Just want to check im not overly protective of my macbook...

a child should not need a $1500 device to be entertained.

Right decision, expensive electronics are for adults not 5yr olds.
 
I think I can go as far to say if anyone came and asked to use my computer, I'd say yes; of course first making sure they washed their hands if their hands are dirty.
 
I would have been shocked they even asked in the first place! 6 and 3? No way in hell would those kids be going near my MacBook. It was rude of them to even ask. I can't believe they didnt understand why you said no! :eek:
 
I agree 100% with basically everyone here. I am skeptical about letting my family and friends use my 3 year old MBP. I remember when I first bought it I was even more protective. No way would I let a young kid touch it. Now my friends know me well enough and they understand when I don't want them to use it. They all have dells they can use anyways.
 
I would have done the same thing specially if I saw they where all sticky fingered I'd just tell them that my macbook isnt a toy and to go play with a PC:p
 
I think you made the right choice. My youngest daughter then age 5 took a cup and spilled milk into my new laptop. You can never be too sure & even though it was a dell laptop it was expensive at the time


When I got my iPhone 3g my mother in law tapped the screen with her keys stating "oh it's nice" suffice to say when she visits I hide my expensive electronics as she is so rough with them

I'm no better to be honest, I accidently spilled tea and killed my 2006 MBP I now have my UMBP Which was delivered on Tuesday but I am refusing to use it until my moshi clearguard gets here so in a way you could call that over the top but I am clumsy so I am taking precautions before even touching my new mac. In fact it's still boxed up, unopened and untouched, I'm starting to get impatient but I'm a clutz so prevention is key
 
Wow, reading the replies, I feel rather guilty for my stand.

I generally cannot stand children, but what they requested was not unreasonable.

Of course I'd make sure they were done eating and washed up first, but you could have kept the notebook out of the toddler's reach so he could lay down and fall asleep to the movie, and at 6 years old, a child is more than capable of understanding what you need done, not to mention you could have just supervised him.

It's not wrong what you said no, but honestly, it's just a notebook. $1500 is a lot of money, I understand, being in the numbers with unemployed family and working while being in college, but why is it that people are putting a chunk of aluminum before family and friends?

Honestly, if I were that obsessive over my notebook, I would have to realize it's time I walk away from it for a while. I can understand being protective because everyone likes nice things, but it's just a luxury, and in my eyes, should not be put before a friend. It's not really the OP's statement here, it's everyone else's that bothers me.
 
Ask the parents if they will pay for repairs or replacment if something happens to your system. If so, and you believe them, then you get a possible new macbook. If not, they have no reason to complain.

If they won't pop for a portable DVD player for pete's sake, then how important can their kids watching movies be?
 
I would not let the kids touch my MB. I don't even like my wife using it without washing her hands, moving any liquids FAR FAR away from her.
Its your laptop, you paid for it, you decide what to do with it.
 
jabingla2810 said:
I looked down at these two kids, looking back up at me with longing eyes, one was eating an ice pop.... but was holding the actualy ice instead of the stick, and the younger one was caked in chocolate and was happily chewing on a chicken nugget. And I thought about my lovely macbook, sat safe and snug upstairs in its nice soft carry case.l
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Your claim is resonable I believe, but you could have agreed to let them use it at the conditions that they use it on a very clean table without anyone eating using it and that they be very (VERY) careful with it. Seems reasonable to me.

Personally, in these situation I have a spare keyboard, mouse and hard case to avoid these kind of situations.
 
Harmless Abuse said:
Wow, reading the replies, I feel rather guilty for my stand.

I generally cannot stand children, but what they requested was not unreasonable.

Of course I'd make sure they were done eating and washed up first, but you could have kept the notebook out of the toddler's reach so he could lay down and fall asleep to the movie, and at 6 years old, a child is more than capable of understanding what you need done, not to mention you could have just supervised him.

It's not wrong what you said no, but honestly, it's just a notebook. $1500 is a lot of money, I understand, being in the numbers with unemployed family and working while being in college, but why is it that people are putting a chunk of aluminum before family and friends?

Honestly, if I were that obsessive over my notebook, I would have to realize it's time I walk away from it for a while. I can understand being protective because everyone likes nice things, but it's just a luxury, and in my eyes, should not be put before a friend. It's not really the OP's statement here, it's everyone else's that bothers me.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should take your MacBook into a Kindergarten classroom and leave it with one of the kids for a few hours.

For some people, a laptop is more then just a luxury, it's a tool to get work done, and its an investment in keeping organized, and saving time. Sure it can play movies and music and surf the net, but losing a laptop or having to get something fixed because some parents want to plop their kids in front of it for 2 hours so they can do something else themselves is just not a good idea. If the parents wanted to entertain their kids with movies, they would have brought their own laptop or dvd player.

It's not putting a notebook before family and friends (the people mentioned in the story were not family anyway, but friends, and didn't seem like close friends either). It's an unnecessary risk letting kids use such an expensive device so they can play games and watch movies, when they could be entertained with some cheap plastic toys. If the OP let the kids use it, it's a hassle for him as he has to babysit his machine and the kids. If the parents felt he was watching over it to carefully, they might have felt he was being overprotective about it, even though he was letting the kids use it.

I personally don't like letting people use my stuff. I have gotten back to many broken devices and given the "Oh, no, I got it that way" deal. Broken digital cameras, Playstation 2 controllers, Guitar Hero guitars, DVD players have all come back to me with just a shrug of the shoulders. It is a completely different story when you know someone is responsible, but kids 6 and 3 are NOT responsible. Like I said in a previous post, call it innocence if you must, but expecting them to be responsible is unfair. Value and expense doesn't mean anything to them.

