Battle of the Productivity Tools

Right now I'm using 3 devices to up my productivity when I’m out of office and working as a digital nomad:
•    iPhone 3G -- running on AT&T's 3G network
•    USB laptop modem -- running on Verizon’s EVDO network
•    pocket notepad -- running on pen & paper

Here's how I rate them on three essential criteria: “Always On,” “Range of Work,” and “Speed of Input.”

iPhone 3G
Always On: Working in & around New York City, my network coverage is pretty good. But, I spend an hour a day in the subway where there’s no coverage (unlike when I’m in Seoul). (Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)
Range of Work: Accessing my email via Outlook and Gmail, making phone calls, scanning RSS feeds, finding directions, checking design updates on our websites, logging into Google calendar and online to-do lists, checking train schedules, killing time on Twitter… I can knock off an impressive range of small tasks. (Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)
Speed of Input: Once I learned to mistype as fast as possible (and let iPhone autocorrect it all), my thumb-typing approached Blackberry speeds.  But let’s not kid ourselves: as someone who took the time to learn to type by touch, there’s no comparison between thumb speed and a real keyboard. A waste of time for composing a well-developed idea or a complex email. (Rating: 2 out of 5 stars)

USB laptop modem
Always on: I first saw an EVDO connection being put to use by Jeff Pulver as he streamed video of our BRITE conference live from the stage on his handheld videocam (cool).  USB modem plans are independent of phone plans, so I got mine through Verizon, which gives slightly better coverage than AT&T gives my iPhone.  However, my laptop is not nearly as flexible as a handheld: I’m not going to whip out my laptop in line at Fedex, waiting to buy concert tickets, or standing under the grate at the 96th Street subway station.  (Rating: 3 out of 5 stars)
Range of Work: What can I say?  Anything but grilling a steak.  With this baby plugged into a good Dell laptop, I can access every file I own, working with webpages, spreadsheets, Word docs, PowerPoints, and blogs… and viewing them all on a 14” screen.  This is where real work gets done (Rating: 5 out of 5 stars)
Speed of Input: The key to real speed is two things: a full-size QUERTY keyboard and a full-size mouse with scroll wheel (trackpads and clit-mice are like thumb-typing: better than nothing, but vastly inferior to the real thing). (Rating: 5 out of 5 stars)

pocket notepad
Always on: Works anytime & anywhere, when your breakthrough comes as you least expect it. Battery never ever runs out.  The ideal tool for capturing ideas. (Rating: 5 out of 5 stars)
Range of Work: Limited to creating text and graphical documents (think: MS Word + Adobe Illustrator). A great, intuitive interface (see how much faster you can lay out a flowchart than in PowerPoint).  But doesn’t sync with my laptop, so finished work has to be manually typed later. (Rating: 2 out of 5 stars)
Speed of Input: For quick scribbles, this is the fastest by far – no booting up, logging in, or wifi connecting; and I can scribble pretty darn fast… For longer compositions, it lags a bit vs. the laptop. (Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)

And the winner is…

All three. As a digital nomad today, you can’t get by with only one portable work device.  So don’t believe the hype about any single productivity tool.  Arm yourself with a set of tools that complement each other, and you’ll be ready to maximize your next idle moment or commuter inspiration.

Comments

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