Macsparky: Laptop-less

I don’t know about @macsparky, but my iMac and the Mac mini I have on my desk at work are still getting plenty of use. It’s really only my mobile computing that’s moving over to the iPad.

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I would agree with Chris. I’m seriously considering a desktop for my next purchase. The iPad will be able to do what I need when mobile.

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I’ve got an aging 13” MacBook Air that I use as my “desktop” but my reality is that I mostly use my 9.7” iPad Pro. I do web development on it and write and edit podcasts and videos and do some minor graphic design. I’m one of the people that helps build the stuff behind The Sweet Setup site, and I do that from the iPad Pro.

I find that the iOS windowing model and lack of running so many applications overlapping means I’m so much more productive. Mainly because I can’t have other distractions around to pull me away from the work I should be doing.

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My main devices are a 2017 up-specc’ed 27 inch iMac, a 9.7 iPad Pro, and an iPhone 8+ (plus some kind of windows machine at my office). I had an 11-inch MacBook Air that I used when I travelled, but I got rid of it since I was not using it. Turned out that the iPad Pro, plus cloud services, plus an upgraded MicroSoft Office software for iOS did everything I needed. I have to say, going from care and feeding of 4 Apple devices down to 3 really made life easier.

On the presentation issue, I teach an advanced law school class in the spring, and give each lecture via my iPad. I make PowerPoint slide decks on my iMac or windows computer, store them in OneDrive, and access them on my iPad. The classrooms at the law school have projectors on the ceiling that I can access via an HDMI cable. I just open the PPT presentation, fire up the projector, and plug it into the iPad using an HDMI adaptor. Presto, the presentation is on the screen. I change slides using a Satechi remote with built in laser pointer. I can even make real-time markings in colors onto the PPT slides using the Apple Pencil! Quite fun, actually!

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Curtis, what apps do you use? I’ve started working with LumaFusion for videos. And I’ve downloaded ferrite. ( I need to purchase the Pro upgrade)

I’ve got a post coming on The Sweet Setup for my coding workflow so watch for that.

I’m using LumaFusion and Ferrite for audio and video recording.

The little bit of design I do is done in Canva, which is really quite good.

Use Pixelmator for other photo stuff.

Ulysses and Scrivener for writing.

Spark for email.

Trello for collaborative project management and I use a paper notebook for my personal task system. I talked about that on The Productivity Show a while ago.

I’ll be writing more about my setup (have a post on the ergonomics of it coming maybe this week). My site is curtismchale.ca (hope we’re allowed to link like that).

Are there any specific questions @pmconaway

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I’ve given a few presentations off my iPad because I like using my phone as remote to see what’s next. I make sure to carry both adapters, Lightning to HDMI and Lightning to VGA, and so far I haven’t had anything go wrong. The only issue I’m running into currently is that I like to use custom fonts but that seems solvable.

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I am going to make the switch. I do most of my work on my iPad. It is attached to a Logitech keyboard. I have been nursing along my 2011 Retina MacBook Pro. Waited for the new MacBook Pro but with all the problems i think i may shift to the Mac Mini - when it comes out- for home and buy a new iPad

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Have you tried AnyFont?

Anyone use Screens app? How is it working?

I haven’t. I have some time, so I will.

Maybe I have too many computers, but I use them all. I tote my iPad Pro around a lot when I don’t want to haul the MacBook Pro, but since I podcast all my class lectures the MacBook Pro just works better (for me) for that. My iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and iMac all have their place and roles in my workflow. (Go ahead Apple, drool.). The iMac is essential for lecture, course document production, data analysis, and manuscript writing because of the larger workspace relative to the laptop. Yes, I could just plug the MacBook Pro into a large screen, but the quality of the iMac display is just addictive.

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@curtismchale no specific questions at the moment. I’m always curious about what other use to create for the web. I was watching a Youtube video about creating your online course and the videocast talked about Canva. That was the first I have heard of the software/service. I will definitely look forward to your post on ergonomics. I’m listening to the Productivity Show. I don’t recall listening to your episode yet. I’m about a month behind on my queue and I might have started listening to the podcast after your episode. I’m still looking at what system works best for me. :slight_smile:

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@Wolfie - Very well said. I would add don’t be afraid if your gut changes overtime. What works best for you will change over time.

@jeffreycox150, are you referring to the remote desktop screens app? I’ve been using it on my iPad for awhile. I haven’t tried the Mac version as I’m using Remote Desktop on the mac. Do you have any specific questions?

Paul

Here is that post on my ergonomic iPad work station.

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Curtis, your ergonomic iPad workstation post gave me some ideas. It was easy to read. Thanks.

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Yup. 2010 iMac in my home office, but an iPad Pro 10.5 accounts for most of my day to day computing both at home and everywhere else I work. I’m a writer, creative consultant and educator, so the set-up suits me perfectly. The iMac is now starting to get a little more attention for experiments with generative text and machine learning. My primary computer used to be a MacBook Air, but I packed that away soon after I got comfortable with iOS 11.

I recently picked up a cheap iPad Mini 2 for moments when it’s useful to have something smaller than a 10.5" iPad to work with— meetings, seminars and presentations, mostly. For presentations, I use an EzCast HDMI wireless dongle that plugs directly into a projector and mirrors my iPad screen. That also allows me to use the iPad as a smart whiteboard (using any drawing app; my preference is Concepts), as inspired by Shantell Martin’s 2013 PopTech talk. The Mini 2 is comfortably running iOS12 pb8 with no complaints.

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