I was thinking about how computing has been simplified over the years. I remember when I had my mac on the desk with a tangle of cords behind it; it was always a bit of an unsightly mess! Remember when you had to physically connect to things like printers or scanners? These days, the only "computer" of the old kind we have in our house is an ancient laptop (13 years old and still very much alive) that Cindi keeps around for an old Quicken program she is not ready to part with. My work is entirely on my trusty iPad Air. I remember back when I worked at the International Center, it dawned on me that I really could do my work on my own iPad and that was that. I've not looked back since! I think I'm on my fourth iPad (and this one is my favorite); I've written my books on the iPad; my podcasts and sermons are written on them; my entire workflow is managed on them. And as for cords, well, I plug my iPad in at night to recharge it. The rest of the day it's usually with me, on my desk or by my chair in the living room or at the LPR studio or Starbucks, and there's nary a cord in sight or even thought about! The thing has GREAT battery life and so it's basically cord free. The magic keyboard (as Apple calls this thing) and the pencil share the same battery on the main device. It all amounts to an amazingly untethered work environment: in other words, freedom! No cords equals not tied down. I still see people working with laptops, and often plugged into this or that, and I shake my head a bit. Makes no sense to me why anyone would want to stick with the old way (unless, like my wife, you have the odd program you just can't bear to part with!). Viva la iPad! Leave the cords behind.
You are blessed to be in a position to work with limited connectivity as far as cords are concerned. Some of us are not that fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI am blessed, but tell me more, Pr. K. What actually would keep you tied to a desktop or laptop? Is it software investment? Something else I’m not seeing?
ReplyDeleteI am fortunate if half of my Campbell Hill congregation has Internet access. So if I want my shut-ins to be able to see or hear the service, I need to be able to burn CDs and DVDs. I can’t do that from my iPad. Heck, it’s very expensive to get a laptop or a MacBook with a built-in CD/DVD burner (Is it even possible to get a MacBook with an internal optical drive anymore?), so to even burn those CDs and DVDs, I need an external drive. That’s a cord right there. Since I don’t have an AV guy (or a producer), I have to edit those recordings myself. Since the audio and video quality on my iPad and iPhone were inadequate, I have to use a digital video camera. Neither my laptop nor my iPad have a built in microSD card reader, so I need a dongle. That’s another cord. To use those external devices takes power beyond normal device usage, so I’m plugged in when I use those things. Maybe if I’m in a different parish, I don’t need those resources; here I do.
ReplyDeleteI can write on my iPad—in fact, I frequently do—but I use an old version of Word (2003) to edit and do layout work. I don’t have CPH (ot other publishing house) resources, so I do it myself. I guess I could pay someone, but for the tens of copies I sell of my work, it’s not really worth it.
Ah. We’ve pretty much confined the publishing of the services to a FB live stream, I think. That made it fairly simple, but obviously they’d need an internet connection to watch them (they’re set to public).
ReplyDeleteFor us it is the Smart tv, sound bar, dish thing, and the dvd/vhs player. Everything is on a heavy entertainment center. The computer stuff isn't so bad. We do still have an old fashioned fax machine and only one flip phone between the two of us.
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