Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
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Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
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Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#2I prefer a single monitor not just because it's more convenient, but because it really does improve focus. My screen represents my train of thought. I don't have 3 applications and 4+ files splattered in front of me. I have a single application, with no more than 2 files, that represents exactly where I am at that moment in my thinking. And I move from screen to screen fluidly with Spaces. I also use a large font size so I don't see more than 40 LOC on the screen at a time.
This is not some sort of self-imposed hipster handicap like a fixed gear bicycle- it really does feel more comfortable. I get so frustrated looking at coworkers' screens with 4+ files open, all in tiny text. I think, how can they work like that? No wonder that when someone interrupts them they lose all context.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#3It all highly depends on your context. Are you reading, are you coding, are you creating some art? I am usually perfectly happy with just one monitor but for example if edit graphics or read papers it is very helpful to have additional displays.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#4my fingers did not like the constant alt+tab when I had less desktop real estate.
Perhaps I need to get USB foot pedals.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#5my fingers did not like the constant alt+tab when I had less desktop real estate. Perhaps I need to get USB foot pedals.
Tiling window managers are your friend
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#6This is very much dependant upon use case. If you're in the business of managing loads of systems, being able to have console sessions open to all the various places you need to touch as part of your current task is invaluable. If you're a programmer working on a single thing at a time, that's great. If you're in operations, a "single task" may involve dozens of separate interactions with separate systems, and being able to have everything presented to you at once is a huge benefit.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#7I've used multiple monitors for years. They keys are:
* virtual desktops. This keeps each desktop simple and clean
* keyboard shortcuts to switch between desktops. This makes the cost of switching near-zero
* one monitor is used 90% of the time for 90% of the work.
* the second monitor is used for critical situations when virtual desktops don't work: more documents than will fit on the first one, writing articles (main) versus research (secondary)
With that workflow, I don't miss it working from a laptop. But it is useful for when I need it.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#8Having used only one monitor for every and only recently bought a second one, I feel different. It's not about two equal monitors, but one for all the stuff that is static. A paper to be read, a formular to be used or just the notes that were taken before and are now used for implementation.
Re: Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
#9I prefer a single monitor not just because it's more convenient, but because it really does improve focus. My screen represents my train of thought. I don't have 3 applications and 4+ files splattered in front of me. I have a single application, with no more than 2 files, that represents exactly where I am at that moment in my thinking. And I move from screen to screen fluidly with Spaces. I also use a large font siz…
> And I move from screen to screen fluidly with Spaces.
> I get so frustrated looking at coworkers' screens with 4+ files open, all in tiny text. I think, how can they work like that?
That's what I think when I see someone working like you, flipping through multiple spaces, scrolling up and down files. To me, spaces add more overhead - I have to remember in which space various running applications or their windows are open.
And as far as 40 lines per screen, I often have to track through multiple files to figure out how things fit together - there are times when I've got IntelliJ split into three columns as I'm trying to follow some logic. Maybe this indicates that we've just abstracted things poorly, but it's hard to see how things could be significantly simplified.