How Many Devices?
How much technology do you use in a day?
This post came as a result of a few notes and projects I’ve been working on. But it boils down to…
How much technology do you use in a day?
How many devices do you hop on and off in a day? How many pieces of software do you use? How many accounts do you log into just to get through your day?
On the hardware side, I’ve shared my opinions on wanting more single purpose hardware. You can read my wish list for 2024 and 2025. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I use several devices in a day. I move from my personal phone (which I’d call my primary device), a work smartphone, a e-ink Kindle, an iPad, a Chromebook, sometimes a desktop, and whatever other device I may be testing or experimenting that week.
But I think back to my college days when I had a laptop. And that was pretty much it. I had a cell phone, pre-smartphones, that just handled sms and phone calls. But I basically just used a laptop to do everything. I didn’t even have a TV. I would watch shows and movies on my laptop. Who else remembers when MacBooks came with a little IR remote and called themselves media centers?
Ok, enough with the nostalgia.
More so than the hardware is the amount of software and apps I use in a day. The now ubiquitous presence of cloud based software, means I can access my software from any devices with an internet connections. And every device has an internet connection now.
These software/apps have become so accessible and so specific in functionality, I can find the exact software I want to use. It’s as simple as putting in my email address, creating a password, and I start using it.
Starting a new project? My first habit now is to find a piece of software that will help. Surely someone else has done this and built something to help.
Do you ever consciously curate this software? Cut back or think about if you really still need it? Or does this just happen naturally for you, you stop using the app when you just don't feel like it anywhere? Do you ever remove these apps from your device? Or delete all these online accounts you have created?
I’ve started to take inventory and have started to curate my software. There is so much I help on to, just in case. That’s not a good reason to keep an account. Take a back up, file it away, and delete the account/software.
I challenge the readers here to do the same. Start cleaning up the digital clutter you’ve created.
How much technology do you use in a day? Is there any software you can’t live without? Did this software exist five years ago? Leave your own technology list below and share your comments in the discussion below.