As a frequent ScanSnap customer, I was pretty unhappy about their decision not to support older hardware when they switched the software to 64-bit. There is good news, though. The newest version of ScanSnap Manager, version 7, adds support for older hardware. Amen.
Jay Miller joins Mike and me on this week’s Focused to talk about balancing many interests, transferring your focus as you switch between them, and what it means to live the multipotentialite lifestyle.
This episode of Focused is sponsored by:
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A few years ago, I was looking to solve a problem that, in hindsight, didn’t need solving. Specifically, I wanted to have a system in place for legal clients to have easy access to their digital documents. After some research and trials (why are nearly all legal-focused software/services terrible?), I ended up choosing Basecamp.
I have read several books by Basecamp’s founders, and I believed (and continue to believe) in the company. So I spent time and money making the transition of many legal files into a Basecamp install and spent client attention getting them into the system. This was no small investment for me. Basecamp costs $1,000 per year. Moreover, it is a web service and not particularly automation friendly. I figured out work-arounds, but my traditional bag of tricks did not work, and everything I did in relation to my legal files took … just … a … little … longer.
OmniFocus recently reminded me that I am a few months away from my annual Basecamp renewal, so I spent some time looking into my usage. In doing so, I realized that only 3% of my clients were using it as I envisioned. I spoke with a few clients about this, and one explained to me, “Dave, I’m paying you for a service. Don’t make me learn software to do so.”
In short, my Basecamp experiment crashed and burned. So over the last few months, I have been pulling my legal data out of Basecamp, and I am now sorting out a more traditional, local file system for that data. There were other benefits available on Basecamp that I will miss, specifically the ability to easily combine documents, notes, email, and other data on a per-transaction basis. So now I am neck-deep in JavaScript and creating tools in Drafts, Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, Shortcuts, and all the other bits to replicate those features locally. It’s all working out, and it probably would not surprise you to learn that I am enjoying building out the new automation.
There is, however, a plot twist. The purpose of the Basecamp experiment was to solve a perceived problem with the law practice, but since I had the account, I also started using it for administration of the MacSparky bits. My virtual assistant liked Basecamp and, from the beginning, it was a very convenient place for us to work together. I spent some time looking at other collaboration tools and none of them are particularly appealing. So while I am going shut down my paid account, I will remain in Basecamp with a free personal account, limited to three projects. That is plenty for us to keep things rolling at MacSparky.
Plan on future posts here about automation and file management since now I am neck-deep in it.
Apple released an update to the iMac today. I’d rate this one as “slightly more” than a speed bump.
The processors are now 10th generation Intel CPU’s for all models.
Spinning drives are gone … almost. There is no model sold solely with a spinning drive. The low end is a 256GB SSD. Although the Fusion drive still lives.
The FaceTime camera is upgraded to the same 1080p camera in the iMac Pro. I’ve shot video for some of the Field Guides with that camera. It’s a nice upgrade, particularly during these strange times.
The iMac now has the T2 chip. Hooray.
You can spec the RAM up to 128GB and the storage up to 8TB (for just an additional $2,400.00).
Overall, a nice update. It’s nice to see Apple giving spec-bump updates to its hardware. That said, there are lots of rumors about a redesign of the iMac in the pipeline. I’m guessing that will arrive with the first Silicon iMacs. IF it is going to be a touch screen, wouldn’t it be cool if they put it on a hinge like the Microsoft Surface Studio?
If you need a new iMac, these look great. If you can wait, I can’t help but think things will get interesting later on.
I have been thinking about how the coronavirus pandemic has changed my life. There are lots of big and small ways. Have you thought about how the pandemic has changed time for you?
There were things you used to spend your time on, but where are you now saving time? That long commute is on hiatus. The drop-in visitors to your office to “shoot the breeze” is much less likely. If you think about it, there are lots of ways you may be saving time now that you weren’t before.
On the flip side, what are the new time sucks in your life? These days “Zoom Meeting” is becoming just as dirty of a phrase as “Powerpoint Presentation” was before all this madness started.
Everyone has their own accounting of time gained and time lost over the past several months, but if you’re not aware of your own, you should be. A half-hour commute to work equates to five found hours per week, 20 hours per month, 240 hours over a year. That’s six weeks in your pocket. You could do a lot with that time. The question is whether you will recognize you have it and what you will do with it.
Recently I set up a “Jazz” feed in Apple News. Checking in on it tonight, here’s the score:
8 Articles
1 About Covid
3 About the Utah Jazz Basketball team
1 About movie soundtracks
1 About R&B
2 Articles about jazz music.
Ugh.
On the latest episode of Mac Power Users, Jim Metzendorf, the editor of Mac Power Users, talks to Stephen and me about his background in audio and photography, and how the gear and workflows have changed in those fields over the years.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
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The Intrazone by Microsoft SharePoint: Your bi-weekly conversation and interview podcast hosted by the SharePoint team.
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In light of current events, I’ve been paying more attention to TikTok lately. By “paying attention”, I mean I’ve been watching the nightly batch of puppy TikToks that my daughters have lovingly curated for me.
So from this perspective, I didn’t understand what the big deal was with TikTok and why folks are talking about banning it in the United States. It turns out the issue is much more complicated than puppy videos. If you’d like to get up to speed, Ben Thompson summarizes and adds some insight.
In this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I are joined by Greg Pierce of Agile Tortoise to talk about Drafts and how they’re using it and text-based automations to improve their lives with everything from dinner alerts to complex project templates.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
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I have never been a fan of screen protectors. Apple devices are beautiful. Screen protectors are not. However, all of my tech friends have been bragging about the Moshi iVisor screen protector for the iPad, so a few months ago I bought one and installed it on my iPad. I did that skeptically. I kept the packaging. I fully expected to hate it.
I don’t.
For thirty bucks, the iVisor turns your glossy iPad into into a matte screen iPad. It removes, nearly entirely, the accumulation of screen smudges and dramatically improves the Apple Pencil experience, which will be an even a bigger deal with iOS 14.
The manufacturer claims I can remove, wash, and re-apply it, but, despite heavy use, it still looks the same as the day I installed it. The product comes with a 10-year warranty, which is kind of ridiculous considering the life-span of an iPad.
This isn’t for everyone. It changes the look and feel of your iPad. But if you use the pencil a lot, hate smudges, and wouldn’t mine a matte (instead of glossy) screen, I give the Moshi iVisor two thumbs up.
