Eulogy for an Old Friend

It's always hard to say goodbye to an old friend.

It's that time with my Macintosh PowerBook G4, which has served me well since January 2002, making it ancient in computer terms. It's produced countless newspapers, conference programs, advertisements, flyers and press releases. It's kept me entertained with iTunes, cranking out "Hit Radio G-R-E-G" while producing the great volume of work we've created together. It's even done some gaming, though we both found its paltry 500 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM challenged by the latest version of SimCity.

In its later years, the PowerBook has been limping towards the finish line. The finish is coming off in several places. The CD drive is wobbly, to put it mildly. And, yes, that's a binder clip keeping the screen together.

In just a few days, a shiny new PowerBook will arrive with the FedEx man, shipped straight from China to my desk. It will have a faster processor, a brighter screen, more memory and a back-lit keyboard. It will be a pleasure to use. The old PowerBook will be put on reserve status, but will always be ready to step in in a pinch. I'll miss you, Old Friend.