The easiest thing is to just say no and find another way to entertain the kids. Why should some couple guilt someone else into surrendering a fragile and expensive computer to some children so they can watch Donald Duck? I think the parents were being unfair. If the person says no, say OK and move on. Making a big deal out of it shows the couple dont respect other people property, so why would their 6 year old respect other peoples property?
 
IrishSniper87 said:
Maybe you should take your MacBook into a Kindergarten classroom and leave it with one of the kids for a few hours.

For some people, a laptop is more then just a luxury, it's a tool to get work done, and its an investment in keeping organized, and saving time. Sure it can play movies and music and surf the net, but losing a laptop or having to get something fixed because some parents want to plop their kids in front of it for 2 hours so they can do something else themselves is just not a good idea. If the parents wanted to entertain their kids with movies, they would have brought their own laptop or dvd player.

It's not putting a notebook before family and friends (the people mentioned in the story were not family anyway, but friends, and didn't seem like close friends either). It's an unnecessary risk letting kids use such an expensive device so they can play games and watch movies, when they could be entertained with some cheap plastic toys. If the OP let the kids use it, it's a hassle for him as he has to babysit his machine and the kids. If the parents felt he was watching over it to carefully, they might have felt he was being overprotective about it, even though he was letting the kids use it.

I personally don't like letting people use my stuff. I have gotten back to many broken devices and given the "Oh, no, I got it that way" deal. Broken digital cameras, Playstation 2 controllers, Guitar Hero guitars, DVD players have all come back to me with just a shrug of the shoulders. It is a completely different story when you know someone is responsible, but kids 6 and 3 are NOT responsible. Like I said in a previous post, call it innocence if you must, but expecting them to be responsible is unfair. Value and expense doesn't mean anything to them.

The easiest thing is to just say no and find another way to entertain the kids. Why should some couple guilt someone else into surrendering a fragile and expensive computer to some children so they can watch Donald Duck? I think the parents were being unfair. If the person says no, say OK and move on. Making a big deal out of it shows the couple dont respect other people property, so why would their 6 year old respect other peoples property?
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+1....You make some very good points. If the kids were responsible and had a sense of value and expense than maybe I would let them use my laptop. Chances are though, any normal 3 and 6 year old kids have no idea how to treat most toys, never mind a 1500$ laptop.
 
People ask to use my stuff all the time and until recently I've always said yes. I have always been the person that couldn't say no, no matter what. But now I have to say no to things like my iPhone and MacBook. I just make up an excuse such as, "oh, my battery is low." Sometimes it works, and other times people know I'm lying, but they don't ask again. I'd love to just swiftly say no but I don't think I can stand that blank stare that people give me. Anyone else feel this way?
 
If I could I'd say no way...

If I couldn't then I'd be watching them like a hawk ready to pounce if they got near it lol...

I mean its not like its a cheap laptop is it... and would they have paid to have it repaired if it was dropped etc?
 
You evil man... Very evil!

Now my older sister, in her 20s, touch my computer? Hell no. The rest of my family? Hell no. :p lol I'm an evil man too. But they bought my sisters laptop. Not mine though. I paid for my own.
 
The OPs description of the 2 kids made me cringe! lol I cant stand when kids have food all over their face, clothes, hands, etc. YUCK! I have a 15yr old dd and I was always washing her up when she was young....just ewwwww.

But, in response to the question, there is no way in HECK I would have let those kids near my MB either! Even after they were washed up, kids just dont understand things and can easily break a computer by not even trying. If the parents wanted their kids to be entertained, they should have brought their own or gave them something else to do. Those are probably the type of people that would never pay either if something were to happen to your MB. You made the right decision.
 
I would of let them watch a movie if they were cleaned up first. I wouldn't let them touch this at all though, I spent too much money on this thing to have it ruined in seconds.
 
jabingla2810 said:
I looked down at these two kids, looking back up at me with longing eyes ...
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First of all, it's the parents' responsibility to keep their kids entertained, not yours. Secondly, the kids were probably disappointed for five minutes and then moved on to something else. This is probably bothering you more than it did them. ;)
 
A small child? No way. I can't even trust one of my office mates with my MB. I need it for work quite often, but I don't dare take it anymore. The last time I did, he kept hitting the trackpad so hard I thought he was going to break it - now the button doesn't work as well as it used to. You would think someone in their late 20s could use a computer without causing the owner worry. What's worse, he tends to throw things around the room when he's bored, so even if I ask him not to use it, with my luck he'll get in a mood start throwing stuff and the screen will get smashed. There have already been a few close calls. When I'm in the office, I could make sure no one bothers it, but I can't be in there every single minute of the day, and I just know that I would come back to find something broken.

So long story short, if I can't trust a grown co-worker, I don't think there's any way I would trust a child. Family and friends are important, but I need this machine for work, and there's no way in hell I could afford to replace it, or go through the fight trying to get the person who broke it to replace it. I have deadlines that mean my job if they're not met. Even if you aren't usign the thing for your job, I still thing you did the right thing.
 
Harmless Abuse said:
should not be put before a friend. It's not really the OP's statement here, it's everyone else's that bothers me.
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But the OP wasn't "putting it before a friend." It's not like he was diddling with his laptop while the family he was on vacation with was burning to death. They wanted to park their bored children in front of someone else's electronics so that they wouldn't have to deal with them for a while.

Regardless of the reason why he didn't want the children to be using it (though I think it's clear what that is), the real point here is that it's HIS laptop, not theirs; and he can do whatever he likes with it. For them to question HIS decision about the disposition of HIS computer is shockingly rude.

@Harmless Abuse, and all the others with the "I'll lend my stuff out to anyone who asks" attitude: I call bulls**t on you. But more importantly, if you did (for whatever reason) decide not to lend your own gadget to someone, I think you would be MIGHTILY annoyed if I (or anyone else) came along and started questioning you about it.
 
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