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My Everyday Carry 2022

2022-02-10 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 14:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech (also: Productivity and time) · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: His own products discussed, Sponsor segment present

Ali goes through his everyday carry in three price tiers (budget, premium and his own luxury setup): bags, laptops, tablets, notebooks, headphones, cameras, pens, chargers, phone, earbuds and watch, and launches his stationery brand Essentiali with its undated Part-Time Productivity Planner.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Intro: one everyday carry in budget, premium and luxury tiers

00:00:15 — Bags: Peak Design Everyday Backpack, Everyday Zip and a JanSport

  • ★★ Ali's everyday bag is the Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L, which costs about 200 pounds. — 00:00:15
  • ★ Ali likes the Peak Design Everyday Backpack's anti-theft opening and its top and side handles, which let him carry it on the side on the London Underground. — 00:00:40
  • ★★ Ali's premium-tier bag is the Peak Design Everyday Zip, which he really likes: 15 litres and about 140 pounds. — 00:01:00
  • ★ The budget-tier bag is a JanSport backpack found on Amazon for about 30 pounds. — 00:01:27 · Amazon

00:01:52 — Laptops: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Asus ZenBook

  • ★★ Ali's everyday laptop is the 14-inch 2021 MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip, 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB drive, which costs 2,400 pounds. — 00:01:56 · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali calls his M1 Pro MacBook Pro a bit overkill: he no longer does much editing himself and does not need so fast a processor. — 00:02:00 · MacBook
  • ★★ The M1 MacBook Air, Ali's premium-tier laptop, is the laptop his business buys for all its team members; it costs a thousand pounds. — 00:02:26 · MacBook
  • ★ Ali prefers the design of the MacBook Air to that of the new 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pros. — 00:02:35 · MacBook
  • ★★ The budget-tier laptop is the Asus ZenBook 14 at 500 pounds, half the price of the MacBook Air; it runs Windows, which Ali does not like, but he says it gets the job done fine. — 00:02:45 · MacBook
  • ★★★ Ali thinks a laptop is a requirement while a tablet or iPad is a very optional device, so his budget setup has no tablet. — 00:03:05 · iPad, iPad Pro

00:03:08 — Tablets: no tablet, the basic iPad and his iPad mini

  • ★★ Ali calls the basic iPad, at 329 pounds the cheapest iPad, pretty solid and a very good iPad if you are on a budget. — 00:03:14 · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ The tablet Ali carries every day is an iPad mini, not an iPad Pro: 479 pounds, plus 129 for the Apple Pencil and 50 for the Smart Cover. — 00:03:25 · iPad Pro, Apple Pencil
  • ★★ Ali calls his iPad mini basically a glorified Kindle: an easy way to take handwritten notes with a paper-like screen protector and to read books on Kindle. — 00:03:43 · Kindle

00:03:54 — Notebook: the Essentiali Part-Time Productivity Planner, the might-do list pad and notebooks

  • ★★★ Ali has launched his own stationery brand, Essentiali; its Part-Time Productivity Planner is the notebook he carries in all three setups. — 00:03:54
  • ★★ Each day the Part-Time Productivity Planner asks for three things you are grateful for, the most important task and the might-do list, then a brain dump, one thing learned and the day's most story-worthy moment. — 00:04:05
  • ★★★ Dated productivity planners left Ali with blank pages on days he did not fill them in, which made him feel down about himself; the Part-Time Productivity Planner has no dates, so it can be used whenever you want. — 00:04:27
  • ★★ The Part-Time Productivity Planner sells for 25 pounds. — 00:04:45
  • ★★ Ali keeps Essentiali's might-do list pad on his desk: an optional daily sheet where you decide your most important task and what else is on your might-do list, then rip it off. — 00:04:57
  • ★★ Essentiali also sells a set of three A6 dot-grid notebooks printed with "journey before destination", "this is going to be fun" and "it's the climb". — 00:05:15 · journey before destination
  • ★★ Ali says Essentiali is going to launch more physical products at some point. — 00:05:30
  • ★★ Essentiali has already had a few hundred orders from Instagram, and pre-order customers are receiving their products. (hedged) — 00:05:40 · Instagram

00:05:49 — Headphones: Bose QC 700, Sony WH-1000XM3 and Anker Soundcore

  • ★★ Ali uses the Bose QC 700s every day, probably some of his favourite noise-cancelling headphones, and carries them in his bag without a case. — 00:05:50
  • ★★ The premium-tier headphones are the Sony WH-1000XM3 (as heard), at about 200-something pounds, with a carry case. (hedged) — 00:06:10
  • ★★ Ali calls the Anker Soundcore surprisingly good noise-cancelling headphones for around 85 pounds: not as good as the pricier ones, but the best bang for your buck. — 00:06:34

00:07:03 — Cameras: Sony A6400, Sony A7C and Leica Q2, and why carry a camera at all

