Working Tools 43. Back to the Mac

I’ve been pretty much full time on the Mac for more than a week now, after an extended period of iPad only / iPad first.

I have just about stopped prodding the screen with my pudgy finger.

Setup

I have a 15 inch MacBook Pro from 2017. 2.9 GHz Quad-Core i7 with 16GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. This is hooked up to an LG Ultrafine 21.5 inch monitor. On the back of the monitor are three external hard drives for backup and storage. I use a Keychron K6 bluetooth mechanical keyboard and a Logitech MX Anywhere 2s mouse. The MBP sits on the “M-Stand” by Rain Design. My microphone is a Blue Yeti on a Rode shock mount and  boom arm.

I’m shopping for a decent wrist rest for the keyboard (it’s new) and matching mat for the mouse.

The MBP sits in the middle of the desk, so that I can use the webcam when recording screencasts. At other times, I use the LG screen as my main screen. It’s easier on my ageing eyes.

First Impressions

I’m amazed how quickly I adapted to iPad workflows. Several times this week, I have found myself unsure how to make the computer work. It’s almost like I’m coming to the Mac for the first time.

The screen real estate is awesome. Everything feels so spacious. Having two screens is nice, but not game-changing for me. The laptop open, but with keyboard ignored, doesn’t appeal to my aesthetic at all. It looks messy, and every time I glance at it, I imagine the dust and debris working its way beneath those keys. (Yes, it is that keyboard.)

Speed

Working on a Mac is faster, for me. Largely because everything is open and easily reachable. Copying and pasting from one place to another is intuitive and straightforward.

Workflows

Particularly around audio and video, even at my basic level, workflows are easier to manage on the Mac. Multiple windows and superior file management are important. As an example:

Recording 1857

iPad

  • I record into Ferrite on my iPad.
  • Split the track to smaller sections
  • Share the sections one by one to Brusfri
  • From Brusfri save sections one by one to the iPad (direct to DropBox never worked)
  • Save from the iPad to Dropbox
  • Copy link and send to TJ
  • Make a backup

MBP

  • I record into GarageBand
  • Use Brusfri in GarageBand
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Copy link and send to TJ

On iPad, ominous messages came up whenever a file was being processed. I was banned from leaving the screen and had to sit, dutifully watching. On the MBP, the task runs in the background. Everything on the Mac is backed up locally and remotely, automatically.

Clumsy

I’m aware that I’m a clumsy Mac user. I was late to the Apple party and never took the time to learn the shortcuts and the most efficient ways to do things. Time to put that right.

The future

As IOS and Mac OS move closer and closer, I’m excited. Editing a podcast on Ferrite with Apple Pencil is incredible. A MacPad? An IOS desktop? No doubt, I will find compelling reasons to need both.