Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I don't know how many people this applies to, but I am actually so blessed as to have multiple computer systems that I can (if I so choose) use every day.
What I'm thinking about right now is the ways that all this stuff has changed how and what I do.
I still prefer to use a desktop when I have one available. But five years ago, I wandered between a half dozen of them and now I really only use a total of three. In part, this is because the monster machines where I spend the majority of my time have two or three screens each, at least one SSD and enough CPU cores to be responsive no matter what I'm doing. Still, I'd conservatively estimate that I spend 10 hours every day on desktop machines.
My 8.9" tablet is my goes-everywhere-I-do buddy. It's instant-on. I can look at Google Docs (all my systems sync MS Office documents to Google docs) or any of eight email accounts; I have a serviceable VPN and RDP connection to many of the places I might need one, can stream video from home with Plex and most importantly, it's the tool I use for reading ebooks.
My notebook is suffering from tablet encroachment. It's about as nice as notebooks get, but I primarily use it only in training sessions or at customer sites. It's weird to me, but there are weekends where I barely turn it on. I have a dock for it in my office, but so far I've resisted making it my full time work computer, mostly because doing so would mean giving up a monitor. Hilariously, a couple weeks ago I found that it was most useful as a backup to my PHONE, since its long battery life outlasted my Evo and Google Voice means I can make a call from Gmail as well as Sprint. The swiss army knife of functionality means that there are times when it's unbelievably helpful to pull up a VM or pull some data off an iffy drive, but around half the stuff I might've done on one three years ago is now happening on my larger tablet.
My 10" tablet sits on my desk in its dock, usually with Google Calendar, a Skype session (since I'm too lazy to run the Windows client) and the management app for my phone system running (ditto on the lazy). That crap just sits there and stays logged in to those few services. I don't really need the 10" tablet, but I find something to do with it several times a day.
My phone is two years old. I make about 20 minutes of actual calls a month and lately the only things I use it for are listening to music while I walk, reading emails, taking quick photos or pointless web browsing while waiting for food or in a line at a restaurant. My phone feels kind of tiny and pointless, except for the part where it makes calls and gets internet service everywhere. None of the other tablets I have can really do that. I roll my eyes at having to be married to the stupid thing, but then a few days later, I really, REALLY need to check something on Amazon.com while I'm in a National Park and then I don't feel so bad about having it.
You guys who have multiple devices, how are you seeing the breakdown between your available hardware?
What I'm thinking about right now is the ways that all this stuff has changed how and what I do.
I still prefer to use a desktop when I have one available. But five years ago, I wandered between a half dozen of them and now I really only use a total of three. In part, this is because the monster machines where I spend the majority of my time have two or three screens each, at least one SSD and enough CPU cores to be responsive no matter what I'm doing. Still, I'd conservatively estimate that I spend 10 hours every day on desktop machines.
My 8.9" tablet is my goes-everywhere-I-do buddy. It's instant-on. I can look at Google Docs (all my systems sync MS Office documents to Google docs) or any of eight email accounts; I have a serviceable VPN and RDP connection to many of the places I might need one, can stream video from home with Plex and most importantly, it's the tool I use for reading ebooks.
My notebook is suffering from tablet encroachment. It's about as nice as notebooks get, but I primarily use it only in training sessions or at customer sites. It's weird to me, but there are weekends where I barely turn it on. I have a dock for it in my office, but so far I've resisted making it my full time work computer, mostly because doing so would mean giving up a monitor. Hilariously, a couple weeks ago I found that it was most useful as a backup to my PHONE, since its long battery life outlasted my Evo and Google Voice means I can make a call from Gmail as well as Sprint. The swiss army knife of functionality means that there are times when it's unbelievably helpful to pull up a VM or pull some data off an iffy drive, but around half the stuff I might've done on one three years ago is now happening on my larger tablet.
My 10" tablet sits on my desk in its dock, usually with Google Calendar, a Skype session (since I'm too lazy to run the Windows client) and the management app for my phone system running (ditto on the lazy). That crap just sits there and stays logged in to those few services. I don't really need the 10" tablet, but I find something to do with it several times a day.
My phone is two years old. I make about 20 minutes of actual calls a month and lately the only things I use it for are listening to music while I walk, reading emails, taking quick photos or pointless web browsing while waiting for food or in a line at a restaurant. My phone feels kind of tiny and pointless, except for the part where it makes calls and gets internet service everywhere. None of the other tablets I have can really do that. I roll my eyes at having to be married to the stupid thing, but then a few days later, I really, REALLY need to check something on Amazon.com while I'm in a National Park and then I don't feel so bad about having it.
You guys who have multiple devices, how are you seeing the breakdown between your available hardware?
