They used different words but Rob and Stuart both asked me the same question: what's stopping me liking the Macbook.
The honest answer: it would have been easier for me to stick with a windows machine. It's like learning to walk again.
The really honest answer: I hate learning new things; I hate the feeling of not being good at something; I have what Carol Dweck, in her remarkable, but brief book, calls a fixed mindset.
To put that another way: I like doing things; I hate TRYing to do things.
My wife and I both talk about this every so often. Dweck's book was an eye opener for us. We both grew up being really, really good at school work. We were both top of the class or damned-near top of the class in every class we took at school. I'm not being boastful here but we were both just good at school. And neither of us had to try all that hard. And now we're both crap at doing things where we aren't instantly good at them.
We aren't good when we have to TRY. TRY is a very important word.
You can dry your eyes now.
Failing or not being good at something is really, really, really hard when you are not used to. I took French lessons about 10 years ago and I was blatantly bottom of the class. I gave up after two weeks. And, to be honest with you, I don't think I've put myself in a learning situation where I had to TRY - where I wasn't going to succeed - since.
And now this MacBook is kicking my arse and I hate it. (It does suck though: where are my page up, page down, home and end keys? Why is trackpad freaking finicky What about my del key? Why is it sooooooo hard to learn to edit text? Why? Why? Why?).
Like I say, it's like learning to walk again.
So, I read Rob and Stuart's comments this morning, I reflected, and I decided to play a few mind-games on myself. I bought a spare battery and a bluetooth mouse for it today. I'm fighting back by increasing my cost of giving up, of switching back. I also wrote an article, from fresh, this afternoon. It seemed less risky than working on my book.
Is there anyone else out there who doesn't like doing new things or TRYING?
