June 13, 2016

This isn’t about the most popular device or brand.

Today I was going to crowd-source opinions — blah blah blah — on whether or not I should buy a certain type of laptop. Instead, I decided not to crowd-source when it came to my needs. I chose to make the decision myself and buy one based on my own requirements. Here’s why.

I mess up decisions sometimes — so this is nothing new. Many people use social channels to get opinions, which then alter their choices. Consumer Reports is a great example of research tools for consumers. But this time, I needed to think for myself.

In my line of work, I usually have 15–20 browser tabs open at all times, run several applications, and use a mouse like a wild person. Right now, I do all this on a three-year-old laptop with a wireless mouse and two screens. Everything works perfectly.

I have a smartphone, but I would never rely on it for work unless I had no other choice. I also have a tablet — and although it’s functional, it lacks screen size and a keyboard. I’ve never gotten along with touchscreen keyboards, and when the keyboard overlays content, it just becomes inefficient.

Here’s what I realized:

I now have fingerprints all over my laptop screen, even though it’s not a touchscreen. It’s like when we all talked to the mirror as kids—if you didn’t… well, maybe you just think I’m nuts.
I experimented with working on one screen and no mouse. I tested how I could manage my workload that way. And after trying it, the answer became clear:

I can’t deal with touchpads alone. I’m not fast enough navigating apps and browsers that way. I need a mouse. In my mockups and workflow tests, I proved it to myself. This is what’s efficient for me.

The best part? By making this decision myself, I gained clarity. I will stick with a laptop and a mouse. It gives me more freedom, not less — and I don’t sacrifice productivity.

I was taught to learn from my mistakes, and I believe that still. I’ll follow up in a couple weeks to see how this decision plays out — but for now, we still won’t talk about brands. 🙂

(c) Jeremy Abram