Have Laptop Will Travel

6 Essential Mac Applications For Work On The Road

Originally posted on July 7, 2007 @ 12:04 am

I’m a serial entrepreneur who has sold more businesses than most people will have jobs. I think the average American has 8 jobs in his/her life and 2 career changes. Me I’ve had countless ‘jobs’ and I’m working on career number 5. All before I’m 28. Wow. The underlying factor is you know what I love what I do. I’m ready to hit the road again. I’ve got the foundation for a nice income setup and you know what I’m ready to work on the road again. At lot must be done to get ready to hit the road. Number one is making sure clients are happy. `Number two is getting more organized than usual. I have a tendency to not be nearly as organized when I travel for some reason. So I try to overplan and be more organized that way when it all falls apart I can have something to fall back on and that’s a solid travel routine.

1. Checkoff
Checkoff is great for me because I’m totally disorganized without it. It’s a great way to make a simple list that I will actually use. It’s like an offline Tada List.

2. Skype
What’s not to love about Skype. it’s a great way to stay in touch with my closest business allies. Without them and it I’d be lost.

3. OpenOffice
I still like to have a copy of my documents offline. And I’m not going to pay for a Microsoft product when I can use a great open source project’s work.

4. WriteRoom
I’m easily distracted and this program takes all my distractions and tosses them into a deep deep black hole.

5. Coda
I don’t do a lot of coding but when I do I need something that just works for me. And this thing get’s the job done and does way more than a simple text editor.

6. iBank
Organizing finances on the road is a hugely important thing for me to do. This program has made me happy a gazillion times over.

Safari’s venture to Windows goes bust

Originally posted on July 22, 2007 @ 9:31 am

A few weeks ago, I found out from a friend that Apple has finally released a Windows version of its Mac internet browser Safari. Naturally, I was excited about this news. Any migration from Apple to Windows interests me because this could be first steps towards more intriguing developments in the future (just look at iTunes coming to Windows and how mp3 purchases subsequently).

I immediately downloaded and installed Safari expecting nothing short of a revolutionary or at least a more satisfying browsing experience from my usual Firefox surfing. I have to say though that it was an underwhelming experience. Safari never really offered anything new to Windows users. In fact, Safari even came short in terms of offering features that other browsers like Internet Explorer 7, Firefox or Opera already possess.

A more damning piece of information against Safari though is this recent article from extremetech.com. The article enumerated 10 reasons why Windows users should NOT use Safari. It was an eye opener for me. I have always associated Apple with streamlined, no frills software that goes to the market near perfect, not like the glorified beta versions Microsoft constantly releases to the public. The article’s claims that Safari is bloated and yet underfeatured with serious security issues has left me surprised. I guess it’s back to the drawing board for Apple’s engineers as far as Safari for Windows is concerned.

An iPhone Just Isn’t Enough

Originally posted on June 27, 2007 @ 11:34 am

Last days I have been almost non-stop on the road and that in the most classical modern way : with a car. Although I certainly am no Apple fan, I have been following the iPhone buzz, just like any other nerd as much as possible. Chances that I’ll get one when they will finally hit the European market are big, but while travellling almost half of the country over the last days, I realized that an iPhone just won’t do it!

It may be a revolutionary item, but it’s still not what I need when I’m on the road.
For months now there have been rumors about a Mac Tablet and everyone who has ever been able to play with a Tablet PC surely knows how practical they can be. Practical, but still limited. So here’s what I actually need for my car. And if they were to build one, Apple would totally win me! Finally.

What I actually need is a combination of an iPhone with SatNav to start. But the iPhone alone wouldn’t allow this gizmo to become totally roadworthy, carworthy. I need more, more car specific characteristics. Today, I use my data plan on my Bluetooth enabled phone to be online as much as possible when driving. And my laptop.
But no fool, even no hardcore nerd would think of typing an email while driving, so whenever I receive an urgent email, I end up calling the sender to a. ask what the email was about and b. answer.

It’s annoying, annoying to both sender and me. I can hear the brains of certain nerds I know rattle now and I’m sure I know what they think : stick a keyboard on the steering wheel. Forget that! I want an on-screenreader and voice-to-text! Voice command and internet. Everything functioning with on-screenreader.
I’m sure that Apple is THE company to built an optimized UI for this and if they would build one of those devices, I would be one of the first ones to buy one!.

Yes, I’m high maintenance!

Is The Apple iPhone The Jesus Phone?

Originally posted on June 26, 2007 @ 3:07 pm

I was pondering for a long time getting an Iphone. I currently have a Blackberry. But I’m not convinced. Is the Apple Iphone, the Jesus Phone?

Can someone please explain to me why I’d want to get one. Number one the coverage range sucks for a guy like me who lives in Montana. All we get is some Verizon and AllTell coverage splattered with an occassional Sprint and Chinook Wireless connection.

Why didn’t Apple just release the phone to all markets so we the general public would have a choice. That to me makes way more sense and allows for higher sales but what do I know. I’m not Steve Jobs.

The Thinnest Windows Laptops With Santa Rosa Core To Come

Originally posted on June 5, 2007 @ 1:30 pm

Over the next weeks, months a whole new generation of laptops will hit the market. The Intel Santa Rosa Core, AKA Intel Centrino Pro (or 2nd Generation Intel Core 2 Duo), will be introduced, new notebooks will be shipped with backlit LED screens and we’ll see the thinnest range of laptops so far.

What can we expect over the next weeks, months?

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