I can have multiple huge screens and an ergonomic setup for a lower price than a laptop. And I use it at home 95% of the time. The other 5% I just bring my NUC which is lighter, sturdier and smaller than a laptop. Where I'm going there's always screens and keyboards available anyway.
I now singularly use Linux/Gnome3 on a 13 year old ThinkPad.
The best desktop experience I remember was a 20MHz 386DX [0]. It took 2 minutes to boot and had a noisy fan. The ThinkPad/Gnome experience is pretty close to this. Not because of a 2 minute startup time, it wakes up instantly, and starts from cold within seconds. Not because of the noisy fan, it is silent and runs at 45° in an ambient temperature of 25°.
Because of the focus. Starting an old desktop meant wanting to do something. And Gnome, 3 even more than 2, means a single focused screen. I can split screen if needed, or plug in another monitor, or add a KDE/Windows style window bar, but this removes the focus.
A world of always on devices, often in our pockets or hands even when doing other stuff, and a common expectation - internalised as an expectation - to always be online fed by a hunger, famine, for new news and dripped by notifications. I do have some notifications, I have a flashing light and horn in my office inspired by a documentary on Ling's Cars [1]. A flash is a new user and a horn's for if I lose a heartbeat from one of my websites for more than 5 minutes.
You do you. Often slowing down and focusing is a good recipe.
[0] The worst, in retrospect, was a time when numbers of screens on desks was a tools of bravado and validation, an investment banking job with no less than 7 screens.
Bonus points: full size Logitech keyboard (I need the lights. Apple only lights the laptop keyboards and the magic one for the iPad that I know of)
The forward delete key is super handy.
I got a usb-c card reader, which works with the iPad as well. The iPad and magic case is my laptop.
Why do I like modular? The display on the old iMac quit, meaning that the whole thing goes in for repairs.
reply