The sickness.

Last September I became obsessed with the idea of getting a laptop. And when I say obsessed, I mean totally obsessed to the point of it almost becoming a psychiatric disorder. I just had to have one. It didn't have to be a new one either; if I'd found an ancient 386 that still worked I would've bought it, put DOS on it, and happily write away on a text editor. I'd look in the classified ads everyday for police auctions (I never saw one) and spend way too much time at various web sites that sold ancient laptops.

The thing about old laptops that aways amazed me was that if you had a stack of 486's, people would buy them for $50-$100 appiece. But if you had a bunch of six year old Pentium desktops, you'd practically have to give them away. Functioning laptops, no matter how, old are in demand. Maybe people want them for the same reason I do, so they can write on the couch while watching TV.

I never did buy a laptop and over time the obessesion waned. It's September again and I can feel the desire coming back.