
Mobile? Who Are We Kidding? - wiljr
http://andersonjr.com/2014/02/09/mobile-who-are-we-kidding/
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potatolicious
Where I work everyone gets a desktop in the office and a laptop to keep at
home. I can literally throw on a jacket and go to work - no bags, not even
anything in my pockets.

It's glorious. I've done the whole "schlepping the laptop everywhere" thing
before. It sucks, the author is right. It's not just the weight, it's the
unplugging, plugging in, oh-no-the-monitor-didnt-quite-detect-right bullshit
dance.

Where is the fulfillment of the cloud dream? I can leave the office, come
home, open my work laptop, and pick up right where I left off. This is the
promise of the cloud, but very few people seem to be able to enjoy it.

~~~
e12e
Hm, now that we have wireless charging actually marketed as a product (for
mobiles and tablets anyway, I assume a "full" laptop might still be tricky?
Maybe not if the goal is simply to not use the battery while docket (rather
than charging it)?) -- we should be able to do usb1.1+ speeds via some kind of
NFC interface -- and hdmi is possible to wirelessly -- so how long before we
get docking basins/plates rather than docking stations? Two years?

~~~
potatolicious
IMO docking stations are the "faster horse". We could've used better docks a
few years ago, but now the idea seems silly for most use cases. Why carry
around a big ol' laptop when your data is available everywhere, is largely
device-agnostic, on-demand? You don't need to carry around an email or
spreadsheet or word processing machine - _everything_ is an email,
spreadsheet, word processing machine. You don't need to carry a device that
contains your work, because your work accessible from anywhere.

If you're particularly security-conscious, great, throw everything up in a VPN
(as everyone _already_ does now) and issue company hardware if you must. At
the end of the day having multiple bits of hardware for different contexts not
only makes working easier, it also prevents you from having a bunch of
hardware floating around on buses, trains, and airplanes containing your
sensitive data. Not only that, you're dramatically reducing your odds of data
loss.

There are real road-warrior types who will need actual "full" laptops, but the
vast majority of people hauling big laptops to and from work everyday really
just need a machine for work, and a machine for home, and nothing in between.

~~~
e12e
I partially agree with most of your point -- at the same thime I like the idea
of using some trusted hardware as the "heart" of my computing experience. I
might store various encrypted data in the cloud, but my decryption keys and
password need to stay on a device that is "mine". Maybe a laptop, maybe a
smartphone. They both need some external input/output for some workloads - a
24"\+ screen (or two) - a proper keyboard - maybe a proper mouse. And both
needs charging.

While it is certainly is possible (easy even) to tap the i/o points (screens
less so than a keyboard) -- rationaly or irrationaly -- I think
dockingstations in some form wil serve a function for some time.

But yes, this is more of a "true roadwarrior" problem than a general problem.
A business can probably afford to keep two pcs per employee - I can't. And I
do occationally work on trains or airplanes.

------
alexandros
If carrying bags of stuff is not really a problem, then as things get smaller,
we carry more of them.

What do I carry? Laptop, paper notebook, my lovely noise cancellng headphones,
a charger, an external battery for my phone, a usb charger, some bits of
paper. Some times I add a tablet or kindle to the mix. Other times a raspberry
pi or other embedded device.

I obviously prioritise having enough tools with me to work anywhere I like
with maximum comfort.

Its all a matter of priorities.

------
Synergyse
In most corporations you can't use your home computer to connect to your work
VPN or other resources, this is mainly a security issue. Your work IT
department has no control over the security of your home systems.

------
marcusr
My home computer is my work computer, and vice versa. I work from home several
days per week, but I'm out consulting for the rest, so my laptop is usually
always with me. I've thought about taking just an iPad but I like having the
ability to catch up on some iOS programming during quiet periods.

The biggest reduction in what I travel around with has been to leave old PSUs
at places I visit regularly to save me carrying them with me.

------
mil3s
I ran a 30 day experiment only using my 8" tablet when I was not at work or
home. I eventually added a small 9" bluetooth keyboard and 90 days later I
feel really anchored down if I carry anything in addition to my tablet.

I use a terminal emulator to log into my VPS where I do most of my work. I
have had to simplify my work flow but I do not miss the bulk one bit.

As technology changes, I want to be part of the first adapters, I don't see
myself being able to take advantage of the cutting edge when I am unable to
let go of current and fading solutions.

Of course this is not going to be the best approach for everyone, I find it
exciting.

------
thatthatis
I have no idea what this guy is talking about, I'm more moble with better
power and access to my data now than when I was in college and never more than
100 feet from a unix terminal.

I have two carry modes: with laptop and without.

In both modes I have a 8" tablet (my note taking device), my phone, and a dot
grid notebook for the times when I feel like sketching on paper. Two pens, a
pencil, two or three chargers (iPhone, miniusb, laptop).

That's it though. I no longer cary magazines or books or multiple notebooks or
paper slides.

The weight of my backpack is half what it used, and that's with a 17" laptop.
When I am not carrying my laptop my backpack is so light that i feel uneasy, a
veritable Jerry Seinfeld "too light moment" like I forgot or lost something.

Furthermore, even though I often carry my entire 2tb of personal/work files on
my person I never worry about loosing my computer or the drives getting
damaged because my carbonite/backblaze system is constantly backing up
everything with redundancy of github + server for my working files.

