This isn’t to brag but to inspire. Giving is such an incredible feeling I don’t understand why it isn’t more popular.
As an IT person I sometimes get companies who give me laptops. I also am not shy about buying laptops for new clients based on their needs. I seem to flip between people who need me for my Mac skills and my Windows skills. So I might have an older mac/windows laptop personal that I use to test with and that is really helpful.
What this means is that I have/had a ridiculous number of laptops. I use them all. However when I saw my electric bill of $350 I thought maybe I have gone overboard and could consolidate. They key was buying a new mac air which is arriving today.
What? How does buying more computers solve the problem of too many computers? The answer is that I am getting rid of two older windows computers for this MacBook air. I also encouraged my wife to get rid of her old 2017 MacBook pro for a Neo. That means that instead of the battery problems and unsupported OS, she will have something that has a better battery life and faster and safer with the supported OS.
This also means I am getting rid of two power hungry Windows and a power hungry MacBook air 2017 computers for a very power efficient Air/Neo. I expect based on my calculations to save at least $50 a month on this. Which means that the ROI is 30 months or a little over 2 years. And for that I will have a better equipment and experience as well.
Now all the logic aside, it was very easy to give. It didn’t matter that I paid almost $4k for both of these computers in the past 5 years. I had use them and enjoyed them and they were helpful for the jobs that I had. However it was time to let them go and let other people enjoy them.
When I gave the MacBook Pro 2017 away last night I had reformatted it and set up an account named Hello. I gave it to the front desk person in my building and he was about to cry. He appreciated it so much and maybe it was worth $100 if I tried to sell it. Honestly it gave me so much more satisfaction knowing that I was improving his life than the money would ever bring.
The second computer I gave to another front desk person and he was so grateful. They probably make the NY minimum wage and he shared that he was going to travel and thought about buying a laptop this year when he travels. Now he said he doesn’t need to. In a real sense this is a secondary computer for him and gives him options he didn’t have before. That has to make you feel good knowing that you made someone life better.
Even if they weren’t grateful they might have given it to someone in their lives who could use it. I think it is selfish when we have and don’t share with others. They will appreciate and use far more than I could. I feel privileged to be able to help others.