Not one person I talked with seemed to understand my point of view. Even my friends looked at me like I was talking crazy talk.
My seven-year-old computer quit on me a couple of weeks ago. When I took it to the Mac repair place, the tech told me the power supply had gone out -- the second time this has happened -- and, because my computer was a “vintage” machine, Apple no longer makes replacement parts. The repair guy said he could put a used part in, with no guarantee, and the repair would cost $400. That would make $800 I would have spent on a recurring problem.
“Vintage!,” I raged to anyone within earshot. “A seven-year-old computer is Vintage”? To me, vintage is a 50-year-old Royal typewriter, or a ‘57 Chevy.
Not even my granola-head-enviro-friends were sympathetic. I flapped my arms and complained loudly and passionately; I raised my voice to the heavens about how our planet is becoming covered with the waste of excess, cast-off, unrepairable Stuff. My friends, with a madding lack of sympathy, simply repeated an inconvenient truth: “Your computer is vintage.”
And how did I solve my Broken Computer Issue? Why by doing exactly what the smart we-don't-make-parts-for-seven-year-old computer folks at Apple were betting I'd do: I pulled out my credit card and bought a new Mac machine.
Score:
Apple/Economy: 1
Sustainable Living: 0
***
Here's a link to the movie trailer for WALL-E
