WilyKit: The MacBook That Became Wall Art

Computers get old and die just like us. Parts fail. They become obsolete. You drop them a few too many times. It happens to the best of us. And while there are many ways to dispose of your computer - like donation and recycling - it can sometimes feel like letting go of a friend. I felt that way about WilyKit, so I turned it into wall art. 🙂

After 8 years of service, my 2013 MacBook Air finally died last year. Simple hard drive failure, totally fixable for a hundred bucks. But I needed a more powerful computer to help with my work, so I just bought a new one instead.

I had always planned on keeping the lid somehow, no matter how many times its dinged-up edges caught onto my bags, my clothes, and even my skin when they were feeling extra bloodthirsty. It was just so full of memories! I took that laptop around the world, wrote stories with it, learned to code on it, dropped it on its corners until it wouldn’t shut right, and stickered it full with the signposts of my youth. This was my companion, and I couldn’t just give it away.

WilyKit, the worldly MacBook Air

Finally, after a year of busyness, I performed the surgery. Removing the upper display was quite easy, but after that I was on my own. Though most of the remaining work boiled down to peeling away the layers, the screen material can get pretty nasty when it cracks! I probably should have worn long sleeves, goggles, and a mask to be extra careful with the ’exploding’ glass particles, but it was manageable. Gloves helped a lot. What would’ve helped more is if I hadn’t cracked the glass… but it was a fun project overall.

Bit by bit, I removed the bezel, many layers of screen, the hinge, and copious amounts of adhesive tape used to keep it all together… and voilà! An aluminum memory, all my own.

This computer had a life. And a death. Her name was WilyKit, and she can live on my wall forever.