It's an Easy Choice
I’m one of those people who sometimes reaches up to touch my MacBook Pro’s screen by force of habit. Which isn’t very often since I do most of my work on my iPad Air 2. But just because I reach up to touch my MacBook’s screen doesn’t mean that I think it’s a good idea for a MacBook to have a touchscreen. On the contrary, reaching up to touch my MacBook’s screen reminds me how nice it is to have a Trackpad and not have to reach for the screen.
The iPad Air 2 was revolutionary for me. It was the first tablet I’d ever used that felt as fast and snappy as a laptop. And considering its triple-core A8X chip was putting up benchmark scores on par with recent MacBook Airs, it wasn’t too surprising. Without realizing it, I gradually ended up migrating almost everything I do over to the iPad, and my MacBook Pro sat untouched for weeks at a time.
But as much as I loved my iPad, I never had the patience to really get good at using the glass keyboard. It’s hard to change once you have decades of experience using a certain kind of tool. And it’s not even the key travel. I actually like shallow key travel better than long. It’s the feel of the physical button borders that I miss. I think I’d be happy with keys that didn’t move at all as long as there was the feel of the square buttons with little valleys in between.
So I keep a bluetooth keyboard by my favorite easy chair in the living room for impromptu writing and an Apple Magic keyboard and a stand in my office for when I’m ready to do some real work.
Being able to hold my iPad like a magazine to read articles or do photo editing is awesome. And being able to add a keyboard, only when I want one, makes it almost perfect. Almost.
There are times when I’m doing some serious cut-and-paste work in Microsoft Word or Excel that I start to crave the luxury of a big glass Trackpad. Here’s a phrase that you’ll never hear uttered or see in print, “Apple’s new MacBook Trackpad is terrible”. If there’s one thing Apple knows how to do very well, it’s Trackpads.
I love the versatility of the iPad which allows me to quickly add a keyboard that’s within arm’s reach if I feel inspired to blog about something in front of my TV. But I wish there was another level of versatility that allowed me to pick up my iPad, walk over to my office, and hook it up to my Magic Keyboard and a Trackpad. That would take working on the iPad to a whole new level.
When I place my iPad on a stand in front of my keyboard, I dislike having to reach up and touch the screen to cut and paste. It’s harder to be precise when you are extending your arm up and away from your body. It’s too easy to miss your targets that way. I also dislike having to touch the screen to scroll; it feels like a speed bump to efficiency. So I don’t just think that I wouldn’t want a touchscreen Mac, I know for a fact that I won’t like it because I’m already doing that to some extent, and it’s not ideal.
This all begs the question, “If I want a Trackpad ,why don’t I just open up my MacBook?” Mainly because there are certain apps that I use on my iPad that aren’t available on my Mac. Also, if I travel, I’d rather carry around an iPad than a laptop. And lastly, I don’t foresee buying another MacBook, ever. So I’d like the iPad to be able to stand on its own.
So yeah, I periodically will smudge my MacBook screen by forgetting that I have that wonderful Trackpad in front of me. And every time I do, I wish I could use a Trackpad with my iPad.
But as much as I loved my iPad, I never had the patience to really get good at using the glass keyboard. It’s hard to change once you have decades of experience using a certain kind of tool. And it’s not even the key travel. I actually like shallow key travel better than long. It’s the feel of the physical button borders that I miss. I think I’d be happy with keys that didn’t move at all as long as there was the feel of the square buttons with little valleys in between.
So I keep a bluetooth keyboard by my favorite easy chair in the living room for impromptu writing and an Apple Magic keyboard and a stand in my office for when I’m ready to do some real work.
Being able to hold my iPad like a magazine to read articles or do photo editing is awesome. And being able to add a keyboard, only when I want one, makes it almost perfect. Almost.
There are times when I’m doing some serious cut-and-paste work in Microsoft Word or Excel that I start to crave the luxury of a big glass Trackpad. Here’s a phrase that you’ll never hear uttered or see in print, “Apple’s new MacBook Trackpad is terrible”. If there’s one thing Apple knows how to do very well, it’s Trackpads.
I love the versatility of the iPad which allows me to quickly add a keyboard that’s within arm’s reach if I feel inspired to blog about something in front of my TV. But I wish there was another level of versatility that allowed me to pick up my iPad, walk over to my office, and hook it up to my Magic Keyboard and a Trackpad. That would take working on the iPad to a whole new level.
When I place my iPad on a stand in front of my keyboard, I dislike having to reach up and touch the screen to cut and paste. It’s harder to be precise when you are extending your arm up and away from your body. It’s too easy to miss your targets that way. I also dislike having to touch the screen to scroll; it feels like a speed bump to efficiency. So I don’t just think that I wouldn’t want a touchscreen Mac, I know for a fact that I won’t like it because I’m already doing that to some extent, and it’s not ideal.
This all begs the question, “If I want a Trackpad ,why don’t I just open up my MacBook?” Mainly because there are certain apps that I use on my iPad that aren’t available on my Mac. Also, if I travel, I’d rather carry around an iPad than a laptop. And lastly, I don’t foresee buying another MacBook, ever. So I’d like the iPad to be able to stand on its own.
So yeah, I periodically will smudge my MacBook screen by forgetting that I have that wonderful Trackpad in front of me. And every time I do, I wish I could use a Trackpad with my iPad.
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