"Want the smallest most portable device you can get away with? "
"Want to be always connected to the Internet? Sure you do;"
"Just try opening a laptop on a crowded subway train or bus."
Someone needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around.
If you are so overloaded with work, or so keen at your work, or so behind in your work, that you need to open your laptop on the train and start tapping away then some part of your work-life balance is in serious need of adjustment.
If you're THAT valuable to yourself or the business that you MUST be hunched in front of the keyboard, or online, every waking moment then why are you on a train? Your value/benefit demands that you be driven everywhere so you can work in the back of the vehicle and that you have a PA to handle messaging. Right?
I am an IT Manager for a high-tech company. Here's my solution, based on my personal values and my value/responsibility/benefit to the business:
Samsung Galaxy Note
It's a stupidly-big phone AND a moderately-sized tablet. I can keep in touch with emails, speak to people(!), do video calls and Skype/VoIP, check messages and do remote support via RDP/VNC/SSH/OpenVPN if there's a serious crisis when I'm on the move. If needed (rare), I can use the phone for reading/editing documents and PDFs, minor coding work and, if I really want to fill another pocket, it will work with a bluetooth (or miniature USB wired) keyboard.
Acer Aspire 5735 laptop.
It's a dual-core, 15.6" screen model, about three years old. The laptop comes with me very occasionally when I need it for a meeting or if I need to hook up to some kit when I'm on site. As it happens, the Galaxy Note has an MHL (HDMI) video connector and so I can use it for meeting presentations anyway. Laptop for use on a train? Maybe - on the extremely rare occasion that I need to type up a report on the way back home as it's needed first thing the next day. Typing stuff on the way TO work or site? That was done in the office the day before, or maybe at home if things get sprung on me at very short notice. If I don't grab the laptop, an original Acer Aspire One AA150 netbook comes with me.
In a nutshell, I have boiled down my tech-demanding activities to:
Desk-based: Use a conventional PC, or my laptop, or my phone (for calls and simple networking diagnostics)
On the move: Phone for about 95% of the time. Take laptop or netbook if needed.
Considering that the phone is always with me, that means I'm automatically setup for almost all my work and personal tech needs all the time.
Would I consider buying a UX31A or similar ultrabook (or a tablet for that matter) - sure, if cost/benefit was not an issue, but the device would probably spend most of its life on a desk, and all the things that make it what it is (size, lightness etc.) would be wasted - unless of course, I turned things on their head and altered my work/lifestyle to fit around the technology - mind you, that would mean taking the train to work instead of driving - and, no, I don't have a chauffeur!
Train rides are kind of boring. Why wouldn't I get out my laptop on a train? I did, recently, to add depth-of-field compensation to a blurry image detector I'm writing for my own amusement. I don't think that would be nearly as fun on a stupidly-big phone.
> Train rides are kind of boring. Why wouldn't I get out my laptop on a train?
To allow yourself a momentary disconnect. To watch the world out of the window, or the people around you. To take an interest in the weather and season. To give your mind a chance to digest what you mean to do or what you have done.
I cherish my time travelling from one place to another, even if that is just a walk to the shops, a trip on the bus or ride on the Underground.
I also like to have 100% focused work time and space. It's hard to find that focus when you're willing to mix work with everything.
It's the same tunnel it was yesterday. And the day before. And last week. And last year. Come to think of it, the tunnel hasn't changed much since it's inauguration in 1984. And the soundwalls lining the surface parts of the railway line aren't that captivating either.
In my case, the track ways have not changed since 1860 or so. However we go through the 'green belt' (UK) between a large city and a smaller town. One notices changes with the seasons, new makeshift huts in the allotments, the sky and light is always different. A bit of the wabi-sabi really - same frame, but small changes.
I can tell which station we are pulling into by the sound and the feel of the track! Sometimes, I leave early on a Friday and walk the 10 miles back by canal footpaths.
If you need a break, take a break. I recommend a session at the gym or a long walk at lunch. But commuting is a horrible time to take breaks, IMO. The morning commute comes right after your longest break of the day. The evening commute comes right before your most enjoyable break of the day (aka time with the wife & kids). Sometimes you need a break during the evening commute, so don't be afraid to take it, but other times the change of context from the office is just the thing you need.
