A wonderful thing happened to me yesterday. I returned a 15 inch, three-month-old Apple MacBook Pro and received the newly released 16 inch MacBook Pro for no extra money. Last night I watched YouTube reviews of the 15 inch versus 16 inch, and based on the reviewers’ reports, I got a good deal!

CJKnowsTECH, a young reviewer who is quickly becoming one of my favorites, warned 15” owners that they were about to become very “salty” (angry) because the 16” offers so much more than the 15” for the same price. Here is his humorous, yet informative report. https://youtu.be/tbMJB-SzMws

I know my nature, and the salt trucks were heading my way. If my brand new, 3-month-old, 15 inch hadn’t crashed to where the Genius Bar couldn’t restore it, I would’ve been saddled with the 15 inch for the long haul and would never have experienced the pleasure of a larger viewing area, an amazing new sound system, and the redesigned, restored keyboard.

Oh-h-h! The keyboard is so satisfying. The keys bounce and spring when they’re struck just like they did on my 2014, 13-inch MacBook Pro which I loved, loved, loved.

The 15 inch’s keystroke had immediately saddened me. Gone was the familiar movement of keys. Movement that had buoyed me while writing my first published novel. The 16 inch MB Pro has brought that lovely keystroke back.

While not exactly smooth, the 16 inch’s edges aren’t as sharp and don’t cut my wrists when I’m typing. The 15 inch’s case gave new meaning to the term “cutting edge”. When I first purchased the 15 inch, I sought out YouTube videos where people showed how to file the edges down without cutting up the keyboard too badly. https://youtu.be/NnGAlf1hjs4  I’m thankful that Apple smoothed it out somewhat.

So, did Apple just voluntarily offer this new computer to me to perpetuate customer goodwill? Not on their sweet little apple bottoms! After over two hours at the Apple store waiting for the computer to switch on and watching my “genius”, I had the nerve to use my outside voice to ask for a refund.

I was through being nice! I didn’t want it going in the back and remaining overnight. I wanted my money back or a new 15 inch computer, now! I had really, really splurged on a large screen computer that I expected to be my almost last hardware purchase.

Javante, my Genius Bar guru explained that there are no more 15 inches being made. They have gone on to Apple Heaven where their parts are being scavenged to make the new 16’s.

I know there are other larger screen computers for a lower price just as there are $10,000 automobiles, but I’m loyal to Apple. All my previous Apple machines have lasted ten plus years or until I was ready to let them go.

I started with Apple when I was a young teacher, sponsoring the yearbook and newspaper in an urban high school and teaching young people the desktop publishing skills needed to create the publications. The Apple MacIntosh was one of the first user friendly computers for kids.

“How much more are the 16’s?” I asked.

“A LOT more,” Javante said. “Let me go talk to the manager and I’ll find out!”

When he returned smiling, my legs began to shimmy. I know a good news face when I see one.

“Guess what?” he said. “You’re getting a new 16 inch for no extra charge.”

Yes, a wonderful thing happened to me yesterday. My only regret is that I’ll never see my old computer get opened. I’ll always wonder if Javante wiped it clean like he said he would, or if some day, 10 years from now, I’ll experience a horrible case of identity theft. My computers hold my financial information, account numbers, and all of my manuscripts and new story ideas.

As Big Brother pushes himself further and further into our lives, and learns more and more about our practices, motivations, and idiosyncrasies, we unreservedly share more of ourselves with him and his little machines. Anyhow, I gleefully downloaded, from the cloud, all the saved info unto this new machine. Yes! The “cloud” holds all our secrets.

This morning I am contentedly blogging, paying bills, and visiting social media accounts. I have enhanced the screen to an obscenely large view for my failing eyesight. Increased Word text to 200 percent. Manna! By next week, I will have forgotten all about the 15 inch MacBook Pro I used to own and the possibility that its contents still lurk somewhere out there.

That’s the world now. A world where everything is connected to everything. It’s a world where if I’m in the kitchen apologizing to my adult daughter for some slight, before she can respond, Alexa, the voice from my kitchen Echo Show, tells me, “It’s okay. I forgive you.”