I recently ran into these two charming websites. The premise is simple: let’s display and celebrate the way people personalize their laptop lids with stickers! This is something I myself have done to my (personal) computers since as long as I remember. Not only that, but I tend to mark my Magic the Gathering deck boxes the same way. And even though some might call it “childish”, I find it an outlet of self expression and interest.

But there is maybe a bit more going on here. Some unordered thoughts follow:

• You probably do this for a personal machine, not one from your workplace. Even though for some organizations and cultures it might be acceptable (e.g. startups) and even bring some flare points. This point is very organization dependant.
• Many of the examples in the sites I found are very political. Therefore in the best of cases they are good conversation starters, or in the worst of them put a strong side on yourself. This is not bad. But be ready for those conversations and awkward moments.
• I would bet a good portion of those adding stickers also have programming and technical references (I have git in mine). This sort of self-selects too, and even puts you in a certain group of devops/IT/developers. From a cybersecurity standpoint, you are forfeiting privacy by obscurity e.g. when going to a cafe.
• Once you decommission your machine, whatever you added will be “gone”. Some mayor laptop brands and models (e.g. Macs) sell semi-transparent plastic lids. With those you could keep those stickers with you.
• In a sense, adding these was for me a statement that these laptops are just machine. They are not pristine objects. They are there to be used and abused. Will end up in a scrapyard anyways, so might as well add some personality to them.

What does your laptop look like? Happy if you share!