Wow. I just finished over two weeks of selling a lot of my tech gear, partially just to trade it for more. This has been a long time in coming. In buying stuff… I suffer from “mission creep” where I keep adding more and more. At some point I need to clear out the excess and do a bit of a reset.
I sold my 27″ 5K iMac, iPad Air 2, early-2015 MacBook, 4 pairs of headphones, and 2 headphone amps. I used eBay for the bigger-ticket items and Craigslist for the lower-value ones.
To replace this stuff, I bought a new 2017 MacBook. Essentially, the new MacBook is replacing my iMac, iPad and old MacBook. My old headphones and headphone amps had already been replaced by a couple pair of Apple AirPods.
My wife and I also swapped out our Series 0 Apple Watches for the latest Series 3 w/LTE. And I did a scheduled phone upgrade from the iPhone 6S Plus to the iPhone 8 Plus. (my wife is holding out for the iPhone X)
I also sprung for a Nintendo Switch and a few games. We have a Wii U that has been obsoleted. For now we’re keeping both. The Switch goes in my office.
This all pretty much happened with no money out of pocket. I’ve been really wanting to downsize my gear for a long time. I finally did it. In spite of the fact that I believe everyone I know would have probably advised me against it. And yes, when you sell used items you certainly take a hit. But Apple stuff has pretty good resale value. And some money for the old stuff is better than no money.
Of course the biggest change for me is getting used to the 12″ screen on the MacBook compared to the gorgeous 27″ 5K screen that I had on the iMac. But part of the goal here was to decrease the role that computers have in my life. Yes, having a computer is a fact of life. But I have decided that I wish to embrace a form of “minimalism” to where these things don’t have more of a role than they need to.
I also think that having my only computer able to go anywhere with me is a bit liberating. No longer will I feel tied to my desk because I feel compelled to “enjoy” my desktop computer. The highest level of functionality I have is now completely mobile. I didn’t really use my old MacBook that much because it was always a compromise when compared to the iMac that was sitting right there on my desk. It’s now no longer a matter of choosing. I have one iOS device and one macOS device. Problem solved.
First-world problems… yeah sorry. Although it’s a big change to my little world.