Just curious, if you could get the SAME content but in.
- a PDF
- daily emails
- An obsidian vault that you download
- An online course platform like teachable
- (another method?)
Which would you want most and why…also would it affect what you’d pay?
My 3 favourite pieces of tech hardware from 2022
The end of the year is in sight.
And while there’s still time for me to purchase a new piece of tech, I think it’s safe for me to create this roundup list (especially with my current financial situation).
I haven’t bought too many items this year, but these three stand out above the rest.
AirPods Pro
My wife is the best.
I had resisted replacing my old AirPods with news ones but my wife convinced me.
She was right. They’ve helped me with countless video calls, blocking out noisy neighbours (and kids) not to mention hours of podcast listening.
And It sounds like the second gen are even better.
Samsung M7
There’s no perfect cheap monitor for Apple computers, but this is close.
It’s a
- 32"
- 4k
- USB-C connection monitor.
Back when I was deep in spreadsheets, reports and editing every day, this screen was invaluable. Now it is amazing for editing videos, recording screen casts (I can record a limited space on the screen and have notes in the rest) and for opening a ton of resources from Logos.
Caldigit ts3+
The two ports on the Macbook Air just aren’t enough.
Well, not when I make a video and have my camera, microphone, streamdeck, iPad, monitor and external hard drive all hooked up. This handy little device has made it all a dream.
Previously, I had a dongle that required some careful planning to get everything connected. Now I hook one thunderbolt 3 cable into my Macbook, and away I go.
**What about you? **What have been your favourite hardware tech purchases of the year.
I’m planning to do a massive update of my site LearnCreateShare next week I’d love your feedback and thoughts. Some things I’m considering
- The name /domain
- The navigation and experience
- Updating/correcting info (like the about page)
Probably won’t change the theme though.
Speaking with Paul Mignard on Twitter and he mentioned dropping the USB-C port, going wireless and making a thinner iPad. That could be an amazing iPad Air (that would hook up to a smart speaker for a home device?). A great sketchnoting device.
Turned off continuity webcam for my iPhone. I was getting multiple pings a day saying it was connected when I wasn’t even using a camera app. I’ll manually switch it on if I need it.
I shared this sketchnote summary of the One Minute Manager on my blog yesterday but I thought I’d share it here as well. I love the idea of focusing on catching good actions not mistakes. This was a core idea when I taught English to young learners.
- Pencil hover sounds like a great feature, I’d love to know why it’s locked to the new pros? (current prediction, so you’ll upgrade!)
- M2 performance sounds CRAZY.
- Faster wifi…cool. I guess that’s nice.
It doesn’t really sound that compelling. I guess it’s nice to have something even better if it’s the same price but I don’t think this has changed what iPad I’d probably by. Either the iPad Air or the last pro 12.9.
Today’s fun little slip of the tongue while recording “You can drag and drog”.
I want to know what drag and drog is.
I’d love a new iPad (money aside) so hopefully this new iPad Pro will help drive down prices of the last models and how knows what else they might bring out. The dead pixels in the middle of my screen have been annoying me for some time.
It turns out that N.T. Wright and Mike Birds excellent book on the New Testament is also excellent as a mic stand.
Playing with Linea for some quick easy drawings… really underrated app.
Over the weekend I had an unpleasant surprise.
My company isn’t closing at the end of the month. It’s closing at the end of this week (meaning I get paid even less for this month).
This whole process really has been difficult. I have managed to keep a somewhat positive outlook but at the same time it’s basically been a grieving process.
Just used @gr36 status.lol shortcut to post my first status.
Today I learned that 75% of our sensory neurons are visual neurons.
The new gather desk stuff looks stunning. But those prices!
(Also I backed the first kit and my desk doesn’t really have space for it all!)
The world can feel dark at times and as though everything is getting worse.
But there’s progress that is making people’s lives better.
I mean just think about it. Kids today will never know the pain of trying to plug a USB-A cable in correctly.
I wouldn't have believed a random project 6 years ago would turn into this.
6 years ago I started making some simple videos for students of English as a foreign language because it was a more valuable “proof of work” as a freelance teacher than the alternatives.
Today, I’m using those skills (and more I’ve learned since) for the onboarding videos project at work.
Plus I got a review copy of Logos 10 for the video review I published earlier this week.
You never know where a little decision might lead you in the future. Or how a fun little skill project might open other doors.
But also, don’t feel ashamed about having a hobby which is just a hobby.
My daughter rejected my chunky tomato sauce last night so I made ”totally different” tomato sauce tonight and she ate it all.
Amazing how much flavor a blender adds.
macOS ventura is generally nice but my phone keeps wanting to be used as a webcam at random moments. I don’t really get that one.
A return to stock apps?
As I read CJ Chilver’s recent post on the lazy billionaire, I was reminded of Patrick Rhone’s approach of using the Apple default apps as much as possible.
- Notes in Notes
- Tasks in Reminders
- Events in Calendar
- Podcasts in Apple podcasts and so on.
Some of these feel more controversial than others. Could I really give up my beloved obsidian? Would I be prepared to give up smart skip in a podcast player? How will I GTD if I don’t have a full armed and operational battle station, I mean task manager.
And I do notice that Patrick does make a couple of exceptions such as using a markdown writing app instead of the notes app (unless that has changed since his minimal mac days which it may well have).
In truth, there are some apps (like Snipd my current podcast app) where I don’t really use their functionality. I do capture clips from podcasts, but I don’t tend to review them. And it’s even rare that I use those snippets when they are automatically imported into my obsidian vault from readwise.
So I’m reviewing all my fancy third party apps. Maybe they’ll go and maybe they’ll stay.
Carrot weather is definitely staying.