Living the Mobile Lifestyle
on 02.14.08, 03:06pm in gadgets • Comments (5)
Since picking up the MacBook Air, I’ve made some drastic changes to the way I use computers.
A few days ago, I asserted that ‘physical media is dead‘, but I’ve come to realize it’s much more than that. Today, I want mobility without compromise. It’s no longer how much power I can pack with me on the plane or to the coffee shop - rather, I ask myself two questions:
- How can I efficiently and ubiquitously get to my ’stuff’?
- How can I minimize what I need to have with me?
Here’s what I’ve been doing to answer those questions:
- Since physical media is dead, I’ve created disk images of the few remaining software packages that I own. I can now reinstall over wireless if I need to, or even remotely (via remote file sharing). Photoshop CS3, Mac Office 2008, Fusion, etc., all live as DMG’s on my mac in the closet. Heck, the other morning Aperture 2 was announced - I was able to download the new bits and upgrade while I was waiting for my flight. Awesome.
- And those license keys? I used to keep a text file called “keys.txt” with all my software license keys somewhere on my machine. I now keep a “note” in email, so that it’s sync’d automatically between any of my machines. It’s searchable too.
- Lighter alternatives. In addition to doing away with DVDs, CDs, etc., I’ve been looking for smaller alternatives. While Photoshop CS3 runs fine on the Air, I do basic image editing. I checked out PixelMator and instantly appreciated the 97MB install instead of 1.2gb, so I went with it. Not to mention it loads almost instantly.
If anyone has any other additional tips, I’d love to hear them.
Graeme Williams (February 15, 2008 @ 11:45 am)
For the same sorts of reasons that you mention, I keep license keys in my Google Notebook, which is always instantly accessible via an icon in my browser’s status bar.
Richard (February 15, 2008 @ 12:03 pm)
I’m in the same situation but I carry additional 120 GB portable hard drive in my bag which doesn’t require a power adapter. I have a majority of disk image files there so no need to install anything over the wireless.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WDXMS1200TN-Passport-Portable/dp/B000HZGQ9C/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1203105481&sr=1-5
JeffMc (February 15, 2008 @ 2:18 pm)
I keep my software keys in the keychain. Then this backed up to the .MAC server with sync services. When I got my Air, I sync’d with .MAC, and had all the keys local in the local keychain. No looking for files, etc, nothing in the clear. Just enter my password, and boom, there they were. (No, I did not do a migration, because I wanted to start clean)
jimmy & timmy (February 17, 2008 @ 11:08 pm)
I too used to keep an email around with ‘important stuff’ in it - then ITG implemented a ‘toss older than a year’ and threw it away.
Yeah for Google! Now I keep all my important stuff there. By which I mean, non work stuff, so if I lose important work information, we’ll have to blame ITG.
Nikki (March 24, 2008 @ 3:07 pm)
This is a nudge to publish your home office / entertainment setup. I’d love to read or view (visio/omnigraffle?) how you’re set up….