After some technological changes at the day job, I can no longer access a lot of important things via my iPad (this, as I’m sure many of you will relate to, is a blessing and a curse). So I took a company laptop. After working on the iPad for over six months, how is that working out for me?

The company’s standard build laptop is a 13" MacBook Pro. Which is basically what I’d buy for myself if I were in the market for a laptop. So far then, so good.

First off, I hate the new MacBook keyboard. It’s horrible! Keyboard feel, like so many things, is subjective. But I’ve grown used to the iPad folio keyboard, and I rather like it now. It’s a little 1980s Sinclair Spectrum, but requires little actuation force. It’s nice for extended typing sessions.

Secondly, I keep pressing the screen, or rather trying to press the screen, to do almost everything. It’s amazing how quickly that engram has built in me!

Lastly, I’ve found that going back to a screen which can have many things on it at once is not necessarily a good thing. The [mostly] singular app focus of the iPad has grown to be good for me. Mindfulness, if you like.

I’ve continued to find myself using the iPad for most of my working day; and here’s part of the blessing element of having a separate device for work communications — I’m reading email at intervals I choose, rather than being interrupted by a notification. Sometimes I only read mail once a day. And oh my, what a difference that has made to my productivity! I’ve always thought email was a productivity crusher, but never really believed that thought. Now I know it.

With the new app discoveries mentioned in the updated iPad post I really am finding I don’t need a laptop any more. In fact, I’ve grown to prefer working on the iPad. That’s a bonus I wasn’t expecting with taking the company laptop.