Stephen Hackett just released a new podcast called Flashback. The subtitle “Let Past = ‘Prologue’” explains it all. They are looking at technology in the past and how it led to where we are now. I can think of no one better than Stephen to make a show like this. Already listened to the first episode and can’t wait for more. 

In episode 82 of the Focused podcast, I ruminated about the merit of “the hustle”. For the longest time, I thought the hustle was a good thing. It meant I was willing to wake up earlier and go to bed later. It meant that even when my heart wasn’t in it, I was ready to grind it out to get the job done. But the problem with the hustle is that grind. Indeed, as David Heinemeier Hansson wrote, the “hustle” became the “grind.” 

Since we recorded that episode, I’ve been thinking about this concept. When I compare periods of hustle versus periods of thoughtful consideration and deliberate work, I believe that my very best work comes from the latter. Indeed, a lot of the work I have done over the years in the midst of the hustle was, in hindsight, subpar. Looking back, I realize I was doing work that was less than my very best and burning myself out in the process.

So after years of coaching my children that they should always be willing to hustle, I find myself reversing course and talking to them more about planning and deliberate work. If you pride yourself on your ability to hustle, maybe it’s time to rethink and put that in the rearview mirror.

Since Catalina shipped on the Mac, I’ve been using Voice Control a lot to dictate text to my machine. After using it now for several months, I would say that it is not as good as Dragon (which shockingly still works in Catalina), but not far behind. One of the things you can do with Dragon is give your computer commands to take specific actions. For instance, with Dragon, when I would be writing an email reply with my voice, simply saying “Send this Email” would be enough to trigger the same command in the email application and send it off.

It is not obvious, but you can also do that with Voice Control. In the voice control accessibility settings, there is a button labeled “Commands…”. Clicking on that gives you a list of the default navigation commands built into voice control. Clicking the plus button lets you add your own. The interface is pretty self-explanatory. You type in the new voice command you want to use and, unless you are creating a global command, link it to a specific application. In this case, I’m using the Apple Mail application, and the command is “Send this Email.” There are several different types of actions you can take with these commands, including opening Finder items, opening URLs, placing text or data, pressing a keyboard shortcut (which I’m using here), selecting a menu item, or running a workflow. If you spend a little bit of time on this, you can do some quite advanced features was just your voice.

Unfortunately, there is no way to chain multiple commands together. It would be nice if you could have it press one keyboard shortcut and then pause and then press another. (You could possibly get around this with a workflow). Also, the commands do not sync with iCloud. The same mechanism exists on the iPhone and iPad but is implemented differently. I’ll make an explainer post on custom commands on iOS with another post, but understand you’ll need to create the Commands there separately.

I have only prepared a few them so far one to archive email and one to send an email, but I use those every day. If you were going to use Voice Control, you should take up the time to set up your most common custom commands.

Taika Waititi was talking to the press about his Apple laptop keyboard. It becomes a bit about halfway through, but also the truth hurts.

It seems like every guest we bring on Mac Power Users that uses a laptop has a failed keyboard story. It happens so often that people are accusing me of slanting the story against Apple. That’s not the case though. It is just that nearly all of our guests have a MacBook with a butterfly switch keyboard that goes bad. If you listen to the Waititi quote below, he also takes a shot at the iMac keyboard, which is perfectly fine. I’m guessing he doesn’t know better because he’s not obsessed with this stuff like us nerds and in his mind, if the laptop keyboard sucks, so must the desktop keyboard.

I’m getting ready to send one kid to college and the other to graduate school. I expect I’ll need to buy a pair of MacBook Airs later this year and I’m terrified they won’t get the new scissor-switch keyboards before I need to buy them.

Even though Apple is now taking steps to fix the keyboards, it will be many years before those butterfly keyboard MacBooks (which you can still go and buy in the Apple store today) are out of circulation. The public perception that Apple keyboards are bad will last years longer than that. Apple can’t get the entire MacBook line of keyboards updated soon enough.

Taika Waititi jokes about what writers should be asking for in the next round of talks with producers: “Apple needs to fix those keyboards. They are impossible to write on. They’ve gotten worse. It makes me want to go back to PCs” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/vlFTSjCfZm

— Variety (@Variety) February 10, 2020

I spent some time recently in a Microsoft Store and I really took my time looking at the state of Windows hardware. There are still a lot of really rickety laptops being sold and computers built as gaming machines seem nearly universally ugly, but there is also some interesting innovation. If you are keeping up with Windows hardware, this is all old news to you but if you spent most of your time in the Apple Store, there is definitely some innovation happening on the other side of the fence. Two that particularly stood out to me were the Surface Studio and the 2-in-1’s.

The Surface Studio

Microsoft makes a computer that looks real similar to the iMac but instead of being on a fixed stand, it is on a hinged arm so it can go from a stand up computer to a drafting table style giganto-tablet. It’s a delightful idea and the hinge is well executed. I’d be curious to hear how often people actually transition their Surface Studio computers but I’d love it. If Apple made such an iMac, I’d be sorely tempted to own a computer where I can pivot between traditional and drafting table.

Although I liked the hinge, the display wasn’t particularly good and the computer seems underpowered. I hope Microsoft continues to work on this design.

The 2-in-1’s

2-in-1 computers are meant to give you the best of both worlds, a laptop and a tablet. A few years ago I played with some of the initial 2-in-1 computers and they felt a lot more like the worst of both worlds than the best at the time. The 2-in-1s I saw on my recent visit were much improved. The devices were lighter, the screens were brighter, and some of them had plenty of power to get most computing done. Moreover, the Microsoft and Lenovo machines had a nice design and build quality.

These computers don’t feel like Apple ripoffs but something different, and I quite liked that. Most of these computers use a keyboard that can pivot all the way behind the screen. The quality of the hinges on these computers felt up to Apple standards and the weight on these 2-in-1’s is much more manageable than they were just a few years ago.

Don’t Get Too Excited

This post doesn’t mean I’m going to be using a Windows computer anytime soon. It’s still Windows. However, I am pleased to see companies succeeding with innovative ways to make computer hardware. I was envious, particularly of that tilting Surface Studio and I hope some of these ideas are inspiring innovation in the halls of Cupertino.