What you know, not what you own
In the words of BB King “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”, and the counterpoint from post-hardcore band Fugazi, “You are not what you own”.
ThinkPad X60s laptop keyboard, by Sebastian Bergmann, on Flickr
My laptop, a ThinkPad X60s is 7 years old.
I am a web designer.
My point is: So long as the tools work, the tools don’t matter.
Probably not the best news for global capitalism but I doubt if they’re paying much attention to such a mildly a-consumerist stance.
I am running the latest versions of Linux Mint, GIMP, Inkscape, Chromium web browser, Sublime Text and NestaCMS. I can build anything I want. And I can do it with HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, Sass, GitHub, Free Google Web Fonts and so on.
What limits me now is what I know, not what I own.
You can pick up a laptop for peanuts, and everything except Sublime Text is Free Software.
To complete the package is down to what you do and what you learn. Luckily for you, the web is stuffed with learning stuff, from @markboulton’s Designing for the Web, to HTML5, Why’s Poignant Guide to Ruby, Linux… etceterad infinitum.
So the next time you find yourself reaching for the credit card, think about what you need to know rather than what you need to own.
Footnotes:
BB King quote via @philshapiro
Fugazi lyrics appear on the track Merchandise on Fugazi’s first album Repeater