Fear of the new

Published: 12:00am, 4 Dec 2006

Just because Apple introduces a new computer, you don't have to upgrade. Frankly, keeping up with the Joneses technology-wise is a pain. And it's not just with computers. I have a substantial collection of outdated mobile phones, removable media drives, printers, video cameras, music and video storage media, drawing pads and even TVs and radios that are essentially rubbish because new technology has rendered them obsolete.

Nonetheless, there are good reasons for making sure you have the latest and greatest. The most compelling reason for staying technologically savvy may be because not doing so will reveal information about yourself that you might not want people to know.

For example, I communicate with hundreds of Mac owners from all walks of life. Here's what I can tell about a Mac-head who has ancient equipment: they are either poor, getting on in years or incredibly cheap. If you are among the impoverished, contact your local Mac user group (www.hkmug.org.hk). Techies often have machines they aren't using and are happy to see them go to a good home.

Those of advancing years can be terrified of new technology. The original expense

and time associated with learning to use a computer can leave them gun shy about changing and having to relearn everything. Throw in a diminishing memory and attention span and the concept of upgrading can be terrifying. My first recommendation to these users is to try Coenzyme Q10. It

takes about a month before you will notice any effects but you will see significantly better memory and fewer 'senior moments'. Coenzyme Q10 is a nutrient that is well documented to have these and other therapeutic effects.

My second recommendation is to find a Mac friend, either in a user group, your neighbourhood or from one of your associations. In this case, two heads are exponentially better than one. My third recommendation is to upgrade. Learning new things is excellent mental exercise and you will feel the benefits in all areas of your life.

This brings us to the incredibly cheap. I have special insight into these Mac users because I am one. In fact, most Mac users initially become Mac users to save money. I can't begin to tell you all the ways I've learned to economise with my Mac. I charge well over US$100 an hour to fix Macs. The first time I rebooted one in seconds instead of minutes or hours, I realised a single repair/data recovery session on these older machines could cost my clients the price of a new computer. I also realised I wasted hundreds of dollars a month waiting for different applications to boot on a slow machine.

I'm still cheap but now I always get the fastest Mac I can afford. If you make US$45,000 a year and you save 10 minutes a day on a faster Mac, you will save your company US$927.20 (almost the price of a new MacBook) each year.

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