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Rebuilding the Computer Room

alexwlchan.net

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Re: Rebuilding the Computer Room

#4
The sad thing about phones being he primary (and in many case the only) computing devices for most people is that they lose the possibility of separating the tasks that the do on the phone vs the tasks that they do on a computer.

Re: Rebuilding the Computer Room

#6
post #4

The sad thing about phones being he primary (and in many case the only) computing devices for most people is that they lose the possibility of separating the tasks that the do on the phone vs the tasks that they do on a computer.

That’s the entire point of why people use a smartphone as their primary device: they don’t want the hassle of having to use a computer. And for normal people (ie not the readership of HN), using a computer is a chore.

Re: Rebuilding the Computer Room

#7
Funnily I had a discussion with someone I barely met yesterday. They commented on my reMarkable Pro, wondering if I liked it.

We discussed a bit and while doing so I pullet out both my paper notepad, my phone but also my XR headset (which just happened to be in my backpack). I also use a bottlecap to sketch in the sand.

My point : anything, literally anything, goes. You can have the best of tools yet think poorly about the most pointless problem. You can have nothing at all, no tool, being in the middle of a very noisy place... and still tackle this brilliantly. If you are flexible and if you tailor YOUR tools to YOUR usage, anywhere and anything should be "good enough".

TL;DR: thinking happens in the mind and only optionally extending it via tools.

Re: Rebuilding the Computer Room

#9

My working computer still is a stationary desktop computer. I still need to go somewhere to use a real computer. Love that. I do not like smartphones. Surveillance devices.

FWIW I was there few years ago then, as mentioned in a recent comment, moved away from iPhone to deGoogle Android (relying on /e/OS) then GrapeheneOS using nearly exclusively open-source software on it with nearly no dark patterns. It's far from perfect I feel a lot saner now. I don't necessarily advocate for smartphones but I still want to point out some smartphone tailored to your own usage can be less intrusive and surveil radically less, if at all.

Re: Rebuilding the Computer Room

#10
post #7

Funnily I had a discussion with someone I barely met yesterday. They commented on my reMarkable Pro, wondering if I liked it. We discussed a bit and while doing so I pullet out both my paper notepad, my phone but also my XR headset (which just happened to be in my backpack). I also use a bottlecap to sketch in the sand. My point : anything, literally anything, goes. You can have the best of tools yet think poorly abo…

In retrospect MY first computer, not my parents or school computer, was not a desktop but rather a pocket calculator that I needed for mathematics.

When I noticed I could program on it it definitely expanded my horizon. I was not bound to a desk though and I programmed anywhere. It was a very excited feeling, still is. It does NOT mean being available 24/7 for others though.

FWIW I do also have a computer room with a tower desktop. It's very convenient. I'm not convinced I do my best thinking there. It's mostly convenient to execute, to drill. The actual thinking though happens anywhere, I don't really get to decide where and when.

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