Current goal

Phase out the use of a laptop (in the “traditional” sense)

Backstory

I’m proud to keep a 2007 MacBook alive in 2020. I bought a black, mid-2007 top-of-line MacBook in Thailand and it kicked the bucket in 2020 and very grateful to transition to a second-hand white MacBook that uses exactly the same hardware whose CPU is maybe 10% slower.

This is a non-issue given my primary use of the machine appears to be file management (a la the Finder) in OS X (El Capitan) and executing the occasional “desktop use case” I can’t perform on my iPad Pro.

I need to acquire a used webcam (max budget: $30) so I have a backup video conferencing solution. (though admittedly I am more likely to use my Pixel for portability reasons)

I’m proud to be running [[Linux]] ([[Ubuntu]]) and just for kicks, I’m figuring out how to get Win10 working (though to be honest, I really despise Windows after attempting to fix my friend’s laptop - I ended up recommending she use Ubuntu!)

The 1%

1. desktop [[Chrome]] (I am actively moving to desktop Safari)
   • Chrome extensions (I don’t have any I truly depend on)
   • it’s easier to switch Google accounts (ie. user contexts)
2. Zoom
   • Gallery view with 25 participants (iPad only supports 9, iPad Pro has plenty of horsepower so it is not a hardware limitation) (and mind you, on a 2007 MacBook, I only get 15fps at best)
3. OSX (not daily)
   • desktop Notion for exception cases:
     1. ? import
     2. cutting & pasting large "blocks" (multiple blocks) of text
     3. syncs offline
     4. very infrequent admin stuff: changing your email, upgrading your plan
   • Finder to organize files sitting on external hard drives (which eventually will go in the cloud in something like [[Dropbox]])
   • iPhoto which stores photos not yet in Google Photos (will be eventually)
   • iTunes which stores music I’ve rated and organized (I primarily use Spotify and I am able to stream/download my purchases to iPad Pro)
4. Linux (not daily)
   • currently using Ubuntu LTS for stability (auto updates security patches)
   • dabble in elementaryOS (looks more like OSX) so I can make programmatic modifications to desktop UI (like removing the clock from the toolbar!)
   • have Ubuntu in the Oracle Cloud to host websites (Codename Pictues: http://oasis.chinarut.com:9001)
   • intend to replace my need for Linux on my MacBook with one of these options:
     1. Raspberry Pi so I have a local Linux machine that doesn’t require Internet access while traveling
     2. Linux running on an iPad Pro ([[iSH]] demonstrates it is possible and WWDC2020 demonstrates that Apple has a focus on Linux running in macOS therefore, it is technically possible one day...)
5. Windows (rarely)
   • I really don’t do much in Windows. I have it for “reference” and clearly if I didn’t have it, it wouldn’t be a big deal. (if I really need it, I can probably run it in the cloud and I’m sure I’ll be able to run it local on an iPad Pro through virtualization)

Etc.

Managing Time Machine when you replace drives or computers | Creative Tech Support