Salient Experience

So we currently have a Lightning to 30-pin adapter for all those cords that we have from our older Apple stuff... How long do you reckon it will be before we see the converse (as shown above)? Will Lightning be the last physical connection for Apple products or can they go smaller?

Since 2003, I’ve not left my home for work without also leaving with a laptop computer. My office has been in my bag, with everything I needed at my fingertips, every day for the last ten years. It’s hard to describe the security of knowing you have it all with you (as well as a back up drive or two) wherever you go.

Today, I’ve left the house with only (only!) my iPad and iPhone.

It’s a bit of an experiment and one that actually scares me a little. I’ve done it for a couple of reasons:

Can I create on an iPad? I really want to answer this question. Yes, I know people do covers for the New Yorker on iGadgets (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/06/cover-story-he-draw-on-ipad.html#slide_ss_0=1). I know you can make documents and wireframes and store everything in the cloud. But can I do it… and how effective is it day to day …that’s the question. I need to see if I can make a workflow work.

Less daily necessity for a ‘computer’ More and more I find my work is in the connective tissue of a project rather than the singular tasks: the ‘sitting over there and making stuff’ sort of tasks. It’s in driving vision and building consensus. It’s in more and more meetings to influence and create the best experience. And I find myself creating new ways to have the most impact while doing less (but better and more influential) documentation on my laptop.

But let’s face it - an iPad is a computer. It just feels like leaving the Swiss Army knife at home and only taking the hunting knife. Which leads me to…

Laptop as safety blanket Probably the main reason I need to do this. My laptop has been a ten year habit. I’m honestly surprised by the level of anxiety I have leaving it at home today.

I have every app I need (Email, Safari, Omnigraffle and OmniOutliner, the iWork suite, iPhoto for processing images, I even have Diet Coda if I need to write some HTML for heaven’s sake!) and multiple cloud storage options on my iPad but there’s something in the back of my mind nagging me. Like I’ve forgotten to turn off the (proverbial) stove…

The proliferation of all things digital has brought with it an expectation of 'how things should be':

Websites should have a site map; 

Apps should do one thing really well;

Your competitor has a community section, so you've got one;

Show the people how social you are by putting a link to your Facebook page in the footer; 

And you absolutely need an FAQ page (and don't forget to name it "FAQ").

Doing these things will be the safe and lazy move. We feel it's how it should be and yet it's so unsatisfying - so much structurizing.

How about stripping it all away and doing only what's essential. Question everything until it can get no simpler. That's a scary task and you'll need to learn to win friends and influence people because different is bad. Too often we'd prefer to go unnoticed than to do something really great. It's also hard, hard work.

People say "less is more". I've grown to dislike the phrase. If you truly do Less correctly, it's not more. It's better.

Struc-tur-ize (verb)