I am not one of those people who waves the “Mac vs PC” flag unless it’s to mock people waving the “Mac vs PC” flag. I have been cross-platform for years now and I happily use either or both. But for all the touchy-feely-NorCal love that Apple earns, there’s one thing that pisses me off, and it bit me in the ass this week.
Specifically, it bit Kat in the ass. Although we are obviously in lockdown mode financially, Kat as a freelancer needs reliable gear. Her trusty G4 laptop is in need of repair, so we’re going to get it fixed and sell it. She ordered one of the spiffy new hotness MacBookPro units to replace it and agonized over buying something more than the basic model. I support not buying obsolete computers so I said, hey, this is an expense you can write off, and you should have the best tools you can reasonably afford. So she went with “the middle one” and was happy. Until last night.
Last night, we heard through another Macinfriend that Apple just announced brand-new MacBookPros that are bigger and faster and stronger for the same amount of money. Faster processor, more HD space, twice the RAM, better optical drive–important shit. So Kat quickly returned the other one (before the 15-day grace period expired–phew!) and plans to get the NEW new hotness. This will still cost a few hundred in shipping and restocking fees but it’s better tools for the job.
Earlier this year I had a similar bout of buyer’s remorse by buying a 60GB iPod right before they introduced the 80GBs. So maybe I’m to blame for not paying attention to Apple’s release schedule, but what the fuck? Why does Apple do this? It makes me never want to actually pull the trigger on buying one of their products for fear that literally a few days later, something new will not just be announced but physically arrive in stores.
All’s well that ends well, I suppose. But damn, it’s a hassle and a panic when it just doesn’t feel like it needs to be.