My MacBook Pro Is Ready To Retire. It Told Me So

I think my computer is telling me it wants to retire.

I got my MacBook Pro in June of 2006 and it was lightning fast compared to my old 1998 PowerBook G3. Computer-wise, I was on top of the world. Faster, lighter, bigger hard drive, bigger display, OS X, USB--the whole package.

More than seven years later and it's showing it's age. The operating system won't update and neither will most of the software. The 2gb of RAM is insufficient, the 100gb hard drive is full and I have three external hard drives--all full and the optical drive rarely works properly. And something is really slowing the system down and I don't know what. The spinning beach ball is NOT my friend. But all that stuff is to be expected for a computer of that age.

Lately I've been having trouble with a symptom that reaches new levels of annoying. After a few hours of use, my LCD develops a yellow tint. Anywhere white should be, I see yellow. It's very gradual and in it's beginning stages is hard to notice unless you look at a TV or the iPhone or some other white LCD screen. But after a few more hours, it begins to really hurt my eyes. No one I've talked to has ever heard of this happening (and a few think I've lost my marbles) and I can't find a mention of it anywhere online.

A few weeks ago, I heard some growling and grumbling coming from the guts of the machine, virtually identical to the sounds I heard right before Apple replaced the cooling fans. A few days later, it gradually went away.

A few days ago I started having an even more serious problem. The computer froze and I had to force it to shut down. When it restarted, I'd get to the login screen, login, and then after seeing the desktop for a few seconds, it would kick me back to the login screen. Over and over again. It started fine with the CD so after a few days of trying to find the problem, I erased the hard drive and restored from Time Machine. Problem fixed...for now.

I have several gift cards from Best Buy so I plan to buy an external monitor in the near future. It's just a temporary fix. I wonder if a souped up Mac Mini from the Apple Custom Build shop would do everything I need.

Rant: Updating Apps vs. Releasing New Ones

Several of my favorite apps have been updated recently as a result of the iOS 7 release. In general, this is a good thing. What annoys me is when app developers release entirely new apps and make us buy them all over again. I know the App Store doesn't support paid updates but isn't there some way to reward previous users? Like maybe a coupon or something? I don't mind a dollar or two but when you get up to apps that sell for $5-$10, it's getting a bit pricey.

I know, I know, nobody is forcing me to update and if there really are that many new and different features, then the developers probably deserve the extra money. But that App Store app won't notify me of an entirely new app, and then there's just one more app to manage in my already huge library.

Now if they *really* want to piss me off, they'll release new apps that aren't universal so I end up paying for and managing four version of essentially the same app.

OK, I'm through ranting and I feel much better now.