When ADell Was My World

I was around seven years old when I first used a computer; it was a Dell Inspiron N5030. My family had just acquired it, and it opened my eyes to the new world of technology. The computer was more than just a machine; it was our connection to the world. Most of the time, we only used it to Skype our aunts and uncles who had gone abroad, but every time we would see their faces, even if the video was a bit fuzzy, it felt like we were physically connected despite the distance. 

I also remember how unique the internet was then. In an era of easy Wi-Fi, back then, we would insert a device that looked like a flash drive in order to connect to the internet. It was always slow, at times awful, but we felt like we were in the future, like we finally had access to the wider world.

With time, our first computer slowed down bit by bit,  but it never truly stopped working for us. We bought newer laptops into our house, and yet I was still shocked to see its performance and stability relative to some of those devices which were more than a decade younger. It wasn't like the keys still all worked; a few were dead, and had the mark of age (a small black circle starting to appear in the middle of the screen), but it still worked. Throughout the challenges of high school, the pandemic, and my senior high school years, that first laptop continued to be my reliable partner.

Now I use a more modern and quicker laptop, but I am often caught up in nostalgia. Because that old Dell, though with its odd quirks and aged parts, it felt solid to a degree that newer laptops sometimes do not feel the same way. At times, I still try to look back and remember when that first laptop was my whole world.