  • ★★ Ali always carries a camera and thinks it is good to always have one. — 00:07:04
  • ★★ A budget-tier camera could be the Sony A6400, at just under a thousand pounds. (hedged) — 00:07:10
  • ★★ Ali's first camera, the Sony A6000, is still a pretty good camera and costs about 200 or 300 pounds. — 00:07:18
  • ★★ The premium-tier camera is the Sony A7C, a full-frame camera with interchangeable lenses, at about 1,500 pounds. (hedged) — 00:07:28
  • ★★ The camera Ali actually carries is the Leica Q2, which costs about 5,000 pounds. — 00:07:55
  • ★★ Ali calls his Leica Q2 overkill, says the A7C or A6000 can probably take even nicer photos, but finds it encourages him to take more photos; he uses it only for photos. (hedged) — 00:08:02
  • ★★ Asked why carry a camera when you have a phone, Ali says there is something so much nicer about photos taken with a camera, and his are generally a bit nicer than what he would get on his iPhone. — 00:08:25
  • ★★ At university Ali carried a Sony A6000, then moved to the Sony A7 III, and now carries the Leica Q2. — 00:08:35

00:08:49 — Pens: Muji, Uni-ball and Lamy

  • ★★ Ali's favourite pen these days is the Lamy Swift (as heard), about 50 pounds, though he finds it not much better than basic Muji or Uni-ball fineliners. — 00:09:01

00:09:31 — Chargers: Anker plug, MagSafe Duo and Mophie cable set

  • ★★ Ali always carries an Anker charger with two USB-C ports, because when travelling he does not like to be caught without a phone charger. — 00:09:40
  • ★★ The MagSafe Duo, which charges a phone and an Apple Watch at the same time, costs 129 pounds. — 00:09:55 · Apple Watch
  • ★★ Ali used to forget his Apple Watch charger when staying at his mum's or a friend's; carrying the MagSafe Duo, he is never without one. — 00:10:05 · Apple Watch
  • ★★ Ali keeps a Mophie set of three cables (USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to Lightning, USB-A to Lightning) in his bag at all times: he almost never needs it, but many times it has saved him, and friends who need a cable. — 00:10:28

00:11:07 — Pocket items, watch, and the total cost of each tier

  • ★★ Ali's everyday phone is the iPhone 13 Pro and his everyday earbuds are the AirPods Pro. — 00:11:07
  • ★★ As cheaper alternatives to AirPods, Ali suggests the Nothing Ear 1 or the even cheaper Anker Soundcore Life P3. — 00:11:15 · AirPods
  • ★★ Ali uses the Apple Watch Series 7, calls the Apple Watch SE broadly just as good, and says that to save money you do not need an Apple Watch at all, as he barely uses his. — 00:11:35 · Apple Watch
  • ★★ Ali reckons his own everyday carry costs about $14,000, excessive mostly because of the camera and the MacBook Pro, and the premium tier close to $6,000. (hedged) — 00:11:50 · MacBook
  • ★★★ Pared down, the only things Ali would want to carry every day are a laptop and the Part-Time Productivity Planner; everything else is a bit superfluous. — 00:12:20

00:12:33 — Sponsor read for Rize and sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In 2021 a lot of Ali's belongings were stolen from his Tesla, which got him thinking what he would carry if he had to replace everything on a smaller budget. — video description · Tesla

Threads in this video

  • mentioned · A lot of Ali's belongings are stolen from his Tesla (2021) — In 2021 a lot of Ali's belongings were stolen from his Tesla, which got him thinking what he would carry if he had to replace everything on a smaller budget. (video description)
  • refine · Which tech is worth buying? — Ali thinks a laptop is a requirement while a tablet or iPad is a very optional device, so his budget setup has no tablet. (00:03:05)
  • restate · Which iPad should you buy? — Ali calls the basic iPad, at 329 pounds the cheapest iPad, pretty solid and a very good iPad if you are on a budget. (00:03:14)
  • refine · Which iPad should you buy? — Ali calls his iPad mini basically a glorified Kindle: an easy way to take handwritten notes with a paper-like screen protector and to read books on Kindle. (00:03:43)
  • launched · Essentiali, Ali's stationery brand (2022) — Ali has launched his own stationery brand, Essentiali; its Part-Time Productivity Planner is the notebook he carries in all three setups. (00:03:54)
  • refine · How should you plan your day? — Dated productivity planners left Ali with blank pages on days he did not fill them in, which made him feel down about himself; the Part-Time Productivity Planner has no dates, so it can be used whenever you want. (00:04:27)
  • restate · Which tech is worth buying? — Asked why carry a camera when you have a phone, Ali says there is something so much nicer about photos taken with a camera, and his are generally a bit nicer than what he would get on his iPhone. (00:08:25)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Essentiali · iPad mini · MacBook · Part-Time Productivity Planner · Peak Design Everyday Backpack

Also: Organizations: Amazon · Anker · Instagram · Muji

Concepts: journey before destination · might-do list

Places: London Underground

Products: AirPods · AirPods Pro · Anker Soundcore Life P3 · Anker Soundcore Life Q30 · Apple M1 · Apple Pencil · Apple Watch · Apple Watch SE · Apple Watch Series 7 · Asus ZenBook 14 · Bose QC 700 · iPad · iPad Pro · iPhone 13 Pro · JanSport SuperBreak One · Kindle · Lamy Swift · Leica Q2 · MagSafe Duo · Microsoft Windows · Might-Do List Daily Planning Sheets · Mophie Cable Kit · Nothing Ear 1 · Peak Design Everyday Backpack Zip · Sony A6000 · Sony A6400 · Sony A7 III · Sony A7C · Sony WH-1000XM3

Only in the description or credits: Tesla

Also centred on iPad mini: Which iPad should you buy - Analysis of iPad Pro vs iPad Air vs iPad Mini vs iPad · iPad Mini Review - The Perfect Consumption Device · Which iPad Should You Buy? (Basic, Mini, Air, Pro or Pro 12.9)

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