So, thanks to my father’s generocity, this week I was paid—in the form of a new computer—for what would have been a pro-bono web site for one my family’s many enterprises. And it actually turned out to be more exciting than I thought. A computer is just a computer, right? We all have to upgrade, but it’s basically the same thing. But every once in a while, something comes along that changes the way I work and reminds me of the value of proper tools.
In this case, I was upgrading from a PowerMac G5, a big hunky desktop machine. I don’t know why I thought I’d need all of those card slots or hard drive bays. Maybe I just bought it as a doorstop for my ego. Anyway, over the years I only ever added RAM to it. So when choosing a new machine, the number of card slots didn’t enter into it. The decision really came down to portability vs. screen real estate, and even though my life is in mobile turmoil right now, I opted for screen real estate.
Four days with the new machine and I’m utterly convinced I’ve made the right choice. I bought a 24” iMac, and I now have a luxurious 7.1 megapixel LCD landscape in front of me. It feels like my productivity has doubled. It’s similar to the way I felt when Exposé came out. The main screen is 1920x1200, and I think that makes the biggest difference for me. But the secondary screen (my old 20” LCD) is also indispensable, because I can now give my e-mail, IM, and a full calendar the space they deserve.
That’s the thing: More space really changes the way I work. For example, if I keep iCal open on my secondary screen, it becomes the virtual equivalent of tacking a calendar to the wall. That is very, very valuable. It means that I can rely on iCal because I don’t have to find and open it each time I want to add to it. It means that I can actually use iCal now. Because I can just glance at it. I can rely on iCal always being there. So the secondary screen becomes the screen at which I glance while I’m working on other things. It’s the screen of passive interruption—the communication center. I can be interrupted, but without the real work around. Psychologically, even with the ease Exposé, that makes a big difference to me. It’s counterintuitive, but more space seems to allow me to focus better.
My secondary screen is the virtual cork board above my virtual desk, and I think that over the next couple years, as the desktop metaphor finally dies out, its replacement will have to have this functionality in some form.
Anyway, I’m grateful to have this new machine and the productivity boost that comes with it. (thanks, Dad!)
Comments
Sep 4 02007 5.27p
#
Andy Reitz
Hey Carl,
Congrats on the new machine. Did you go for one of the new Aluminium 24” iMacs, or the older plastic model?
Personally, I also just bought a 24” iMac - but the glossy display on the new Aluminum ones bothers me, so I went with a refurb of the older model. I’d be curious to hear which way you went.
But I agree about the high-resolution display, it’s awesome! I’m still not sold on dual-head, but lots of people swear by it, so maybe I’ll give it another shot somewhere down the road.
-Andy.
Sep 4 02007 6.25p
Carl #
hey Andy,
I went with the aluminum and glass. I was also turned off by the glossy display, but I have really come around to it. If your workspace is relatively dark, this display gives true colors and some incredibly crisp, dark blacks. It may not be obvious in the Apple Store, but when I look at it side by side with my matte LCD, the difference in color rendition is stunning. I used to think that looking at photographic slides on a light box—through a nice loupe—was the best way to really see the colors of an image. But this new display totally beats the loupe. My photographs have never looked better. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that iPhoto’s new Events arrangement feels much more emotional to me, like I’m seeing my life flash before my eyes.
My only complaint about this display is that it’s perhaps a little too bright sometimes! You don’t always want the brightness of a 24” television glaring at you all day…
Carl