supply and demand

I'm in the market for a new computer.

I don't actually need one; my current iMac is doing just fine even though it is starting to show its age just a little bit with more beach balls than I used to get.  I suspect the small internal SSD (I cheaped out and got just 256GB) is the bottleneck factor here.  And there is no way to upgrade the internal storage.

Even though all my media is stored on external drives, the SSD seems to fill up with system files that I then need to go and delete at regular intervals.

So, I really need something with more storage capacity.

But no one it seems wants my money!  Apple's website is quoting 2-3 month lead-in times on orders, and I'm hearing stories of orders being put back even further once placed.  There's no joy with PC World either.

The whole global silicon chip shortage thing is biting hard.

So, what to do?

I could build my own - how hard can it be???

I could increase the RAM from its current 32GB to something like 64.  That might help with photo editing as Adobe's Lightroom (my main weapon of choice for processing my images) is a bit of a RAM hog.  But then I'm throwing money at an old machine.

I could just carry on with my monthly sessions of cleaning the hard drive.  But that is a chore and I'm always wary that one day I'll delete something important.

I could go out and buy a Wind.... No!  Let's not even go there!

It seems that all I can do is sit and wait and hope that the supply situation improves.  I don't want to just buy something new for the sake of it.  It's got to be up to the tasks I demand of it or it's just not worth the expense.

I just wish I'd bought a larger capacity SSD a few years back, and then I wouldn't even be in this very much of a first world "mess.

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One part of my computer kit I am happy with is my printer.  In the oh-so exciting video below you can watch on disbelief as I review some more paper from Fotospeed.  But I warn you, you might find it all too much...