A Sentimental Reflection on How I Love My Computer

I remember coming to MIT with an HP computer that was falling apart at the hinge and restarted every couple hours for Windows 10 updates. I bought my HP computer for a little over $600 in 2014. Back then, I didn't know anything about computers so I picked my computer based on its beats speakers and the light up keyboard (lol!). For a $600 computer, the HP computer was a rip off.

One of my first decisions made at MIT was to buy a new laptop and switch to Linux. There were three computers I was seriously considering: a Dell XPS 13, a MacBook Pro, and a Lenovo ThinkPad. I was hard-set on using Linux and wanted a computer that lets you make changes to it, so the MacBook Pro was out. But it was only after a friend showed me his ThinkPad T460 that I made the decision to buy it. My friend helped me order his identical computer online, and other parts like SSD and RAM so that I could upgrade my ThinkPad's hardware by myself.

I've since fallen in love with my computer. I can't imagine life without it. I love the sound of the keyboard clicking when I type, the clicking after touch that reminds me of the after touch on grand pianos. I love the layout of the keyboard and how I can mouse click with my left hand thumb, so that I can click without moving my hand away from the standard keyboard position.

Most importantly, I love my computer because it does what I want it to do. Since switching to Ubuntu (a Linux distro), I've been able to understand the abstract architecture of my computer's file systems, and learn commands that let me do things I could never imagine possible on my old Windows HP. More importantly, when things broke, I could figure out why logically, instead of following instructions mindlessly like I used to for the Windows black-box. Although I am pretty familiar with Shell and Linux file systems by now, I am looking forward to learning even more about my computer, so that I can make more changes. Something tells me that I want to learn more C.

I find it really interesting that on my laptop keyboard for keys I've used a lot, the key's original surface has been rubbed off so that a glossy surface shows. This is interesting because I've been able to analyze how I like to use my keyboard. It looks like keys "a e d r t h n i" are used the most often, as well as the backspace, enter, space bar, ctrl, and shift. It also looks like I like to press the space bar with the thumb of my right hand, and the shift and ctrl key with my left hand pinky. Seeing the glossy surfaces makes me proud because it makes me feel that I'm getting value out of my computer.

I don't think I would be able to live without my computer anymore. Anytime I have free time, I whip out my ThinkPad, whether to read or to code. It feels as if my computer has become a part of me, to the point that when I use my work laptop: a Dell computer that runs Windows 10 Enterprise and has so many restrictions that the only thing I can really do is surf the web and answer emails, that lacks the clicking after touch on its keyboard and my added short cuts that I've grown used to using, I feel as if I've been placed into a cage too small to stretch in, and stripped of my identity.

It also makes me appreciate my ThinkPad so much more, the computer that I understand and understands me, who listens to me, who helps me work and learn, the computer that supports me as I further improve my knowledge about computers.