I am writing this from my office. From a certain point of view, what I am doing is much more normal and familiar. My iPad Mini, via a Satechi hub, is plugged into a monitor via HDMI and receiving pass through power via USB-C. A corded Logitech mouse I found in my desk drawer is plugged into the USB-C port. An older Apple Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad is connected by Bluetooth.
Other than the main computing device being an iPad Mini, it is a very standard setup.
But the setup feels strange to me. It’s true that some of these differences are to be expected but there is something more.
It feels more different than it should.
The strangeness of the keyboard is to be expected. For years now, I have used the Magic Keyboard case for the iPad Pro, which has the keys spaced closer together. With this desktop-focused keyboard, with its standard key spacing, I am making a lot of typos. In time, the typos would go away as I got used to the spacing. But, truth be told, I think that I would be more inclined to finding a more compact keyboard if I were to keep this setup than adjusting to the standard keyboard layout.
The mouse is frustrating, which is also to be expected. I am not used to having an input device that does not respond to gestures and the scroll wheel, which seemed so fantastic when I first used one — is now an irritation. Don’t misunderstand me: There is nothing bad about this mouse. But it does feel like it is a little tired and/or is not entirely happy with the high gloss surface.
What I did not expect to hit me so forcefully is how this arrangement changes the way I am interacting with the device. As I have conducted this experiment, I have become keenly aware that the way I relate to the device and the work I am doing on it changes based on whether I am holding the Apple Pencil and writing on the screen resting on the table or desk in front of me or whether I looking up at a monitor and typing on a keyboard.
Working with the Pencil is not as fast — even with the typos. There is, unquestionably, a decrease in “efficiency” when I use the Pencil.
But working with the keyboard makes me feel more like I am working as part of a machine rather than being someone using a device to accomplish something.
More like I am a cog than a contributor.
It isn’t what I am working on that matters. I have experimented with both creative work (and quasi-work like this post) during lunch and with writing work emails with the Pencil. It is how I am being asked/required to do the work based on the needs of the device that matters.
There are absolutely conveniences with the screen connection. I don’t want it to go away. Webinars, for example, are much easier when they are on the larger screen. But the longer this experiment runs, the more aware I am growing of how the inputs I am using change the way I am responding to the work I do.
But I am less and less happy with the keyboard. But I am not sure if it is a function of the experiment or a desire to change the way I work.
I am not sure what to do with that yet. But I am aware that the change to how I interact with the devices I use may have a greater impact on my relationship to my work than the software I am required to use.