android/Google. Still, I've lusted for an iPhone for - I would say years but in the world of technology that would translate to centuries so I'll say I've been lusting for days and let you figure it out. It had to be ordered so all I can do is wait - lusting while terrified at meeting this strange new appliance that will be as different to me as a foreign language.

Which brings me to laptops, in a roundabout way. Sexy and thin, they beckon. The MacBook Air is beautiful and tempting. It's the best and knows it - an aloof siren. After a recent computer crash at work, I spent considerable time contemplating how to turn this into a business expense as well. I need it for work!

But the fact is, I don't need it for work. And, it pains me to say I don't need it at all. I have drunk of the Google Kool-Aid (the official soft drink of Nebraska, btw - the Kool-Aid part, not the Google part.) I would love a new laptop as long as it was pretty and lightweight (so shallow!) and fast but I don't need it to do anything. I don't need email or a calendar, or a word processor or something that does math in rows and columns. I don't want to pay for software that I will never use.

I just need the internet. And, so I looked at Google's answer, the Chromebook. They're pretty and totally devoid of intelligence. (Sounds like my last date.) I don't wish to degrade all the developers that contributed to this empty box. On the contrary, I think it's (ironically) brilliant. Everything I do is in the cloud, ones and zeros floating around somewhere above my head. What else, truly, do I need?

iTunes.

Alas, it cannot be downloaded to the Chromebook. Thus, my laptop and phone would be destined to separate worlds, untethered and alone.

And so, I am resolved to live with what I have.

And be grateful for it.

Until next year.