~~~
Zigurd
Google Goggles has a high-contrast mode for taking pictures of documents.
Works great for sketches on paper and for taking pictures of whiteboards. I
could never get those digitizing notebooks to work for me.

------
moskie
Very much on board with this post's perspective.

I've been very appreciative of the setup we have at my office, with our
development machines being remotely accessible via RDP (through a company
VPN). RDP isn't perfect, and it's not something I'd like to do full time, but
definitely is good enough in a jam.

This amounts to me only needing my Kindle and phone for my commute.

------
BSousa
I see these from some co-workers as well, but honestly, I carry my car keys,
my wallet and a cell phone (a stupid dumbphone even). I leave my work at work,
and at home I have my machine for whatever.

I see +90% of the people on my commute (I drive but then cycle for 5 miles)
carrying huge backpacks or messenger bags and for the life of me, I don't
understand why they do it.

~~~
dominotw
I have college textbooks that aren't available as ebooks yet that I need to
carry around for school .

~~~
e12e
If you have something to "e-read" them on, and you're comfortable reading on
that thing -- why not just scan the books yourself? Pretty quick on a multi-
copier/scanner/printer-thing (the industrial size ones -- like you might find
at your library or a copy shop (if you can find one).

~~~
dominotw
Because it might be illegal. The legality of it unclear at best, I would
rather not take a chance.

------
eddieroger
I don't have this problem when going to or from work, but I did have it when
traveling. I have pared down my travel kit to my iPhone and iPad and an Apple
keyboard, and more often than not, it's enough. I have all the entertainment
I'll need during downtime between games and Netflix/Hulu/iTunes. I can type up
quick stuff in any number of text editors for the iPad (I use Pages, mostly).
And Prompt is an amazing terminal client that lets me connect to my server or
home machine if need be. If worse comes to worse, I can use a VNC client and
get to my home machine in all it's glory pretty comfortably. I'd say that
combination is pretty mobile.

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autotravis
My employer has a policy that I can't use my personal machine for work :( so I
have to wrangle with two and the moving of them about.

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Zigurd
I use an LG gPad and a Perixx folding keyboard. Together they are about as
small and light as a paper notebook. I wish Drive applications worked better
offline, but I can tether if needed.

I only need to schlep the laptop if I need to code at the customer site.

Tablets really are all that 90% of your users need. If they actually got good
tablets, they could step out of their cubicles and communicate with other
humans.

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slyall
My previous job I had a desktop PC which I could RDP into from my personal
laptop when out of the office.

The current job gave me a laptop (a MacBook Air so limited plugs) but I'm not
allowed to leave it plugged in at the office for [physical] security reasons.

So if I want to work from home I have to carry it with me (along with my
personal laptop). Can't use personal laptop for home stuff nor vice-versa.

------
auggierose
Personally, I love carrying my 17inch Macbook Pro around with me at all times.
You gotta love your machine.

~~~
pekk
and when it snows, it's big enough to sled downhill on

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aridiculous
I carry books and magazines, just in case I end up at acoffeeshop. Why not an
iPad or Kindle? Because a book or magazine focuses me on one discrete thing.

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almosnow
I don't agree.

The only things I carry are an iPad, a credit card a sweater and the keys to
my home. If it's not cold I leave the sweater, if someone's at home I leave
the keys, if I'm not going to work I leave the iPad... sometimes I leave my
home w/ just my card.

I think it's just a matter of what you're used to...

------
ClayFerguson
Because some idiot in Hollywood declared Fanny Packs to be "out of style", now
people are forced to step it up to something larger, so then people say, well
I may as well fill up this big bag with junk if I'm being forced to carry it.

Solution: Let's kill that douchenozzle who declared fanny packs were bad, and
go back to fanny packs. I certainly did. I never STOPPED fannypacking...
because I'm not a spineless douchebag like the rest of you are who are too
afraid to wear a fannypack.

~~~
mwfunk
This post is possibly one of the best cautionary tales I've ever heard for
"choose your battles wisely". I'm not even kidding- in its own way, it's up
there with Napoleon in Russia and the Microsoft Kin. If one is prepared to
stand astride the world in open defiance of universal opposition, fanny packs
may not be worthiest of causes upon which to blow that particular wad.

~~~
nhaehnle
The question is: does he or she make fanny packs a cause for themselves
_outside_ of threads like this? If not, then they're actually showing a pretty
healthy attitude.

