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Do students need an iPad or a MacBook?

2019-10-14 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 7:30 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech (also: Productivity and time) · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Aimed at students, He changed his mind, Sponsor segment present

Ali now thinks an iPad can probably replace a laptop for most people, students included, judging it by efficiency, complexity and delight; he keeps his 15-inch MacBook Pro for heavy, efficiency-critical work but uses his 11-inch iPad Pro for most of his day.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The conclusion first: an iPad can probably replace a laptop for most people

  • ★★★ Ali now thinks that for most people, students or not, an iPad can probably replace a laptop, with caveats: it depends on how much they value efficiency and what work they do. (hedged) — 00:00:00 · iPad, MacBook, iPad Pro

    “I now think that for most people, whether you're a student or not, your iPad can probably replace your laptop.”

00:00:29 — Efficiency: time between thought and action, Ali's shortcuts versus his housemate Molly's use

  • ★★ Ali weighs whether an iPad can replace a laptop on three points: efficiency, complexity and delight. — 00:00:29 · iPad, iPad Pro

  • ★★ Ali defines efficiency as minimising the time between a thought and the action that carries it out. — 00:00:29

    “we can define efficiency as minimizing the amount of time between thought and action”

  • ★★★ An iPad is inherently less efficient than a laptop at the same tasks: Mac and Windows have system-wide search utilities such as Alfred or the Windows logo key, which are harder to match on an iPad. — 00:01:07 · iPad, Alfred, Microsoft Windows, iPad Pro

  • ★★ Ali now does most of his writing on an iPad, though text work is still more efficient on a MacBook with its trackpad, mouse, drag and drop and copy and paste. — 00:01:36 · iPad, MacBook, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ The first thing to weigh before replacing a laptop with an iPad, Ali says, is how much you value the laptop's efficiency saving. — 00:01:36 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali says he spends seven hours a day or more in front of a computer, doing a hundred different things with a very high number of actions per minute. — 00:01:36
  • ★★ Ali uses keyboard shortcuts for everything, Alfred, automations, workflows and text expanders to save seconds on each interaction, so he cannot really replace his laptop with an iPad. — 00:02:05 · keyboard navigation, Alfred, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali's housemate Molly is a more typical computer user: she has had her laptop for several years and spends most of her time on her phone. — 00:02:05 · Molly Hunt

00:02:35 — Complexity: casual student use versus video editing, coding and server management

  • ★★ Ali thinks his housemate Molly's use is the standard one for students, so for them replacing a laptop with an iPad is very reasonable: a few seconds of efficiency make no real difference. — 00:02:35 · Molly Hunt, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ The second point is complexity: Molly's laptop use (Netflix, YouTube, browsing, university assignments, the occasional PowerPoint), like most students', is at the casual end of the spectrum. — 00:02:35 · Molly Hunt, Netflix, Microsoft PowerPoint
  • ★ With her casual needs, Ali says, Molly can very feasibly replace her laptop with an iPad, and he has been actively encouraging her to. — 00:03:18 · Molly Hunt, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali calls himself a massive nerd who uses a laptop for complex work: video editing, graphic design, web development, coding, server management for his businesses, podcast audio editing and music production. — 00:03:18
  • ★★ Complex work such as video editing or coding can be done on an iPad, Ali says, but it takes much more hackery and fighting against the system. — 00:03:47 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ A student who uses a computer like most students, not as a massive computer nerd, can completely replace a laptop with an iPad, which Ali calls a nicer experience overall. — 00:03:47 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:04:09 — Delight: the iPad Pro he carries everywhere and the MacBook he uses for heavy lifting

  • ★★★ Ali will not fully replace his laptop because of efficiency and complexity, but uses his iPad more hours a day for light work (browsing, writing, planning videos, notes), keeping the laptop for heavy lifting. — 00:04:09 · iPad, MacBook, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali's 11-inch iPad Pro is such a delight to use that he almost feels bad when he has to use his laptop. — 00:04:09 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali carries his 15-inch MacBook Pro, a heavy machine he dislikes carrying, only when going home for a weekend of video editing on his brother's monitor; on holiday he takes just his iPad. — 00:04:39 · MacBook, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali's iPad goes with him everywhere and is worn from use, with paint broken off some keys of its keyboard; it is the device he uses for most of the day. — 00:04:39 · iPad Pro, iPad
  • ★★ Ali would love to replace his MacBook completely with his iPad, but because he values efficiency and productivity he knows it is not feasible. — 00:05:08 · MacBook, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ The MacBook-versus-iPad debate comes down to how productive you can be and need to be on each device; a student doing basic work can easily do it on an iPad. — 00:05:08 · MacBook, iPad, iPad Pro

00:05:37 — Build your own productivity system before optimising for speed

  • ★★★ A student aiming for productivity should first build their own productivity system before optimising for speed on devices, Ali says, as a pianist first plays slowly to learn the basics. — 00:05:37

00:06:06 — Thomas Frank's productivity class and Ali's own class on Skillshare

00:06:50 — Summary and a pointer to his video on which iPad to buy

Threads in this video

  • shift · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — Ali now thinks that for most people, students or not, an iPad can probably replace a laptop, with caveats: it depends on how much they value efficiency and what work they do. (00:00:00)
  • refine · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — A student who uses a computer like most students, not as a massive computer nerd, can completely replace a laptop with an iPad, which Ali calls a nicer experience overall. (00:03:47)
  • restate · Can an iPad replace a laptop? — Ali will not fully replace his laptop because of efficiency and complexity, but uses his iPad more hours a day for light work (browsing, writing, planning videos, notes), keeping the laptop for heavy lifting. (00:04:09)
  • refine · Which productivity system should you use to organise your life? — A student aiming for productivity should first build their own productivity system before optimising for speed on devices, Ali says, as a pianist first plays slowly to learn the basics. (00:05:37)

Mentioned

Central: iPad · iPad Pro · MacBook

Also: People: Molly Hunt · Thomas Frank

Organizations: Netflix

Concepts: keyboard navigation

Places: Cambridge

Products: Alfred · Final Cut Pro · iPad Air · Microsoft PowerPoint · Microsoft Windows

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