eDz pOmtiDDlypOmPoM: February 2016

I love my MacBook. I've named it Chewy, short for Chewbacca. By the way,
that one on the left is not a mouse. It's a cowry shell, given to us in one of our
field works around the Philippines. :)

I love my MacBook 2015 in gold. So much that it has already altered my habit of interacting with a notebook/laptop. MacBook's UI/UX is highly intuitive and logical that the brain easily adapts to it. One week of using it and I find myself doing the Mac gestures on a PC notebook. Before I go to the details of why I like it, let me first describe myself.

I'm just a regular girl who is not so techie but willing to pay extra for functionality and aesthetics. I'm logical and rational as my profession needs me to be (I am a scientist). Before I buy anything, I thoroughly research about it but I have a tendency to give in to my whim if I find the product aesthetically pleasing despite a hefty price tag on the item. My normal day would consist of doing office work utilising MS Word, MS Excel, and numerous emails most of the time. I commute to and from work every day and meetings in the office usually occur in different locations throughout the day. Field works are also frequent, rugged, most of the time dusty and dirty, and we oftentimes stay in areas where electric outlets are scarce.

To sum it up, my lifestyle needs need a laptop that is:

1. Lightweight
2. Has long battery life
3. Aesthetically pleasing
4. Sturdy and built to last

The MacBook was launched in April 2015 in Apple's Spring Forward event and thereon, I knew THIS was the laptop for me. But due to its astronomical price relative to my monthly salary, it had to wait. Aside from that, it wasn't due to come out in Manila until June. So I waited. Then June came, I read up so many reviews in between, obsessing on the MacBook, browsing weekly for new reviews. Because it was pricey, I need to thoroughly weigh the advantages and disadvantages of getting one. I even asked my parents if I can purchase this because of course, they have more wisdom to guide me whether to buy something this expensive. I was also waiting for a sign: if I get accepted into the scholarship, I'd buy one. If not, then I just have to settle with my crappy 15" Lenovo office laptop.

Then come 27 November I learned that I got accepted into the scholarship (yey, thank you Lord!). This must be it! I can now buy the MacBook! But wait, do I really NEED it NOW??? So again I went through the process of questioning, researching, and analysing. True, I need one because when I go to AUS I need a laptop, right? But the question now is, do I need it NOW? Christmas and New Year were coming up and my 30th birthday was coming up on January too. So four big reasons (for me) to go and reward myself! :)

So let's get to the bottom of this. What do I really, really, really like:

1. Trackpad
The MacBook's trackpad is a dream to use. When they said it has a haptic feedback mechanism I didn't know what that meant so I didn't pay much attention to it. But now I know how it feels like, I tried comparing it to an ordinary PC laptop trackpad. Oh boy. This is indeed a habit-altering trackpad. It's so easy and intuitive to use I carried the same gestures on a PC laptop trackpad. It's such a standout feature for me. It's also quiet and you only need a gentle touch/click to make a command. It's also very sensitive hence, when I use it I get the feeling that I am moving my finger over the screen's interface. I didn't know that using a trackpad can be this welcoming/"hospitable". I got used to having a mouse all the time but the Mac's trackpad, who needs a mouse when you're only doing minimal notebook work (meaning you are not doing any graphic designing)?

2. Keyboard
This is one of the highlighted features of the new MacBook. It boasts of a butterfly mechanism, which chief product designer Jony Ive created. Reading some reviews, not all are happy with the feeling of a butterfly mechanism keyboard. But I AM. I'm so happy with it because it does not require me to push deep into the keypad and it's so quiet you can work while someone is asleep beside you. I love the feel of this and it makes me feel I type faster even if I am not. Hahahaha. Moreover, the butterfly mechanism allows me to press anywhere on the keys and it would still register. I don't have to aim for the centre of the keys unlike in the scissor mechanism, where you'll get an uneven feeling of pressing the keys, which can trigger your brain into questioning if the key you hit registered the letter you pressed. Less stress for this butterfly mechanism.

3. Super thin dimensions
This in itself is a breakthrough for Jony Ive and his team. Everything that was designed for the MacBook's notebook predecessors needed to be reinvented to come up with a MacBook that offers the same UX but in a completely thin and functional notebook. It completely needed to be a new design if its this thin. At 13.1mm thin, the MacBook is Apple's notebook with the thinnest retina display ever. I even used a Manila envelope as its initial casing.

4. Super Lightweight
The MacBook is less than 1 kg and is the lightest Apple notebook to date. I carry it with me everywhere, just like an iPhone. It's very light compared with other laptops and it's as if I am not carrying a laptop with me. But of course to maximise this carrying feeling, the MacBook needs to be ensconced in a lightweight material, such as a neoprene cover. It's thick and durable enough to protect your notebook from scratches but light enough to not add significant weight to your MacBook.

5. LED Backlight
I was blown away that the backlight does not spill out onto the sides of the keys (unlike other PC laptops) and even more so when the backlight can be DIMMED or brightened just like the screen! Haha! Wow man! Super blown away by this feature! I know it's something small but sometimes its the small things that matter! :-D

6. Good speakers despite the size
I've read a review that described the MacBook's speakers as tinny speakers. This may be something subjective but for me, the sound produced by the speakers is clear enough to hear as long as I am working in front of the laptop. Also, I tried turning up the volume into full blast and the speakers still sounded okay. It wasn't amazing but it was okay.

