KW1201 – Less Is More

Nov 24

Less. It’s often been said that less is more. For those of us who lean towards a more technology-inspired lifestyle it can often be challenging not to try out the next new thing. One more app, one more device, one more Linux distro. But maybe, just maybe, sometimes we’re better off seeing what we can accomplish with what we have, and maybe churning out a bit more stuff with a bit less gear.

Credits

Episode produced by Keith Murray
Home screen picture courtesy of MaxPixel

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“My Lappie”

Nov 20

There used to be a time when Laptops were a rarity. Just once in a while you would see a businessman or a corporate rep logging around a massive black box with an LCD screen, doing something incredibly boring like Lotus 123 (The forefather of Excel) on a (then) very exiting piece of technology.

Those days are over. If your youngest forgets his laptop before he goes in for another shift at kindergarten, you might as well swing your Uber around to go get it before he has a major emotional breakdown. The chance that a technologically savvy individual like you has just “one” laptop is even small. You probably have multiple machines lying around the house, the choice of which machine you are going to take along with you mostly triggered whether or not it matches the color of your shoes.

I am no different in that effect. Having multiple devices lying around the house I am sometimes torn between what to take out the door with me. Like women desperately deciding what outfit/shoes to wear to a party. Same goes for me, as I didn’t know if I should pick my Dell XPS13 or my MacBook this morning. After going back and forth a little I picked one but not after using precious minutes only recovered by running like a madman to get my train..

This “having to choose” is of course a first world problem and I am ashamed to even remotely complain about the luxury of choice, but I was reminded of one of the books I read by Cory Doctorow a while back called “Pirate Cinema”. The book, a novelized manifesto about the freedom to create and remix digital content revolves around a teenager who runs away from home to live out on the streets where he works on his great passion: Remixing old indie movies on his laptop, or “his lappie” as he affectionately refers to it.

This very intimate relationship between the boy and his most coveted piece of hardware is inspiring. It is the one machine he carries around with him and the very focal-point of his creative efforts. Reading that took me back to the days I got my very first Mac computer; A 12inch G4 iBook that can only be defined as the stomping ground for my creative ventures into blogging and podcasting. I carried that thing around with my anywhere. Although the laptop is long gone (heartlessly sold off go hark up cash for it’s successor) I still have the little backpack I bought for it and I refuse to give that one to charity.

The simplicity of having “just one device” is not that bad. Sliding across operating system, across multiple devices and multiple platforms is all great and exiting, but a lot of times I have found myself caught out with ‘just the wrong device’. The other “habit” I used to have is to leave my most expensive laptop (my MacBook) at home, in fear of it being damaged or stolen along the way, and picking a lighter, cheaper machine to go out with. When I think of it its pretty bizarre behavior .. no ? Much like buying an expensive sofa and then sitting on the floor because you don’t want to ruin it.

So this week, in light of my recent fascination with “the art of less” I have scooped up my MacBook Pro and shoved it into my messenger bag. Instead of using two or three laptops , I’ll just use ONE. I have not found an affectionate name for it as yet , but it WILL become the pinnacle of my professional and creative out-spurts. I vouch never to be caught out again with a device that “isn’t quite right, or does not sport “all’ the apps I need to / want to use.

So how about you ? Are you a digital Tarzan swinging from device to device ? Do you have a hard time picking just the right tool for the right job ? Or do you just have ONE machine and stick with it ? Tell us ! We are dying to find out

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