Adventures in African computer-buying

So as previously mentioned, it would appear that Apple is the delicate flower of the portable computing world. I can pinpoint the source of the problem pretty easily, because my computer worked fine my first night in Burkina … And then didn’t work my second night, post-bus. I guess when it comes to African buses, Macs just can’t hang.

After discovering the blinking file folder of doom and realizing that all was lost (at least in the short term, if hopefully not in the long term as well), I calmed down and waited until the next morning to tell Amadou. He immediately got to work calling people, and took me to a computer shop to see some new computers: a Toshiba (amusingly, identical to the one I bought in the US the last time my Mac crapped out), and two different HPs. The cheaper ones were 190,000 FCFA, which is probably coming up on 400 USD. Ouch. So we left, because I told Amadou that my only requirement for the computer was that it be internet compatible, and that used (seconde-main) was fine. He went out on his own to investigate, and brought me back an Acer mini-PC. It was perfect, and cheaper, although still painful given that I wasn’t planning on buying a computer in Africa (150,000 FCFA). Maybe I can persuade Apple to reimburse me since I don’t see any reason that my computer should fall apart on one bus ride … LOL. 

Then of course, we had to go set up my internet clé. It’s basically a jump drive that links me into the cell network (although it seems to connect just fine half the time, without actually allowing me to use the internet). That cost &18,900 FCFA (about 45 USD) plus some cards to charge it up. I have no sense of how fast those get used up or how long they’ll last, but Amadou says that it was a lot and I should be OK for awhile, if not the whole stay. After this I might have slightly less disdain for Comcast (MAYBE).

At any rate, it was totally worth it, since without a computer I would be completely cut off, and totally unable to do most of my work. Well, I guess technically I could write things up by hand, but that’s a lot less efficient, and even unreliable Air Tel internet is better than no internet at all. It is worth pointing out that in addition to learning to type on a mini keyboard (I think people complaining about this is what killed these off. That and tablets), I have an AZERTY keyboard. Thank goodness I taught myself how to type on AZERTY a long time ago, but I had programmed my brain to switch from AZERTY to QWERTY on the basis of the language I was typing, so it is a total mental breakdown to try and type English on AZERTY.

All that to say that in the end, it all works out OK. Also, lesson learned: Apple is not built for the field.