7. Once I started using the MacBook, the USB Type-C did not matter anymore
Because I was paranoid that I might not transfer my files to an external hard drive for archiving, I also bought a why-the-hell-are-you-so-expensive adapter (it costs PhP3,990!!!) for my laptop which included ports for an HDMI cable, a standard USB, and a Type-C. But as I started using my MacBook, I realised I did not need an adapter at all! I only used the adapter less than ten times in a span of two months and I used it mainly for presentations with an LCD projector using an HDMI cable. And this usage was somewhat forced because I wanted to justify why I bought the adapter in the first place, haha!

Reviews say that this can be a deal breaker but the truth is, there is always the INTERNET to transfer files and store them in a cloud drive. And for some gadgets (e.g., mouse, printer, scanner, etc.), there's always the Bluetooth technology. And for projecting presentations, you can always ask a colleague to use his laptop instead. :-D

8. Good battery life (for my use and probably because it's still new)
I run my MacBook all day in the office with normal usage of Pages, Numbers, Safari, and Music. It lasts me almost eight hours and I only charge once a day to keep it full again. And it charges really fast too.

9. Stunning display
You know I really do not understand when reviewers say it has a RETINA DISPLAY and I snort every time I hear this. Hahaha. For me it just means that a retina display provides a clearer, more vivid, and sharper display. I'd like to think of it like a person who has astigmatism (in this case, me) wherein light/images are not clearly defined and they always seem dispersed. Light looks like a fireworks display for someone with astigmatism. So when you have a retina display, the images do not look dispersed but it's smooth and crisp and outlined clearly, giving you visually stimulating images.

10. Amazing tech support
Just recently I had a software problem that needed to be addressed by Apple's tech support. I accessed their website and got in touch with their tech support. Wow. Katarina, my tech support, was knowledgeable, articulate, helpful, kind, and professional. I love how she made me feel I wasn't alone in my problems with my Mac (specifically downloading and installing El Capitan). I like how easy it is to contact Apple's tech support and their communication means: call, chat, email, or self-help menu.

11. Sturdy enough
My work involves a LOT of field work and I'm always on the move. Chewy is two months old and I think it has handled my sudden flips and accidental slamming quite well, haha. I've been to places where it gets really dusty, to the point that when I left my Macbook open for about five minutes, when I got back, it was already rough to my touch, like the grains of silt and clay flew onto my notebook. But the laptop is still working fine nonetheless.

Dahil gusto ko lang asarin yung wagas makapaglagay ng brand ng kanilang gamit sa picture (hahaha!):
My new MacBook in gold, cowry shell from Davao Oriental, Bigelow Fine Teas green tea with lemon, mug coaster souvenir from my friends' wedding, The Secret of Teams book by Mark Miller, Vincent Van Gogh blank notebook which functions as my bullet journal, Composition notebook present from a friend in Hawaii, Evita Peroni hair clip, Apple EarPods [cannot be seen in photo: dust from our imported AC unit; hahaha]

Aside from these 11 reasons I've stated above, I just love and admire the WORK, the DESIGN, the IDEA, the CONCEPT that Jony Ive and his team created to come up with a flawless and beautiful piece of technology. Imagine the brain synapses that were spent; the fluctuating levels of hormones (read: stress); the sleepless days, hours, minutes spent; all those creative juices that were exhausted trying to come up with something beautiful and breathtaking as the new MacBook. Wow. It's like buying a (reproducible) magnificent piece of art. And I just love it. I love how this MacBook is a product of the great minds of Jony Ive and his team in Apple. That's why this is the model that I chose.

Thank you Jony Ive and team for making a beautiful and functional piece of technology.

p.s. I hope Apple's team in the software department could create something as beautiful and functional as its hardware.

Today is the first day for our follow-up in Sitio Labey, Ambuklao, Bokod, Benguet. The weather is, as always, cool throughout the day. However, in the afternoon at 12NN, the sun’s heat energy becomes overpowering that it can get hot inside a building without roof insulation. But this lasts only about two hours. At around 5PM it will become drastically cooler. A visitor in this area will know that the farmers have accomplished most of their farming duties; the children have gone home from school; housewives start preparing dinner for their families. It is because the minimal noises coming from the highlands begin to sound even fainter. Silence and calmness envelop the area. A cool breeze sweeps over the mountains.

At this point, a myriad of emotions start to flood my brain: nostalgia, peace, contentment, empathy. After feeling these, my brain would start dissecting why do I feel these, what are the other emotions related to these feelings, and eventually I start to think deeper about myself; I start to reflect; I start to evaluate myself. And most of the time, the end emotion that I fall into is sadness that is quickly replaced with gratitude.

Despite my failures and achieving below what I expect for myself, my brain still justifies what I’ve done in my life. Perhaps that’s why I still feel grateful. I’ve read an article that our brains are rationalising machines. We rationalise many things so that we can accept situations even if we consciously know it is against societal norms, against morality, against our health, against everything. It’s amazing how brains work; I’m so fascinated by it. The human brain is, perhaps, the most POWERFUL computing machine ever! And I’m not just talking about conscious computing, like being amazing in Algebra, Calculus, Statistics, solving Differential Equations or deriving Integrals (yuck!). What if we create a code for every bodily function, can you imagine that? WOW! Just think of the complex algorithms needed for EVERY reaction that happens in our body! And the brain is the central processing unit of all that! It blows my mind every time!

Okay I seem to have digressed from the topic. Let’s go back to being grateful…

I read a quote that says: If life throws you lemons, make lemonade. Hahaha! So instead of wallowing on what's negative, turn it into something positive! At the end of the day I reflect on what happened and I count my blessings. And this helps me to turn my lemons into lemonade. I love my life and my family and I've been blessed abundantly by the Lord. I'm very thankful for the life I've been given and I want to live it to the fullest by serving others. :)