February 14, 2024: Switching from MacBook Pro to MacBook Air. LaTeX Instead of Office and Other Software Changes

February 14, 2024. Today I was at the library at 9:30 AM. It was a rainy day. Before that, I spoke to a hot student in the supermarket who rejected me. Today, my new physics book was sold as an e-book for the first time for seven euros.

At the library, I worked until 11:15 AM on transferring the physics book to LaTeX format. When I wanted to take a break at HanoMacke, I noticed an attractive brunette student in tight leggings by the lockers. After retrieving my rain jacket from the locker, I followed her, caught up, and spoke to her. That's how I met Rebecca. She's in her first semester of law school and is unsure if she wants to continue with the subject. I gave her my phone number and then went into HanoMacke. As I entered, I saw Olivia working on her laptop at a table. The woman with the Labrador was also there, having lunch with her friend.

During my second lunch break around 3:00 PM, I came up with an interesting idea. I decided to switch from my MacBook Pro to a MacBook Air. The MacBook Air is much more compact and lighter than the MacBook Pro. It wasn’t really necessary for me to buy the MacBook Pro back then, as the performance of the MacBook Air would have been entirely sufficient for my needs.

I should generally buy only as much performance as I actually need, but no more. What’s the point of having a powerful laptop if I don’t utilize its performance? It’s just wasting extra money.

Another advantage of not buying overly expensive tech is that I'm less prone to theft. It's obviously more tempting for thieves to steal an expensive device than a cheaper one. The incentive to steal is simply lower. This principle applies not only to laptops but to all other possessions.

I then went home, ate, and during my meal, decided to go to Saturn and buy a MacBook Air. So, I did just that. MacBook Air M2

At home, I listed my MacBook Pro for sale on eBay Classifieds and then set up the MacBook Air.

During the setup, I made some software changes:

  • Instead of LibreOffice Writer, I now use LaTeX or the Apple Pages app.
  • Instead of LibreOffice Presenter, I use the Apple Keynote app.
  • Instead of LibreOffice Calc, I use the Apple Numbers app.

However, I haven't found an alternative for Premiere Pro yet. Apple iMovie is not suitable because it only allows creating two tracks.

Health Analysis:

Food: 11:20 [2x walnut rolls], 14:30 [apple, banana], 17:00 [walnut roll], 17:30 [arugula-tomato-kohlrabi-flaxseed salad].

Bowel Movements: 11:15 [solid], evening [solid].

Body: 6/10 [very white coated, eroded tongue in the morning, dandruff, but redness and itching are gone].

Mood: 7.5/10 [Feeling quite good. Only the dandruff is annoying.].

Micro Changes:

  • Uninstalled Premiere Pro. I no longer own any Adobe products and save about 66.45 euros per month. Another step towards more digital independence. However, I still need to find a free alternative if I plan to edit videos.
  • Instead of installing external software for simple tasks (like writing text or creating a presentation)—in my case, LibreOffice—I use pre-installed apps (Keynote for PowerPoint, Numbers for Excel, and Pages for Word). These are completely sufficient for me.
  • Uninstalled Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint). I now use free LaTeX instead. If I had known this earlier, I would have saved the money spent on Microsoft Office. There's also the free Apple Pages with a graphical interface.