Author: Thord Hedengren

Happy New Year!

It’s 2021, a shiny new year that will treat us all better, or so I hope. 2020 was hard for everyone, yours truly included, although I’m thankful for what I got. If you’re curious about such matters, I wrote a short blog post about my 2020.

2020 saw the launch of Switch to iPad, the newsletter you’re reading right now. I published 27 issues, one per week mostly. Most of those letters were for paying subscribers only, but some were free. Switch to iPad is a project I’ve been meaning to kick off for quite some time, so I’m glad I finally got around to it. The iPad’s been my primary computing device for so long, it’s almost weird that it took so long to get here.

I’ve spent the past couple of days contemplating my iPad workflows and usage. The relative downtime has made me both question and discover things. Like how I miss having an iPad mini around. I used to have one for light reading and gaming, 12.9” isn’t ideal for either of those in most scenarios. Likewise, working from home has made my workplaces static, which means I can always have a keyboard and trackpad, and sometimes an external screen, so the 12.9” size isn’t such a key factor anymore. At least not until I edit a photo in Darkroom, or create a social media post for a client in Canva. I’m considering going back to the 11” model just to see how it feels, but I think it’ll be too big too, it’s just not small enough.

I’ve landed in nine iPad goals for 2021. Some aren’t really actionable goals as such, more a starting point to what might become a goal. It’s not a New Year’s resolution, after all.

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Hi there!

Apple’s latest batch of Macs, the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, all sport the first generation for Mac-specific Apple Silicon. That’s just a fancy word for Apple processors, something that’s been in the iPad and iPhone for years. The new Mac processors are called M1, and they’re very much akin to the A processors in the iOS devices. That also means that they carry with them a lot of the things that have made the iPad in particular such a great computing device: Instant on, great battery life, and snappy performance.

It’s no surprise that would-be (and current) iPad switchers would eye the new M1 Macs. So, let’s talk a bit about that, shall we?

Let’s get this out of the way: The new M1 Macs are great. Battery life is stellar, apps that are tailored to M1 are a lot faster than their Intel equivalents, and most other apps (running the Rosetta 2 conversion) are too. While some apps might just not work, I have no complaints. I’m impressed by both the M1 MacBook Air and Mac mini, and I have no reason to suspect that the new MacBook Pro would be any different. You’re not going wrong with any of these, unless you have very Intel-specific demands, if you’re eying a Mac.

Right. Yes. I’ve got M1 Macs. I love them, they’re great. Now let me tell you what this means.

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Hello!

I’ve been meaning to get back to writing about games for quite some time. There are so many great experiences out there, and quite a few that truly shine on an iPad. With the holidays coming up, and the off-time that means for many of us, I figured you’d want to add some games to your collection.

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My name is Thord D. Hedengren, and I’ll be honest: I prefer using a controller most of the time. It mostly boils down to the games I play, but if it’s something that requires precision input, I tend to long for a proper button to press. I blame my Nintendo days. Oh, and my controller of choice is the Xbox One, err, one, because it’s pretty darn solid. I do keep a small 8BitDo controller in my bag though (replacing the Kanex GoPlay Sidekick, which is small but somewhat lacking), as you might’ve seen.

But enough of that, let’s talk games!

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Hi!

The holidays are closing in rapidly. I’m swamped, and so are you too I’d wager. Hopefully things calm down for all of us soon, right?

I’ve been typing away on the Brydge Pro Plus (I refuse to type Pro+, which is used in some of the marketing at least) for the past couple of weeks. It’s time to put the Magic Keyboard alternative to the test and answer the question: Is it really an alternative to Apple’s offering?

There are many things to like about the Brydge Pro Plus compared to the Magic Keyboard. It’s even superior in some ways. I’ve been using it long enough to not mistype when trying to hit the Enter key (it’s an almost two keys horizontal layout, not the vertical shape of the Magic Keyboard one), and I’ve grown to appreciate the special functions keys for screen brightness, play controls, and the like.

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Hello!

It’s that time of year when we exchange money, err, presents, and since we’re all more or less obsessed with the iPad, I figured I’d lend a helping hand in your shopping woes.

My name is Thord D. Hedengren, and I love giving away presents. I don’t like the commercial hysteria around it all during the holidays though, but what’re you going to do?

So, here are some tips!

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Hey there!

We did a couple of back of the envelope calculations on the cost of switching to an iPad as your primary (or new) computing device last week. I’d like to expand on that topic this week, talking about traditional PC vs. iPad.

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Hi!

I figured we should do a couple of back of the envelope calculations in this issue, trying to answer the age-old question: What does it cost to switch to iPad?

My name is Thord D. Hedengren, and I’m in the wonderful position of being able to keep up to date on iPad and iPhone models. There’s not much sense to update with every new generation, but I do it anyway.

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Hello!

I got my iPhone 12 mini a couple of days ago, and I’m utterly enamored with it. I wrote about this at length on my blog, but I figured we’d spend some time talking — and thinking — about the mini in Apple’s iPad lineup. Because I have thoughts and dreams.

You’re getting this right, Tim?

I’ve owned more iPad minis than I care to admit. It’s such a tantalizing little device, the perfect reading companion, at least in theory. The current iPad mini in the household is claimed by our tiniest resident, but I kind of miss it.

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Hi there!

We’re twenty issues in, which feels pretty good if you ask me. It makes sense that we’d be doing something (hopefully) substantial in this, the twentieth issue. Like building a website on our iPads, how about that?

We talked web design in the previous issue, and now we’re going to take that design and build ourselves a brand new site. Bored Horse, here we come!

My name is Thord D. Hedengren, and when I don’t drone on about the benefits of a more personal computing device – aka the iPad – I run a digital agency called Divide & Conquer. I’ve also written and sold some hundred thousands books on web development, mostly covering WordPress, so I’m not exactly new to this web development thing. My iPad has been a natural part of my workflow for years, and it is indeed my preferred device.

Most of the time I don’t build sites on it though. There are so many limitations with not being able to run local machines and whatnot. Well, that’s not necessarily a deciding factor anymore.

Bored Horse, which is the name of the site we’re building (yes, there’s a story there), won’t be WordPress. It’ll be very much JAMstack-y, which suits the iPad just fine. You don’t have to know what that means to benefit from this issue, but if you do, there might be a pointer or two in here.

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Hello!

Today’s issue is the first in a series, I think. The iPad is a marvelous design tool, one that I use for all my projects including the ones I do for Divide & Conquer, my digital agency. That means I’m drawing logos, designing websites, mocking up apps, and everything in-between on my iPad.

This issue will tackle designing a website on an iPad. In fact, we’ll be designing my new blog (!), and I’ll do my best to talk about what to think about when getting into such a project on your iPad. We’ll be looking at other design needs in future issues, but there’s a purpose to starting with this particular project. You see, we’ll build the whole thing, and launch the bugger too! But that’s for a future issue, for now, let’s get cracking on that design.

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