My laptop had issues, specifically a backlight issue.
The laptop was still working, but the display wasn't looking right, and I needed to get it fixed. So I took it to Garrison, the computer village in Port Harcourt, to look for someone who could repair it.
I initially thought it was going to be a simple repair. I asked around and explained the problem to some of the technicians. They checked the laptop and told me that the screen needed to be changed.
I wasn't convinced.
I asked them if the backlight issue couldn't be repaired instead of changing the entire screen. After all, if the problem was only the backlight, why replace the whole screen?
But they told me it couldn't be repaired and that changing the screen was the best option.
The next challenge was finding a screen that actually matched my Dell laptop.
It took me some time before I could find a good replacement. There were different screens available, but I didn't want to just use any screen on my laptop. I wanted something that would properly match the model and work the way it should.
Eventually, I found one that matched, and they went ahead with the replacement.
After they were done, they tested the laptop and everything seemed to be working fine.
Then they told me the price.
We bargained, and we eventually agreed on an amount.
Instead of paying with cash, I decided to ask them something.
I told them I wanted to pay in crypto and asked them to mention any cryptocurrency they were comfortable accepting.
One of them mentioned Bitcoin.
I was okay with that, but there was a catch.
He told me that if I wanted to pay with Bitcoin, I would have to pay more than the amount we had originally bargained for.
I understood why he wanted that. There are fees involved, and some people simply prefer to have a little extra when accepting crypto.
I agreed.
So I opened my wallet, entered the Bitcoin address he gave me, checked everything carefully and sent the payment.
Payment completed.
But there was something else I wanted to try.
I have always been a big fan of DigiByte, so I asked him if I could pay using DGB instead.
I even suggested that we could split the payment. I could pay part in Bitcoin and the remaining part in DigiByte.
He immediately shot it down.
"No."
He didn't even give it a second thought.
I asked him why, but he wouldn't really engage. He just shook his head and said he only wanted Bitcoin.
Period.
I didn't argue with him. At the end of the day, it was his business and he had the right to decide what he wanted to accept.
So I completed the Bitcoin payment and left with my repaired laptop.
On my way back, I felt a mixture of satisfaction and realization.
On one hand, I thought it was actually cool to see a local technician in Port Harcourt accepting cryptocurrency for an everyday hardware repair.
This wasn't some online transaction with someone sitting in another country.
I was physically standing in a computer village in Port Harcourt, getting my Dell laptop repaired, and paying the technician with Bitcoin.
That was interesting to me.
But on the other hand, the experience highlighted something else: there is still a lot of education that needs to happen in the crypto space.
To the average person on the street, "crypto" and "Bitcoin" are almost the same thing.
When you say cryptocurrency, most people immediately think about Bitcoin.
And I can't really blame them.
Bitcoin has the name, the media attention and the brand recognition. It is the first cryptocurrency most people hear about, so naturally, that is what they remember.
But there are thousands of other cryptocurrencies out there, and people don't necessarily know about them.
For example, I was trying to introduce DigiByte into a simple real-life transaction.
DigiByte can be used for fast transactions, and one of the things I like about it is how practical it can be for everyday payments.
But to him, crypto was Bitcoin.
Nothing else.
That experience made me realize that adoption isn't only about creating cryptocurrencies or building the technology.
People also need to understand what exists beyond Bitcoin.
There are different projects, different networks and different technologies solving different problems.
My laptop repair in Garrison was just a normal transaction, but it showed me something I hadn't really thought about before.
Crypto adoption can happen in places you wouldn't expect.
And sometimes, it starts with something as simple as paying a laptop technician in Bitcoin.
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