Keep a Dedicated Guest Computer for Your Guests
After upgrading my laptop, I felt terrible for months about not selling the old one yet. He remained idle for months, until one day a friend came up to work on a writing project. He didn’t bring his own computer, so I turned on the spare laptop, shedding my guilt. This spare computer has now become a dedicated guest computer.
Many of us have an old “backup” laptop. The guest computer is just a more useful version of this, logging out of most of your personal accounts so that friends can easily access theirs. A guest computer is useful when a friend comes by, but even better when guests are staying with you.
On shorter trips, a lighter packer can weigh on the laptop. It also adds mental stress, job assignment, or other obligations. It’s a recognition that smartphones can’t do everything even on weekends. Free your guests: Before they leave home, let them know you have a laptop that they can borrow. If they can set up Remote Desktop or sign in to Dropbox, they’ll even have access to their files. They don’t need to worry about you logging out as if they borrowed your “real” computer.
If you don’t have a spare computer, buy someone else’s. A used laptop on eBay can be as low as $ 99, a used Macbook Air under $ 300. For most guests, any computer that can run web applications will work. It’s still much better than squinting at your phones or lugging your computer through airport security. And you never have to read your Wi-Fi password again.