It's hard to imagine saying goodbye to my faithful pal

My personal laptop computer, an Apple G4 PowerBook that I bought in 2001, is on its last legs. It's been a senior citizen of the computer world for some time, but in the last year or so, it has been deteriorating dramatically.

The problem is that the thing won't die a natural death. It’s more than 10 years old (which is like 110 in human years), has broken hinges due to an unfortunate incident involving a hardwood floor, and is barely compatible with most websites because it's too old to update with anything close to a current operating system.

When I try to bring up, say, the Google home page, it heaves the digital equivalent of an arthritic groan (the hard drive grinds and the fan wheezes), then it basically collapses and says, "I'm sorry. I just can't"-in other words, "The application Firefox has unexpectedly quit." If this were a pet, I'd be thinking hard about making that last heart-wrenching appointment with one of you folks. I mean, what kind of quality of life can a computer have if it can't load Google?

The thing is, the ol' PowerBook still serves me admirably in the tasks I most rely on it for. I spend most of my home computer time editing and writing in Microsoft Word. Sure, it's a musty version of Word, but I strip all the formatting out of my documents anyway, so I don't need any of those fancy new features. I can also send and receive e-mail and fire up PDFs for proofing purposes. And I can still get on Amazon.com-which is both a blessing and a curse.

True, the word "laptop" technically no longer applies to my machine. With its broken back, it's laid up on my desk with its screen propped against a stack of books. Its days of journeying through coffee shops and airports are over. But other than the odd monitor flicker or color shift that tells me some of the cables of its spine are rather tenuously connected, it does just fine. And when it comes to the important stuff-my data-I’ve never had a moment’s nervousness.

So when I think about actually going on a search for Old Trusty's shiny new replacement, somehow I just can't seem to do it. The cash I've set aside gets spent on other things. I continue to plug along with my reliable titanium-bodied partner.But the time may be upon us. Apple just announced the breathtaking new MacBook Air, which is supposed to be feather-light and lightning-fast. Plus, as Gary Glassman points out in his 2010 tax update, this is Section 179 time of year. Since I use my computer primarily for work purposes, I can deduct it as a business expense-no small joy when you pay the self-employment tax. (I can only imagine how exciting it would be to deduct an entire digital radiography system.)

Still, it's with a heavy heart that I think about putting the PowerBook out to pasture. Where do old computers go to die, anyway? I have absolutely no idea. And maybe I can use that as an excuse to put off the inevitable just a little longer.