I admitted it, I’m a speed junkie. I drive fast, I drive fast, and I want my computers to be fast. Last year I bought a 24 “imac with 4GB of RAM. It smoked. Everything was fast. Now I see that Apple has released a new 27” variety with an even faster processor and up to 16GB of RAM and I’m drooling. Suddenly my current machine feels slow. I can almost see it crawl around a bit, take longer to open files, internet gets slower, everything feels slower because I know I don’t have the fastest machine out there.
It’s amazing how our perceptions can change. Apparently I am used to the speed that I have with my current machine and since it seems that my brain is still moving faster than the processor, I feel a sense of lag. I don’t like slowness. I want to be able to do 12 things at once and have that computer keep up with me. I have the feeling that a lot of people work that way. I help clients troubleshoot internet and computer problems and usually find that when they get a new high-speed service or a new computer, everything feels fast and wonderful. As time goes by, things start to get slow, slow, and frustrating. Some of that is due to all the junk that builds up on the computer with continued use, but I’m pretty sure another big part is the perception of speed. Everyone gets used to a certain level and as soon as they think there is something better, suddenly what they thought was fast is no longer. It’s an annoying human characteristic, but at the same time it drives innovation and helps us develop new technologies and find better ways of doing things.
Right now I wish I had the new 27 “iMac and could enjoy that new speed. At least until the next big thing.
