iPad as My Primary Computing Device

As of today with the receipt of my 12.9” iPad Pro Gen 3, I am all in on taking Apple up on the proposition that, with the advent of iPadOS 13.1, it can be my primary computer.

I have been experimenting with an older 9.7” iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard. A lot is possible, but I felt constrained by the screen size. The larger iPad, just by virtue of its size, makes things that were difficult much easier.

I was disappointed to learn that sharing iCloud Drive folders would not make it into iPadOS 13 as I had planned to migrate all my cloud storage to Apple. I will keep my Dropbox account until it expires in January and either shared folders will make it into iCloud Drive or I will move to the storage that comes along with Office 365.

The ability to share folders in Notes made the move from Evernote a no brainer and has already been accomplished. The attempt to move from Office 365 to iWork was a disaster. We have too much invested in learning how to use Office to make the switch worthwhile.

In addition to iPads and iPhones for my wife and me, we will keep a vintage Mac Mini and Thunderbolt Cinema Display running for times when we need a desktop (like de-duping files in cloud storage). When MacOS no longer supports that Mini, we’ll plunk down for an iMac (or whatever they are selling then) and I’ll convert the mini to a Linux server.

Dropping Dropbox

I have been planning on dropping Dropbox when shared folders are available on iCloud. My primary reason was to save money and improve my security by staying in the Apple Walled Garden. Dropbox’s recent announcement of major changes in the way they think about what their service is have made me think a move is even more warranted.

In its new iteration it’s a centralized collaboration point for all of the things people work on together. The new Dropbox not only lets you sync and share your files, the folks at Dropbox now insist that it’s:

…a single workspace to organize your content, connect your tools, and bring everyone together, wherever you are. The first thing you’ll notice is an all-new Dropbox desktop app that we’re introducing today through our early access program. It’s more than an app, though — it’s a completely new experience.

Dropbox

I must fully concur with John Gruber at Daring Fireball who writes simply, “I didn’t want any of this.”

That seems to be the upshot of the commentary on the new Dropbox. Nobody was looking for another way, outside the operating system they are running, to integrate the cloud services they use. Especially one that comes in an electron app that eats memory. They wanted a lightweight, cross platform way to sync and share files.

Has Dropbox jumped the shark? Time will tell, but this makes me feel like jumping off the Dropbox platform is the correct decision.

Spreadsheets on iPad

One of the goals of moving to an iPad as my primary computer is trying, as much as I can, to use native Apple tools. If, after having paid a premium for the hardware, I fail to use the software tools that come with it I have wasted the premium to some extent.


I have been a user and occasionally a power user of Excel since version 4 on Windows 3.1 and 3.11 and now use Excel 365 at work and home. Working with Numbers with its entirely different paradigm, was somewhat of a shock to the system. Just the idea that I couldn’t open an actual blank spreadsheet (with no formatting at all) that occupied the entire sheet seemed strange.



Continue reading →

Blogging With Apple Notes

So one of my first projects was to find out how iPad could support my blogging activities, preferably without spending any money or only a little.  I needed something that would work well with my self hosted WordPress site and would or could have a low distraction environment.

Most of the dedicated iPad blogging software that works with WordPress gets horrible reviews.  That includes Blogo which I had used and liked previously on Mac, until they switched to a subscription model and I dropped them like a hot potato.  Apparently other users didn’t like the change either and their revenue dropped like the same hot potato.  The developer claims they are understaffed and are working hard to recover.  Blah.  They get two stars out of five.

Continue reading →

A Return to Blogging

I’ve certainly taken some time off from blogging, several years of writing only intermittently and a change of sites to boot. But it’s time to return.

But for what purpose? Most of my prior posts consist of bible studies, while the second most are related to computers/tech, and last but not least, political issues. I’m not teaching bible studies right now and politics is fractious right now, to say the least, so that leaves computers and technical topics.

And to lead off we’ll start with my current deep dive into the Appleverse.

Pages: 1 2

Ruth and the Woman at the Well

You have no doubt heard the old joke about what happens when you play a country song backwards.  You get your wife, your dog and your truck back,  Grandma is alive and well,  and you get released from jail. In short, all of the myriad hurts and harms of life that form the basis for all good country songs are cured.

When I think about it, that’s a lot like the redemption of Ruth.  Boaz made good on her lack of everything she needed in this world, family, a home, status, food, and  a future for her family to come.  And sometimes I think that’s what we are really looking for when we come to God, we just want Him to play the song backwards because we are in places we don’t want to be.

But, as always, Jesus has other, grander goals for us.

Continue reading →

Life in the Spirit

Last week, in our study of Ruth, we noted that the Book of Ruth is traditionally read during the Jewish Festival of Shavuot, also know as the Feast of Weeks or in Greek as Pentecost.  This was the harvest festival in ancient Israel and, more importantly, the celebration of the giving of the Law of Moses.  It is called the Festival of Weeks because the Jews count the seven weeks starting with the second day after Passover, 49 days.  This is called the counting of the Omer.

An Omer was a volumetric measure of grain equal to about 2.4 quarts or 3.74 pounds of barley.  Each day of the counting, an Omer of barley was offered as a sacrifice in the temple until Shavuot when an offering of wheat was made.  Counting the Omer is to show how the coming of the law is anticipated and how the people desire it to be make it real in their lives.

It is interesting to note that Shavuot is commanded in Leviticus 23:15-21 and immediately after that in verse 22 is the command that they were not to reap to the edges of their fields, the very command that provided food for Ruth and Naomi.

Continue reading →

Ruth and Redemption

Many of us are old enough to remember Green Stamps.   I remember going to the grocery store with your Mom.  They had those big machines at the cash register (no scanner, a mechanical cash register that made lots of interesting noises) with dials on the front.  After the sale was rung up, the cashier consulted the reciept and dialed out the appropriate amount of S & H Green Stamps.

Green Stamp glue smelled different, I can still remember and recognize it.  Dad was in charge of the stamps after they came home.  He’d organize them, mositen them with a sponge and paste them in Green Stamp Books.  Statcks and stacks of Green Stamp books, or so it appeared to me.

When there were enough we’d take the books to a, wait for it, Redemption Center.  (As an aside, how is it that Churches are not called Redemption Centers?) At the Redemption Center Mom would pick out a crock pot or an iron (really it was never anything fun) and we’d turn the stacks of Green Stamp books in and depart with Mom’s minor appliance.

Continue reading →

Witnessing

This is one of those topics about which, when all is said and done, much more is said than done by most believers.  I don’t know about you, but having been a Baptist my entire life I have been exposed to more evangilism/witnessing training/equiping thingies (its a techincal term) than I care to count with little to show for the effort.

With that disclaimer I thought I’d try a fresh look (for me at least) at the topic, see what I could find that was off the beaten path that may prove inspirational.  As it turns out there is not much off the beaten path regarding witnessing and this discussion is going so sound like the discussions we had on:

  • Reading Scripture — Do it as part of a two way conversation with God with whom we wish to be in relationship.
  • Fasting— If you fast do it with an eye to receiving our reward from God and from the overflow of a heart committed to God, because we know Him relationally.
  • Purity — Per Calvin Wittman “…the pure in heart have had their eyes opened, they can walk in the light as He is in the light and have fellowship with God and one another.”

Continue reading →