All day long I fight computers. I battle PCs and Macs. I have a long-standing feud with Canon printers and fax machines as a species. I work in computer support. It is my job to come to your desk when something breaks and unbreak it.
I explain why that thing did what it did and what that error message means. I add and remove software, install new hardware and replace faulty components. I spend my days wrist deep in atrociously messy keyboards and desks that resemble my own scattered brain.
My apartment has all the hallmarks of a computer nerd. I have an iMac, PC desktop, Mac Mini, a couple of PCs laptops of varying vintages, a netbook with a busted screen, and a CR-48 Chromebook. This is in addition to the 1st Generation iPad, iPhone 4 and an original Motorola Droid. This doesn’t take into account the various external hard drives, network equipment, printers and other technological devices scattered around.
However, when I get home more and more often I reach for the iPad. I don’t want a computer. I don’t want the hot, heavy, error-prone devices I do battle with every week day.
I love the simplicity of the iPad and the iPhone. I can still read Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and my RSS feeds. I write my 750 Words every day. ((I just passed 65 straight days today!))
Even now, I am typing into iA Writer on a Bluetooth Apple keyboard tethered to the iPad. I am sitting on the sofa with my headphones on listening to Moby’s performance from Moogfest and typing happily on the keyboard in my lap while the iPad sits on the arm of the sofa.
It is a relief at the end of a long day to be able to sit and use a device so powerful and yet so simple. I welcome the Post-PC era with open arms.