When Technology Fails – Info Gadgets

My MacBook Air appears to be dying a slow death. It never wants to start up and I spend 20–30 minutes with my finger on the power button before it realises that I’m asking it to power up.

My trip to the Apple help desk (luckily, it’s close) was helpful — on that occasion, my MacBook wouldn’t power up at all (or perhaps I wasn’t patient enough) and yet the man at Apple appeared to have the magic finger and my MacBook’s reaction was almost immediate. Mr Magic Finger told me that my MacBook needed a software update, since I was running the old(er) OS which might have little bugs that were no longer being fixed.

He even ran a magic test which told me my MacBook had green ticks across the board. No problems. Just one little OS update and life would be good.

Fair enough. I dutifully went home and completed the software update as requested.

Only, the next time I tried to power up my MacBook, it pouted for 30 mins until finally agreeing to play. Maybe, I hoped, it was just a one off. Once the new OS settles in (is that a thing?), it will be back to normal.

Nope. Apparently not. My MacBook is still displaying temperamental tendencies and I’m growing more frustrated by the day. Like everyone else, I’m busy, trying to edit my next novel, while juggling kids and my job and home. I don’t have time for MacBook temper tantrums — I get enough of those from my three-year-old.

I know these things are built with engineered obsolescence — that is, they’re going to last only a couple of years because the company wants me to upgrade to a newer model. I get that — I might not like it, but I get it. Everyone needs to make money and I’m just the consumer with finite resources. But my MacBook is less than two years old. It shouldn’t have given up the ghost just yet.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time in the last week to go back to visit Mr Magic Fingers in Apple to tell him that his fix had not worked.

The thing is, I’m afraid my MacBook might like Mr Magic Finger. Maybe he applies just the right amount of pressure to cause an instant reaction. Maybe my MacBook recognises a twin soul. Maybe, for my MacBook, it really is a case of “it’s not me, it’s you.”

About a year ago, a friend told me (jokingly) that some people have fairy blood, and that fairies are unable to make technology work properly. Many, many times, I have recalled this conversation with ever greater comprehension that I am, in fact, a human-fairy hybrid.

So, when I go back to see Mr Magic Fingers at Apple tomorrow, I look forward to my MacBook purring like a kitten the moment he touches that power button.

Enjoy this? You might also like…