Thorborg now has an iPad
My iPad has got me thinking about how I want to work and live with several different devices. I can already see a place for it on the sofa and on holiday. But the big challenge is getting email, calendars and files to work together on my iPhone, my iPad and my Lenovo laptop.
I’m back after ten days in Denmark. When I’m there, the videos often go quiet. That’s not about Denmark itself, but about having so much to do, staying with my in-laws and having lots of people pulling at me. When I’m stressed and out of my usual surroundings, it’s hard to find the inspiration to make something for you.
My iPad needs to find its place
I got my iPad yesterday. An iPad 3G with 64 GB, the biggest beast in the range, and I’ve now played with it yesterday, last night and again this morning. So these are my first impressions here in May 2010.
Before I got it, I was very unsure what place it would have in my life. Whether it would have a place at all. But I can certainly see several things it’s fantastic for.
I can easily imagine going on holiday with just this and my smartphone. I can answer a few emails, check the weather forecast, browse the web and handle the little things I need along the way.
It’s also brilliant for sitting in the living room browsing a bit or reading a book. There are already some fantastic games. I can see it becoming a cosy little thing you use on the sofa or to read by the fire. Or a handy travel computer.
I still want a computer for work
That doesn’t mean I can see it taking over everything I do on my laptop. I wouldn’t use it to write a new E-pusher. I can answer emails, but that’s different from sitting down to write longer material.
Nor can I see it being my tool for making screencasts, working with images or producing video material. Even though I can get an extra keyboard for it, I think the screen is too small for that kind of work.
So when people ask whether it’s the smartphone or the PC that goes, I think: Every device has its advantages and disadvantages. The new thing doesn’t have to replace everything else. It can fit in where there’s a need.
Different devices for different situations
It reminds me of something I wrote about ten years ago for a ministry. I can’t remember whether it was the Ministry of Science or the Ministry of Education. My thoughts about the future were that we’d have lots of different devices for different situations.
In the bath, the computer would need to be waterproof. When you were repairing your car, it would need to cope with dirt. When you were sitting in bed, it would need to suit that situation. I still think that’s where we’re heading.
I imagine an ordinary laptop with a decent keyboard for work, perhaps travelling between the office and home. Alongside it, you have a tablet for the sofa, holidays or perhaps the bath, in a protective case so it can handle that.
So when I say iPad, I also mean the concept of a tablet like this. I don’t mean it necessarily always has to be Apple’s product. I expect other excellent versions too. In the video, I mention Lenovo, among others, and the possibility of something from HP following its purchase of Palm.
As I’ve said before, I think the hardware itself will become less decisive. The software and distribution model will become more interesting.
How do I bring email, calendars and files together?
That brings me to my own dilemma. I’d like a nomadic life with my iPhone, my iPad and my Lenovo laptop. But then my stuff needs to be available on all of them. My current Outlook setup doesn’t seem to be the answer.
You may immediately think: Use Gmail. That may well be the way I should go. But I’d like to hear how you’d approach it.
Dropbox might be the solution for my files. I could put Word documents, Excel files and other things in the Dropbox folder so they’d automatically be available in several places. For pictures, I’m thinking of something like Picasa. But I don’t know exactly how the whole package should fit together.
How would you organise calendars, files and email so you could use them across all the platforms? If I reply to an email on my iPhone, I also want to see it in the sent folder on my iPad and on the PC.
Is Gmail and some of the other packages the answer? And would that tie me too closely to Google? Those are some of the questions I’m facing. It’s a bloody hassle, and the future we’re heading towards is bloody exciting.
My old emails need to come with me
I also have an email archive of around 15 GB that I don’t want to do without. I’ve been doing this for many years, and I still want to be able to search old emails and find out who I corresponded with about what. That’s important to me.
Can an archive like that be imported into Gmail so I can still search it? Or is there another way? I want access to my stuff on every device, preferably even on a plane.
I have some ideas, but I’m unsure which route to choose. So give me your suggestions: What software should I use to be a virtual nomad who can access his stuff everywhere and tie the whole bloody lot together?
Best wishes, Martin
Location:E Plaza Real,Boca Raton,USA
Jeg er enig – købte selv en for 14 dage siden i New York.
Bruger den rigtig meget i stuen / soveværelset, til at browse, maile, spille og især leje film på
itunes store. Og så har jeg også planer om at bruge den til kunde præsentationer, så man kan
sidde med layoutet i "hånden". Men jeg ville aldrig bruge den til at skrive lange dokumenter eller
lave grafisk arbejde.
/’Mathias