Toasters and computers

One of the most acute observations about buying a computer came in Writer’s Digest some years back. The writer of their tech column said that if someone brought out a toaster that also buttered your bread, applied the jam and put the toast on a plate, he’d buy it in an instant. His wife, on the other hand, figures she can do all that herself—the one thing she needs a toaster for is to make toast.
The writer’s point was that he saw the same two perspectives in computer users. Some people like being able to do something on a computer simply because it’s on a computer. Whether it’s the only way to do it or only marginally more efficient is irrelevant. Other people only do things on their computer when there’s an advantage to be gained. For them, buying tech or software or apps just because they’re available is probably not profitable.
I’m definitely in the latter category, which is probably why I don’t find much use for my iPad other than consuming media (it’s lighter and more portable than my laptop and I can check email and watch Netflix streaming at the same time). TYG gave me an iTunes gift card but it looks like it’ll go mostly to music rather than apps. I’ve looked at the productivity apps and they don’t seem to do much that iCal and a Word to-do list can’t manage.
Of course, that’s partly because I’m on my laptop constantly when I work. If my tablet were my primary computing/Internet device or I spent a lot of work time away from my computer, using my iPad for notes and to-dos would make more sense. But since I’m on the computer anyway, might as well shove everything onto iCal. It gets to be a crowded list, but it works for me.
All of which is more about personal choice than any deep principle for what you “should” do. Anything that works, whether it’s a hard-copy dayplanner or synching everything with half-a-dozen computers, is a good system.