My Portable Setup

Two months of iPad-only computing

Jun 18

Behold, my current mobile setup! It’s also my only setup save for the decade old MacBook Air off to the left of the screen that I use to load files to usb drives and sd cards. Finding a wireless keyboard that I could hot swap switches into took some research but I managed to find the Mojo68 which has been great for the past day that I’ve had it. I can also easily switch the Mojo from being connected to the iPad to my Phone or another computer etc with just the function keys. I did yank the Gateron Browns that came with it and replaced them with a set of Glorious Holy Pandas that I had previously. I like them so far but I might swap them out for my old tangerines.

It’s just been so nice to actually use a real keyboard to type with again. Being able to feel where each key is quickly is going to make finishing these books and such a breeze. I am aware that there are gaming laptops with low profile cherry switches in them but we all know that gaming laptops are massive lap furnaces and I’ve never had my iPad get even remotely warm. I did look at getting Apple’s $300 hinged keyboard that turns this thing into a basic laptop but it had one flaw that just made it a dealbreaker for me. You can’t lay the thing flat while it’s on there, which means you have to take the iPad out of the case to draw. Between that and the wafer thin Apple keys I decided to ape in on a proper Bluetooth keyboard instead.

While I do have the Zune out for this pic I have been using my phone to listen to music more often lately. I need to sit down for an hour and adjust every apps settings or something because any and all notifications will override the song playing. It’s for dumb stuff too like a Reddit notification from a sub I haven’t been to in months, or an alt twitter acct’s updates. So yeah, if anyone gives you shit for using a dedicated music player just point out how you don’t have to set your Zune or click wheel iPod to Do Not Disturb and then forget to turn it off and miss 19 calls because our modern devices are often over-connected. MP3 players also have these things called headphone jacks… :O

Since I’m only writing, this setup works great for me. I can go to town in the Word app and keep my headphones free of mobile notifications. When I need to draw or sketch something I can just switch the keyboard off and walk off with the iPad to draw all while keeping the headphones on and the Zune in my pocket. I also sold off my AirPod pro’s the other day to someone who will actually use them more than once every three months. I explained already how I can’t deal with the noise cancelling aspect of them or IEM’s in a previous post.