The Second Time Around

I confess to a new love. It's the reason I have been sporadic in my blog posting. We're just getting acquainted and there is a lot to learn. Some days it is very frustrating. My new love is SO very different from the others.

You're dying to know who he is. So I will confess.

"He" is a computer. An iMac. Yes, I am in love with a machine. I'm as surprised as anyone. You see I tried an Apple once before. In fact, it was the very first home computer I ever owned, somewhere around 1992. I was excited to get that laptop. I was sure I was going to love it. It was suggested to me at the time by a friend who was a big believer that Apple and I were a good match. I was wrong. So was my friend.

I hated my first Apple. It was a tiny laptop with something called a docking station to plug in all those ancillary devices, like the printer and the phone to get dial up Internet service. It was forever giving me problems. That sad Mac, the very same one Carrie Bradshaw encountered on an episode of Sex in the City visited me often. I was on the phone with support in California or at the post office shipping it out for service more than once. This was before the creation of Apple retail and the miracle of the Genius bar.

In the meantime I got a desktop in the office that happened to be a PC. The PC seemed easier for me to feel comfortable with. That and IT down the hall. I swore never to own an Apple again. People told me I must have found the only lemon in Apple history. I should give it a second chance. But not me. Once scorned I was not about to go back.

A Fujitsu and a Sony Vaio later I became a Sony convert. I've written two novels on that laptop. I started my blog there, learned how to use Facebook, Twitter and date on line. It has served me well. But it is old and slow. And like most modern technology has a shelf life.

Plus something else happened. I was lured to the iPhone. I didn't know it at the time but the iPhone would seduce me, make me reconsider shutting the door on Apple forever. I made some friends at that Genius Bar. I lingered in front of those big desktops with their brilliant resolution. I let my hands test out those wireless keyboards. Something had changed. Maybe it was Apple. Maybe it was me. Maybe it was both of us. I'll never know for sure.

It's only been a week but I am in love. Deeply. Yes, my new love has not let me in on all of his secrets yet, but I can feel this is the real thing. I liked my Fujistu. I really liked my Sony. But I am in love with my iMac. In the words of Ol' Blue Eyes, love is better the second time around.