Mobility/vulnerability Vs. Stationary/security

So I am leaning heavily toward getting an iMac.

Aside from the issues I touched on previously, I have been thinking about the benefits of staying mobile, and they have steadily disolved.

What happened?

Well, when you strip your concepts of mobility of the marketing that has successfully sold you on the benies of a laptop, what are you left with precisely?

I liked taking my laptop on trips so that I could process pictures as I went. But I hated having to lug around 7 or 8 extra ponds of shit just to do so. I never even took out my computer during any of the flights I have been on, and worrying about theft and damage not only sucks, but is a legitimate concern.

Also, I am typing this on Michelle's sleek new aluminum MacBook, so why would I need one too?

Everything we watch we watch by loading shit onto a laptop, then using the video output to a flat screen monitor. It's a bit roundabout, and you've probably seen the arrangement enough times. I wouldn't mind skipping a step, and just having the flat screen actually BE my computer. I fucking hate the spiderweb of cables in the corner of out apartment anyway.

A more elegant setup is always called for, in any situation. The new iMac comes with wireless fucking everything, and the cables I would have to deal will be concealed behind the unit, instead of sticking out of the side, as if my computer were in ICU or something.

But with gain, there is always loss.

Mobility, the battle cry of our modern lifestyle. Meh, it's overrated. The real reason marketting teams want you to buy a laptop is becasue you can't really upgrade them, necessitating whole purchases every 2 to 3 years. Their business model requires you to buy new every time. Does that make sense for me? Is that business model in my best interest? Of course it's not. If it were, they wouldn't need to spend tens of billions of dollars per anum in advertising. And by they, I mean everyone trying to sell you something.

I am no longer convinced of the virtue of mobility, and my loss of faith is purely experience based. I am actually more mobile without my laptop because I then travel lighter both physically and psychologically. Give me a mobile phone, a paperback, a ballpoint (I actually prefer a fountain pen but whatever), a notebook, an ipod nano, and some kind of bag, and guess what? I am properly armed to face the [developed] world. All my computing needs can be accomplished with the above named items.

Yes, I am really liking the idea of an iMac as time goes on.

But wait.

I am making an international move soon... how does that bode for my [proposed] iMac?

Fuck!