When my mom gave me her MacBook Air, I was like, “Sweet, I’ve been looking for a new computer for when I travel. You know, with Dropbox, I can sycn my files between all my computers and…”

And she was all like, “No, no, you’re gonna ditch your other computer and use just this one.”

And I said, “No, no, the other one is fantastic. It’s big, but it’s so fast and I’m used to Windows, etc.”

But she was right. This one is better. Because I can just plug in and then unplug my external monitor with no hassle, there’s really nothing keeping me from using it both when I’m at my desk and when I travel. And the interface is better, it’s a lot easier to switch between windows, for one thing. And since I don’t play computer games anymore, there was really nothing holding me back. So yeah, I’ve pivoted over: I’m now a fully enrolled member of the Mac ecology. I am going to start sprinkling my conversations with design/technology buzzwords–“intuitive”, “lean startup”, “iterative development”, “pivot”, “ecology”–because that’s just who I am now.

Anyway, in selling off my old computer, I decided to take the opportunity to clear up all the other crap I had lying around: old game systems, an external monitor, computers, my standing desk thingy. In doing so, I used Craigslist for most things and eBay for the computers.

I am wary of eBay. My first time using it, I got scammed: the guy manipulated the PayPal system to get a refund without returning the thing I sold him (he claimed he never got it). And my second time, I screwed up and shipped the wrong items to the wrong people. Although I refunded their purchase prices and let them keep the items, I still got negative feedback. EBay is so aggravating. I’ve already had multiple people message me and try to scam me by asking me to sell them the item outside of eBay. All three of my eBay options just closed, and I know something is going to go wrong.

Craigslist, on the other hand, was pretty good. I’m sure I didn’t get as much money as I would’ve, but I didn’t need to pay for shipping. I didn’t need to go anywhere. Everyone came to me. And all my interactions were extremely pleasant. There’s something much nicer about dealing with people face to face. Personally, I don’t really care about maximizing the returns I get from selling my stuff: I just want it to be as hassle-free as possible.

I think we’re generally reluctant to do things that involve speaking to and meeting with strangers. For instance, I used to always try to solve customer service problems using email or chatlines. But it’s often much easier and nicer to go ahead and try to speak to a real person. It’s easier to just ask someone a question instead of looking for the sign, or something, that explains what you’re supposed to be doing. There’s a certain basic level of decency that kicks in when you’re dealing, in real time, with a person that you can see (or at least hear). And you don’t get that through a lot of these newfangled online services.