Watts Martin has penned an interesting take on people, like me, who are using iOS as their primary computer. I was reluctant to read this, since I respect Martin a great deal, but I think his post is a common sentiment of the anti-iOS-is-better-at-all-the-things crowd. I do think there is confusion here, though.
A common statement by iOS is amazing people: “Some things are a little harder or slower, but it’s fun figuring that out.”
The title of this post is an understatement. One of my favorite places to shop right now is Walgreens. Why? Because they have somehow managed to unfuck the current payment system.
I can not only use Apple Pay quickly and easily, but my loyalty card is setup to work with Apple Pay too. Walk in, use my watch for the loyalty card and payment, and walk out.
I’ve seen these things take forever (Apple Pay fails a lot even at the Apple Store) but at Walgreens, for whatever reason, the shit is magically fast. That’s how it should be, and frankly it makes me prefer shopping there because of it. Office Depot is the worst by far — what a stupid set of systems we have right now.
I’ve talked a bit about how I am using each of my devices, and why I went ahead and got a second iPad Pro. Now I want to talk more specifically about how I am accomplishing some of the key tasks that could end up being stumbling blocks for many people.
Om Malik:
Yahoo is a perfect illustration of how large Internet companies die—by fading into irrelevance. A healthy Internet service possesses three qualities: it encourages habit formation; it appeals to a younger demographic, which can age alongside it; and it displays evidence of growth.
The launch of the Razer Mechanical keyboard brings about what will likely be among the first of many accessories which are seeking to make the iPad a better desktop computer — something that is likely to seem comical for many. The validity of using the iPad as a desktop computer notwithstanding, as a full time iPad Pro user I am finding the ways you can use the iPad on a desk to be challenging to say the least.
Life on the road with just a GR2? Yes please.
Jason Snell:
If you want to turn your iPad into a nearly four-pound black laptop with mechanical keyswitches, this is the product for you.
LOL
When I posted my initial Traveling Light post on socks, I mentioned how I don’t wear anything special for style considerations. There is, however, one caveat: athletic socks, or more specifically the ankle socks I wear with shorts and sneakers.
I picked up two different kinds to try over my recent family vacation, and I am a little blown away at how great they are. (I would have bought them sooner, but I so rarely wear these, I never got around to it.) I picked up Icebreakers and Darn Tough socks, both are heavily Merino wool based.
I mentioned in my initial posts that I would be following up to post about shorts and short-sleeved shirts. This is that post. I tried out the Outlier New Ways, and the Ministry of Supply Apollo Polo shirts. Both are outstanding.
Manton Reece on the troubles of working from home during the summer:
I’d add to his list: you might have kids at home who open your office door whenever they want. My home office is currently shared with anyone who wants to use the extra iMac or printer, and the kids often need rides to appointments, camps, and friends. For me, summer is the most important time to get a more formal schedule.
So true.
Everything about this passage is a big yep in my book:
A quick poll of my fellow Basecampers revealed that having no commute is their favourite thing about working from home, and the biggest block against considering coworking. I’m lucky in that the space I ran was down one flight of stairs from our apartment (which brought its own problems!), and any new shared office would be a short bike ride away. But, for me, an office door is enough separation between my work and life, and I’d rather spend my journey time walking the dog. Did I mention I have a dog?”
The moment I have to get in a car to do work, is the moment that working remotely is of less value to me. I have done long commutes to an office, and short 5-10min commutes to a shared workspace, and I loathed every moment I had to be in a car, no matter how short the drive was.
Long known things restated again:
The solution is to give up on multitasking and set aside dedicated chunks of time for each separate activity. So only check your email first thing in the morning and again at midday, or set aside 10 minutes per afternoon for Twitter.
While reading the article I kept saying to myself: “this is why I like iOS better”. I know many people like to argue that I could make OS X, pardon me macOS, more like iOS — but that’s a poor substitute for the real thing.
Manton Reece with a great line:
Companies aren’t exactly designed to fail. But that is their default outcome.
I did something similar during November when wrote over 50,000 words. It was hugely beneficial and something I am trying to start again as my writing time has become more of a back burner task of late.
Editor’s note: this bag was provided to me for review purposes, and is a pre-production unit.
Cavernous, that’s the word I would use to describe this travel backpack and shoulder bag. To give you a better sense of what I mean, I had to triple the amount of clothing I would normally pack for my trip, in order to make the bag feel somewhat full and to keep my stuff from sloshing around the bag.
Even with all that extra clothing, there was plenty of room to spare. I typically don’t open with thoughts on the size of a bag, but that’s the most striking part of this bag. It’s big. It doesn’t feel big on my back, or even heavy, but it looks big and packs even bigger.
Interesting post about the process of going from a take everything to a take very little traveler. I will say, he still packs a lot of stuff. But the fact he fits it all in the Aeronaut 45 is really impressive to me.
Ben Bajarin:
For years I had been writing about the need for better predictive intelligence in our software. It seems ridiculous that my smartphone does not know more about my context and take relevant actions on my behalf. If I’m in a meeting, send all calls to VM or send a text message. If I’m running late to a meeting, offer to send an email or text to those I’m meeting with to let them know I’m running late and an ETA of when I’ll be there (since it knows where I am on the road, the traffic situation, and my time to destination). Our smartphones are really not that smart when it comes to the intelligence equation. That is about to change.
There used to be endless posts online on how to best work with two Macs — how to keep things in sync between a desktop and a laptop — and all the other messes that technology had yet to solve. I was right there with everyone, trying to divvy the work between two computers. In a way, having two iPads reopens this same discussion.
Though, I must say, things have changed considerably for the better.
I purchased the 9.7″ iPad Pro to be a couch computer and note taking machine, but also to be something I could easily take with me on short trips, or to the coffee shop. Which means I needed a keyboard for it, and given how much I love the Smart Keyboard Cover on the larger iPad Pro, it was an easy decision for me to buy it on the smaller iPad Pro as well.
I’ve now spent some time using it and I find myself missing the larger keyboard with every keystroke.
User MooReview:
Given that there was no exhaustive guide on nail clippers and thesweethome’s top pick recommends the nickle-plated Muji’s (good but not great) and the awful tweezerman barrel spring nail nipper, we thought we would get snipping to see if we could find something better.
This is how you spend a Friday night. And to save you time, here’s their best all arounder (my affiliate link, as they provided no links).
Also, the BuyItForLife subreddit is one of my favorites.