Having a toddler means that stuff around the house breaks sooner than it otherwise would, as little hands explore the world around them. Such was the case last week when a Wii remote was smashed inside of a laptop, breaking the LCD panel and rendering it completely useless. Unsure of what to do, since I’m no techie, I asked around and most recommended that I take it to a professional or just buy a new computer.
The problem with replacing the laptop was that it is still fairly new (we bought it last December) and it had been more than four years since our last upgrade. An older computer would have been easily replaced; we would surely benefit from all of the upgrades in hardware and software that take place with such speed. But being only a few months old, the increases in utility from a new computer were well below the cost.
Knowing the cost of a professional repair would be high, I did an internet search for a replacement and found one on Amazon
The digital world is such a wonderful place, not only for the content found uniquely online, but for the many benefits it provides in the physical universe. The time and expense I would have incurred while searching for a reputable repairman and paying him to do what turned out to be such a simple task was nearly all saved by these two wonderful companies. Some might argue that just because I can do this doesn’t mean I should – the whole “should Tiger Woods mow his own lawn?” question, or comparative advantage. But given the relative ease and short amount of time it took to do the repairs myself there’s no question I saved time and money.