>To allow yourself a momentary disconnect. To watch the world out of the
window, or the people around you. To take an interest in the weather and
season.
I'm sorry to sound misanthropic or otherwise cynic, but people on the train are,
for the overwhelming majority, uninteresting or annoying. I don't take that much
interest in the landscape or weather, either. I'd much rather disconnect from
that and hack on my laptop instead, thank you.
The odds are pretty good that someone on your train works is quite interesting.
For example... I happen to know that if I take a commuter line into Boston in the morning, I am likely to encounter one or more of: a senior scientist at an R&D lab, a bunch of Google programmers and engineers, a non-profit fundraising expert, or an IP lawyer. I don't know what the guy with the MongoDB sticker on his laptop does, but eventually I'll say hello and find out.
Maybe you should drink your coffee before you get on the train and try finding out who people really are.
UK: random conversation breaks out when there is an unusual delay or we get stuck at a signal set to danger. After an initial silence, someone will make a joke, and then it breaks out. Those are good delays.
This. As much as i'm an always on, 2 smartphones per pants guy, i desperately need a forced disconnect on a daily basis.
If you are always in the stream of data that the internet provides you don't find the time to contemplate if you are moving in the right way on the short term stuff... Most of my best decisions have come from going to wash my hands or just walking outside the office for 5 minutes. Our ever connected world makes it harder each day to see the big picture.
"To allow yourself a momentary disconnect. To watch the world out of the window, or the people around you. To take an interest in the weather and season. "
I'd rather do those things in an environment and at a time of my own choosing. Work done on train or bus = work that doesn't have to be done at office -> more free time.
I'd love to look at people on the train but there's a pretty serious ethic against staring at other people on New York City subways. There's also no bandwidth at all. It's a rough and loud ride. Podcasts, music, and casual games help the time pass. YOU try meditating on the 5:45 C train some time.
Trains are my favourite place to get work done. I'm not sure what exactly it is about it but I can get 3 solid hours of focused work done, usually the work I've been avoiding for the previous fortnight.
I knew a guy who bought a flat-rate take-every-train-for-free ticket (ca 4000$ in Germany) instead of renting an office. Not my idea of the perfect working place, but it worked for him.
Oh, you know, lunch in Cologne, dinner in Munich, then back home. Or maybe a leasurely afternoon stroll in the Black Forest or on the shore of the North Sea.
Point is, I don't feel the need to be laptopped-up and my work/life balance doesn't demand it. Sound's like this was an optional activity for you too.
On a very long train journey, I'd listen to the radio, read the news, watch a video (on the phone's 5.3" screen), talk to people, check my email - do anything I want too.
It was an optional activity, and was the most enjoyable thing I could reasonably do on the train.
Reading the news, watching a video and checking email all seem like more pleasant tasks on a laptop than a smartphone of any description. Perhaps we have different preferences.
> Someone needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around.
I work on my laptop on my commute on the train. This saves me two hours every day and allows me to live in a beautiful place.
Someone does indeed needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around, Mr. IT Manager For a High Tech Company with a ridiculously giant phone, a netbook, a laptop and a PC.
So your day in the office is shortened by two hours as you can count your commute-work as part of your work day - like, instead of , say, 9-5, you arrive at 10 and leave at 4? Sounds like a fair trade off if you're happy with it.
I don't think you get my tech angle - although I have multiple devices at my disposal, the phone is all I need for 90% of the time as I have no obligation to work on a train - unlike you, apparently.
Related: I took a late (~11 pm) transbay bus home a few nights ago (San Francisco to Berkeley), and in between some stops, the bus driver started scream, "Put y' phones up! Put y' phones away! Turn 'em off and put 'em away!" and then repeated that several times.
The passengers and I looked at each other like "WTF?" (Is this a plane now?) but since she seemed rather adamant, and wasn't going to go on to the next stop until we complied, we all put our phones away. Then the driver said, "I'm just trying to warn you here, people outside can see you on y' phones, you has to watch out."
Then, at the stop, some teens got on that looked sort of sketchy, and it occurred to me, "The driver was trying to warn us not to show our smartphones because she thought the people at the next stop would try to steal them."
Of course, I still thought it was overkill because the kids didn't look nearly dangerous enough for me to worry about my safety or possessions (though they did flout the bus rules), and there were enough people on the bus that a criminal wouldn't want to try anything, but it got me to think about a risk that I hadn't before.
