Decision making (geek, back to the command line, digital archaelogy)

[elainegrey]

It's time to buy a new computer, and i have spent much time mulling this decision. Some notes from earlier this morning below. I think i have finally decided to go with the simple choice (a new mac) instead of the principled choice (a Frameworks machine for linux). I would like to be the principled, open source, open hardware person but i have Things To Do and mucking about with digital change isn't it.

Maybe after "retirement," whatever that means.

I have discovered i can return my iPad for a $110 rebate, which is about the same as  two hardware security keys for second factor authentication. So, first step is complete that exchange. The next step is to complete that return to get the credit to use when buying the new mac (my current mac seems to have quit talking to its camera, so Apple will just take it for recycling.)

This took waaayyy longer than it needed to.

 

I'm struggling to decide about updating technology. I have a "MacBook" laptop from 2017 (actually purchased in 2016 but due to issues, it was replaced).  So, seven years, good run. The iPad i have i rarely use, and it can't keep a charge. It's ... also from 2017.

Apple ecosystem things that are important to me but i rarely use are the photo sharing and Facetime. The family seems to have moved to WhatsApp, except for occasional Facetime calls that are not well supported on the devices. I have used Noteshelf on both the iPad and Mac, but this year i'm testing LibreOffice as a replacement for the way i would use Noteshelf for digital scrapbooking. So far, so good.

I'd be happy to get rid of the iPad.

I also have an iMac i haven't turned on in ages from 2016 that has photos from California. I also fear that between moving some files when moving to NC and moving to that machine and changes with Lightroom I have lost all the digital developing i did in California. It's like a monument to software disappointment and loss of a previous life in there. Someday i will try and get things straight. I am 90% sure the files are backed up....

When we moved to NC, Apple didn't have any laptops that had a significant power boost compared to the many years old one i had, so i bought the iMac and the tiny MacBook, and thought i would essentially sue the macbook as a remote terminal for the iMac and would sit at the desk and edit photos. Between frustration with potentially loosing so much digital editing work and the longer term distraction of the yard and garden, the photo processing never really happened. And laptops are powerful now!

So: i can Choice A:  stay with the Apple ecosystem     ➕  it's easy and familiar. One OS for both using Adobe apps and for usual tippity tapping.     ➕ it keeps connection with the Apple-using extended family     ➖ Continue supporting BigBrother Apple and their closed ecosystem

Choice B : switch to a Frameworks machine     ➕  it's open with swapable parts, designed for longevity, and eternal upgrading     ➖ i'd run linux. I am pondering how important windows and downloaded Adobe software would be to me. So much of the Adobe suite can be done in the cloud now? I could borrow Christine's laptop maybe? I dunno.