Life on a Laptop
February 13th, 2005
I was out of town for a bit recently, and had to work off a laptop as a
result. I don’t work off laptops much. I tend to prefer working off my dual
G4 with a 20″ Studio Display. I’m a little spoiled at work as well, with
a dual monitor setup and another dual G4 to work on. But I’ve actually enjoyed
working on the laptop, because the constraints make you work and think a
little differently. First of all, there’s the restrictive screen real estate.
I started adapting by finding menubar widgets to control iTunes and to give
me feedback about the system. I also learned more keyboard commands to avoid
using the trackpad for simple tasks. I also turned on hiding and magnification
on the Dock (features I typically hate on the desktop).
While the speed of my iBook is nowhere near my desktop, it handles most
tasks adequately. What it’s made me realize is that I’ve been in a rut lately
– made too comfortable my design habits and familiar work patterns. I’ve
liked having my setup shaken up a bit to remember how to be a more adaptive
creature. I struggle quite a bit with the balance between finding a comfortable
routine, and becoming uncomfortable with the oppressive familiarity of the
routine I’ve created for myself.
I lived in Chicago neighborhoods for 5 years and have probably only been
to a handful of restaurants. I eat the same things, I go to the same places,
I do the same things. The one area of my life where I’m constantly exposing
myself to new things is with my music collection. But as much as I enjoy
that, I need to start experimenting in the rest of the areas of my life.
Otherwise, the rut I’ve been in lately is going to creep into every aspect
of my life.