I’ve recently inherited a MacBook Air (early 2011) model. My wife bought it in 2011 when she was going back to school to get her teaching certificate. She used it pretty much every day for that education experience, and since then, it’s been “her” computer. It’s well loved and traveled.

During most of this time, I was using a slightly used 2013 MacBook Pro. I bought from a friend (Hi, Matt!).

We’ve decided to switch computers. The Pro has more storage space, and is a faster computer. So my wife and the kids each will have an account on that and it’ll be the family computer.

The Air is probably nearing end of life, I just upgraded it to High Sierra. It’s likely the last version I’ll be able to install onto it.

The choice to swap was a practical one for storage space, and longevity. But also it plays into my reduction strategy. Here’s why; the MacBook Air is tiny. It’s so damn small. I’ll be bringing it with me everywhere I go, so I can do my not-day job work on it. Plus it’ll sit on my desk at my day job and be my music player. Since I take a lot of calls for work on my work computer through webEx, having another device will be helpful. Plus I can jump to this for web browsing on breaks and what-not. Keep work and not-work separate.

What the 2011 MacBook Air doesn’t have

  • Retina screen (It’s good enough for now)
  • Storage space (~10 gigs of free space as I write this)
  • Screen real estate (it’s 13 inches)

What is does have is a small footprint, minimal settings to reduce distractions and allow me to focus on reading, writing, and content creation for courses. And that is so my jam right now.

I will have to replace the battery, as it doesn’t last long at all anymore. But that’s a 40$ investment and an rainy weekend afternoon project. Perhaps I can do that with my son and daughter. With the new battery I can get at least another year or two before I really have to think about upgrading. I’d love for this computer to last 10 years.

Rethinking my needs

I don’t need the newest greatest thing. I have what I need for my goals. It’s refreshing to not have to be on the lookout for the newest best next thing. I can just put my head down and do the work.

The best tool that you have is the one in your hand.