I've been reading that there's recently been a huge increase in phone-snatching on the NYC subway, much of it quite brazen (grab phone while person is using it, jump out door, run).
Maybe your driver was just paranoid, but on the other hand, maybe she's seen the stats...
Well, I live in rural Germany and the trains I am taking are mostly filled with commuters between small towns. And swiss people. I don't think there is any reason to fear being mugged here.
Depends. Birmingham UK commuter trains during peak hours tend to be full, and full of fairly middle class people as the fares are much higher than the bus. Late at night, yes, a little more care is needed.
I have about an hour round trip on a train, and I can get a few interactive whiteboard screens or a handout written in that time (I'm a teacher).
I use a refurbished laptop so if any funny stuff starts, I just hand it over.
A lot of people I know have 40 minute train rides each way. If they can get work done on the train, they can leave early and have more time for their family.
There are plenty of use cases for a portable computer. Moving to New York for 3 months for Hacker School comes to mind (it starts next week). I want the lightest one that works well. The End.
Funny you mention that. I, a Linux user, was deciding between the 13" Air and this Zenbook Prime, and chose the former, because the Zenbook reportedly has lots of issues and annoyances:
Installing on the 2012 Air wasn't exactly a walk in the park either, but that wiped out any Zenbook advantage. Now that it's set up, I absolutely love my Air running Xubuntu — it's the nicest laptop I've used. I'd recommend it to anyone. And as a bonus I can reboot into OS X if I ever want to.
I see more and more galaxy notes here in China, even in the hands of tiny girls. They hold it under the armpit, like a bag. Own one myself and rarely power on my pc when back home.
"Want to be always connected to the Internet? Sure you do;"
"Just try opening a laptop on a crowded subway train or bus."
Someone needs to stop trying to arrange their life around their tech and try it the other way around.
If you are so overloaded with work, or so keen at your work, or so behind in your work, that you need to open your laptop on the train and start tapping away then some part of your work-life balance is in serious need of adjustment.
If you're THAT valuable to yourself or the business that you MUST be hunched in front of the keyboard, or online, every waking moment then why are you on a train? Your value/benefit demands that you be driven everywhere so you can work in the back of the vehicle and that you have a PA to handle messaging. Right?
I am an IT Manager for a high-tech company. Here's my solution, based on my personal values and my value/responsibility/benefit to the business:
Samsung Galaxy Note
It's a stupidly-big phone AND a moderately-sized tablet. I can keep in touch with emails, speak to people(!), do video calls and Skype/VoIP, check messages and do remote support via RDP/VNC/SSH/OpenVPN if there's a serious crisis when I'm on the move. If needed (rare), I can use the phone for reading/editing documents and PDFs, minor coding work and, if I really want to fill another pocket, it will work with a bluetooth (or miniature USB wired) keyboard.
Acer Aspire 5735 laptop.
It's a dual-core, 15.6" screen model, about three years old. The laptop comes with me very occasionally when I need it for a meeting or if I need to hook up to some kit when I'm on site. As it happens, the Galaxy Note has an MHL (HDMI) video connector and so I can use it for meeting presentations anyway. Laptop for use on a train? Maybe - on the extremely rare occasion that I need to type up a report on the way back home as it's needed first thing the next day. Typing stuff on the way TO work or site? That was done in the office the day before, or maybe at home if things get sprung on me at very short notice. If I don't grab the laptop, an original Acer Aspire One AA150 netbook comes with me.
In a nutshell, I have boiled down my tech-demanding activities to:
Desk-based: Use a conventional PC, or my laptop, or my phone (for calls and simple networking diagnostics)
On the move: Phone for about 95% of the time. Take laptop or netbook if needed.
Considering that the phone is always with me, that means I'm automatically setup for almost all my work and personal tech needs all the time.
Would I consider buying a UX31A or similar ultrabook (or a tablet for that matter) - sure, if cost/benefit was not an issue, but the device would probably spend most of its life on a desk, and all the things that make it what it is (size, lightness etc.) would be wasted - unless of course, I turned things on their head and altered my work/lifestyle to fit around the technology - mind you, that would mean taking the train to work instead of driving - and, no, I don't have a chauffeur!