I feel like buying a new laptop. Not that I really need one, my 11″ MacBook Air is working perfectly well and I’m happy with it (for now), but I still feel like buying a new one. I passed on the current generation, so I’m getting the next one no matter what, but it is months – MONTHS, I SAY! – away.

And I want a new laptop.

Why?

Not because I want new stuff really, no it is the matter of the clean start. I always start from scratch with every computer, only installing the apps I end up actually missing. I’ll write more on that philosophy later, for now all you need to know is that’s what I do. Incidentally I do the same with iOS devices too, starting fresh.

The only thing I carry with me to a new computer is the Dropbox folder, syncing some 80 GB of data or something like that. My whole filesystem resides there, a nice setup since it means it is available wherever I am, on almost every thinkable device that can connect to the internet.

This time, or rather, when I get a new laptop, I won’t move my files from the old one. I’ll start from scratch, all the way. Storing everything away somewhere easily accessed, I’ll see what I actually need, copy it to my (new and empty) Dropbox folder. And then I’ll organize it.

I’m not a big fan of file managing. I find it to be a waste of time. In theory, this should mean that iCloud is for me, but I’ve found it a bit too one dimensional. It overflows too easily, freelancing folders for clients are suddenly unwieldy due to the amount of files. I’m not sure I’m too thrilled about the flat concept of everything in one place, with a folder structure that is only one level deep.

But I’m not sure. I might end up doing just that in the end.

I want to start fresh with everything to find out how the ideal system would be organized, for me. It’ll be trial and error, and an interesting experiment.

I can’t wait.