Week #2 - Biomimicry Blog Post - Pattern #3

My Macbook

Pattern #3 – Life Needs an Inside and an Outside.

My laptop and I have been through a lot together since I got it on my first day of orientation at MCAD four years ago. My laptop has been dropped, knocked and stepped on. It has overheated, had its hard-drive crash and even been peed on by my cat (yes, and that was in the first month of having it). Yet through everything it has been through, it has been steadfast in adapting to its surroundings (extreme cold, extreme heat), and being workable when I needed it to be.

I’ve never really seen what the inside of a MacBook looks like, but I have a feeling that it is a vast, complicated system of circuits, wires and things that light up. On the outside, however, the calm white aesthetic actually appears to be simple, much less complicated and user friendly. I think this I why I like my MacBook so much. It is simple LOOKING, therefore I thin it is simple to use. Anyway, the ways in which my MacBook does NOT share characteristics to Pattern #3 is because of how it reacts to shifts in its environment. One night I was working on some business cards that I was really proud of. I was just about to finish them up and upload the designs to a website where I was going to get them ordered (you see where this is going). Within an instant of me feeling really satisfied with my work, the fan in my laptop turns on full blast and Adobe Illustrator quits. My computer overheated and decided to shut down the programs I was using. Needless to say, I was furious. Another story, which is actually the opposite of the previous one, reinforces why this machine is capable at surprising abilities of adaptation. So, my cat peed on my laptop and I thought it was ruined.

My computer works for four years straight (aside from a crashed hard drive, which was fine) without a problem with the fact that once the CD drive was soaked with cat pee. Earlier this year I got in to replace my memory and some tech guys from school are tinkering around in it. They take out the old memory and look at it in a confused way. “This is really dusty… But it’s green dust?” they say. I grin and say that my cat actually peed on it and that must be what it looks like when it dies up. The guy immediately replaces my memory and goes to wash his hands. I thought it was pretty funny. But considering the trauma that happened to the computer in general, it’s a pretty sturdy machine.

The ways in which I think that my computer would be even better at adapting to its surroundings and becoming more sustainable in the long run would be if it were:

- Biodegradable – Any time you need to upgrade, gut the computer to recycle the parts, and bury the rest of it near a tree to spread the protein nutrients of its hard shell. That way it would be incorporated into life’s patterns via using biodegradable proteins much like the shell of a turtle or the antler of a stag.

- Had solar power panel on the back – reduce plastic and technology costs of a power cord.

- Came with a hard, clean shell that resisted any kind of shock. – If they can make cell phones like that, that you basically never have to replace, they can do it to laptops.

- Waterproof – because who doesn’t always accidentally spill their coffee on the keyboard?

- Flame proof – Self-explanatory. Wouldn’t it just be the best if your whole house burnt down and you could just walk across the rubble and pick up your pristine laptop?

- Efficient ventilation system to flush out dust and debris from the keyboard and other cavities i.e. USB ports, power cord port, headphones port, Ethernet port, etc. – No one wants powdered cat pee on his or her hands.

I think that if these changes were put into place with this type of technology, people would learn to accept it more. Oddly enough, I feel like if people were able to take their laptop into the lake with them, they would be more open to buying them or upgrading. I think that if there were a system of even converting every piece of machinery into a biodegradable protein form, laptops and laptop supplies would become cheaper, more accessible, resistant and better for the planet.

Mary N.