Me & My Mac
A reader’s set-up
The functionality of the iOS and OS X ecosystem is far superior to current Windows systems
Sean uses Apple products to manage projects for the oil and gas industry from his home in Aberdeen. It all started with the original iPad, and he says he was “hooked on Apple products from then on”. We can tell! In four years, he has amassed quite a collection of Macs and iOS devices, which are important to his job, whether he’s working at home in the Granite City or away.
“The workhorse of my setup is the 27-inch iMac, where I do most of my detailed project-planning work, utilising various project software tools. But I use the MacBook Air and iPad mini as a mobile office when I visit clients. The MacBook Air is a joy to use and fast enough to run most of my key software (albeit on a smaller screen) and I find the battery life lasts long enough to get through the day even with intense use.” Sean’s MacBook runs most of the same apps as his iMac, and it’s more than just a portable stand-in. “I use the MacBook Air in meetings to make live markups on project documents using Evernote. It’s particularly good at connecting to and utilising different Wi-Fi networks, which is key to my role having to access online databases wherever I may be, allowing me to work with project software or complex office documents.”
If Sean’s desk looks impeccable, that’s got a lot to do with Evernote: “I use it to scan in hard copy files or sticky notes so I can work virtually paper-free by having access to the documents at any time while I’m mobile and using my iOS devices or MacBook Air.”
Apple’s operating systems and cloud services have hit a few bumps over the years, but Sean is a big fan of their current incarnations.
“With Yosemite, iCloud has been improved and it’s easy to use Handoff (one of my favourite features of Yosemite) between the iOS devices and the Macs.”
Sean hasn’t quite managed to shake off Windows, though. “I still have a Windows laptop… for a particular Windows-only software package – but then I can’t wait to get back to working on the Mac. It just reminds me how good they are, and how the functionality of the iOS and OS X ecosystem is far superior to current Windows operating systems.”