Since the iPad had been released, and even before it was officially available around here I have been using and have been a huge fan of the device. I have gone through many lengths to make it work for me and essentially adjusted the way I work to fit the device.

Even a few weeks, after being forced to carry around a laptop and work from there for a few, I was looking for to going back to my workflows and work from the iPad again. In Observations:

I enjoy the MacBook at home, it’s like a desktop computer but it turns out that I missed the ease and focus of working from the iPad when being out and about. Since this period is now over, I’m looking forward to get my old workflows back.

Interestingly it turned out not as I expected. I started to work only from the iPad again, but ever so often I just needed to do something that I can only do on the Mac Book. Mostly this refers to using Sibelius. Convinced that I want to use the iPad at and for work I carried around both devices around for a while. I used the iPad for writing and some music-playing, but did editing and scoring on the MacBook. Together with the running iMac in my small teaching room, we’re talking Mission Control.

Having the Mac Book there though, I slowly but steadily started to work on the Mac. More and more. And you guessed it: more. I could do want I wanted and needed to, effortless with all the tools that do the best job. That’s when it dawned me, that all those productivity issues that I was facing, I have created myself, simply because I insisted on, was convinced, that I all would need is the iPad. I was wrong.

Doing, whatever I do, on the MacBook is 100% faster and efficient, and I, most importantly, can use the tools and formats, that I, want to use. No compromises.

Eventually I left the iPad at home and worked only from my MacBook ever since. Together with the phone for messaging and casual browsing and mobile access to whatever data I need, the Kindle for reading, I haven’t touched my iPad for weeks now. Interestingly I haven’t even missed it.