Thanks Saturn007. I suppose I should look at the MBA in store, but I already know I do not want any other computer.
The thing that sold me on the MBA was its small size and light weight. I always hated those big desk top computers, and although I definitely liked my Windows laptop, it was still quite heavy to carry around at about 8-9 lbs. I came to loathe not only carrying it around but dealing with Windows Service Packs, etc. What a nightmare! How many months if not years of my life did I waste talking to techs trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer? I had enough of Windows and heavy, bulky computers period. I really wanted something ultra portable and as unobtrusive as possible, and I did not want to keep dealing with Sony techs that blamed Windows and Windows techs that blamed Sony anytime something was fouled up. At certain points they both even tried to blame the ISP! Enough was enough. I knew it was a huge financial investment for me to buy a MBA, but ultimately, it was worth it just as I figured it would be. Now, I thought I would be using the MBA at the library a lot more than I ended up doing, but I was never sorry that I purchased such an ultra thin and lightweight laptop.
I am not very tech savvy. I am sure there were a lot more things my MBA could do than what I use it for---mainly surfing the web, email, watching YouTube, etc., and I am sorry I have not learnt more about it over these last 14 years, but I have been very happy with it, and that is why I want another MBA. The lightweight portability and unobtrusive footprint are as important to me as the speed and handling of small sports cars are to sports cars enthusiasts.
I am sure there are some imperfect aspects of the 2025 MBA as you said, but I guess that will always be true of every computer. For me, not having a built in disc drive in my 2011 was a disappointment at first, so I bought the superdrive because I thought I really would need it, but guess what? It is still in near mint condition. I have used it very, very little over the years. In fact, years passed without me using it at all. It has lived most of its life in its box in the closet. I have probably used it less than 12X in 14 years. The other, much bigger disappointment in my 2011 was the speakers. I hope the 2025 has much better speakers because I would listen to my CDs more if my MBA had great speakers like my old Sony desk top did.
Aside from those two things, I have been pretty gosh darn happy with my 2011. Honestly, given what I use it for, I hoped I might be able to keep using it for another six years! Would have been nice, but I started having problems with Brave crashing, and I cannot update the browser, the OS, or anything else on this 2011. Chrome still seems to work fine, though. Email still works fine. If only I were not having browser issues, I would not be thinking about upgrading right now. I would keep going as is until I was forced into upgrading, as I seem to be right now. Most of my storage is used up with photos, though, and that has been a bit of a problem as I do not know much about external storage and do not trust those things really.
I wish I had gotten more storage. I had no idea how many photos I would wind up saving on it. I was only able to upload a few of my CD's, not that I own a ton of them, and I guess it would have been nice to be able to put all of my CD's on the MBA, but ultimately, not being able to upload all of my CD's was not a huge problem either because the MBA's speakers are not very good, so I very rarely ever think about using my Superdrive to play CDs. I get better sound out of the speakers on my Sony boombox.
I no longer own an actual stereo system. I found the older I became, the less important music was to me anyway. I still love music, do not get me wrong, but I very rarely listen to music anymore except around the holidays. I do not even turn on the radio in my motor vehicle anymore. I do look forward to playing my Christmas CD's each year, and sometimes I really need a James Taylor fix, but overall, I just do not "crave" music as much as I did in my youth, and on those days/nights that I do crave a bit of music, I end up watching music videos on YouTube instead of dragging out my CDs.
My old music is still what I reach for if I want music, but sometimes I feel tired of listening to the same stuff for decades (I cannot imagine how miserable it must be for legendary singers to have to keep sining the same songs over and over again for decades! I would go stark raving doolally if I had to do that for a living!), and I just do not relate to most newer music. I sometimes catch an episode of Austin City Limits with a young band that I think is really good, but know what? I do not have the patience to sit through an entire hour of it even if I like the music! I know that is probably shocking to many people here!
I have never purchased a song or an album from Apple's iTunes, either, but I know iTunes was/is a real driver of iPhone and computer sales for Apple. Honestly, as I passed middle age and slid into my senior years, I found that my attention seemed to be mainly on the practical problems of daily life much more than entertainment or anything else. I know it sounds sad, and it is, but like many of my friends who are around the same age, we know we are on the backside of life with not a lot of time left. We have run our race. We stand at the end of things, and we look back sometimes with laughter, sometimes with tears, sometimes with regret, but we no longer think too far ahead. We are preoccupied less with this world and all of its fashions and gadgets and politics and everything else than we are with getting through our last few years. That said, though, I still want another MBA! 😁
