The Premium Tech Trap: Pay Less for What You Actually Need

After a few years in my road of using mechanical keyboards, laptops, Bluetooth headphones, and smartphones, on the daily basis for remote and office work, play, and commuting, I've come to confirm the premium option of each of these devises is not always the best option for everyone.

While is nice to have the premium device of each, not everyone will make the most use of them. Not only that, some people don't need to have them, and would be better served with something in the mid range that has all the options needed at a fraction of the cost.

Instead of focusing on the premium devices, ask yourself what you need from each device you use. Not what you want, but what you actually need. If you focus on what you actually need, you will find devices that will better suit you, and will serve you better.

If you find with time you need to add another feature, you can always get a device that has it later on. Most often than not, when you focus on what you want rather on what you need you find out the hard way that those features you wanted are the ones you use the least or not at all.

For example, I've found that when I'm at my home office a the numpad on my keyboard is something I use constantly, while at the office at the shop I don't use it as often. Yet, on both I do prefer to use a mechanical keyboard, so at my home office I've one with a numpad, while at the office I've use a 75% one without a numpad.

Not only that, mid range keyboards of both are the best options. They come with all the options I actually use, and a price that is affordable. I just need a mechanical keyboard that has Bluetooth, that is back lit, and pleasant to type on for hours.

Going for the premium options of anything is not always the best idea, and could be a waste of money and time. 

Second Screens and Real Utility: Rethinking the Admin Desk Beyond the Hype

As someone who primary work is on the admin side of running a business, finding ideas on how to set up desks and work flows kinda of under served on social media.

What I've found that works for me has been mainly by talking with other people around me with the same work profile than me, or by experience. While creator setups can be of some help, admin work has some things that not the same on the details.

For example, a two monitor setup is quite helpful in admin work. Most of the time we are comparing information from two different apps, so having a second monitor handy, even an ultra wide one could be an option, we don't need a 4k with a high refresh rate monitor.

The same goes for laptops, and desktops. We don't need the greatest, or latest, hardware to do our work efficiently. 8GB or 16GB of RAM, with a 256GB or 512GB SSD are more than enough for admin work at most small and medium size businesses. Most of the time, if there is a limit is how the files that need to be shared can be shared cheaply and with ease.

Desks and chairs aren't much of a problem, since they are easier for each admin worker to know what is what they need, and what they need to organize on it.

If anything, speakers, webcams, microphones, and headphones tend recommended tend to be an overkill. Most consumer grade offering on these peripherals are more than good enough for most people. To be honest, most of what admin workers are sold on these peripherals are nice to have, but no actually needed. The same goes for mice and keyboards, most won't really notice a difference on the high end of those peripherals from a mid range one.

Personally, I feel frustrated I don't get ideas on targeted on my needs. Instead having to hunt for those ideas piece by piece, from places targeted to people that don't share my type of work. It almost feel like admin work is looked down to, and doesn't get the respect it deserves.

The Secret to Switching to Linux Isn’t Skill—It’s the Right Distro

One of my main gripes with some YouTuber reviews of Linux, is that they center on how power users tend to set and use Linux distros. And that is something that pushes people from even trying Linux, because most people aren't power users, and just want their computer to let them do what they want.

Distros like Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and Ubuntu, can be used by people who know how to use a computer that aren't into power user skills sets. Even their installation is easy enough to follow, since they guide you to the process and set things up for the user via a graphical interface. Even most system administration, like installing/uninstalling app, themes, keyboard layouts, can be do though a graphical interface without touching the terminal.

This makes these distros good starting point for people who just want to get away from Windows, try Linux out, or start learning Linux.

Yes, no Linux distro works exactly like Windows or macOS do. Yet, the learning curve is far more gentle that those YouTubers make it to be. It has become quite gentle, the biggest hurdle is apps. Not all apps that can be used on Windows or macOS are available on Linux, but most are. As such, unless an user depends on an app that isn't on Linux, and there isn't one that can replace it, there is no reason that the jump can't work.

Not only that, power users of Windows and macOS don't use the OS like the average user does. As such, I can see how a power user of any OS can have a hard time moving to another OS, while the same thing can't be said for the average user.

As such, the issue is not if the average user can make the jump to Linux stick. The issue is paring the user with the distro that will make the jump stick more likely.

Stability Where It Counts, Modern Standards Where It Matters

With age, I've come to realize that become more selective where I want to be on the bleeding edge of tech and where I rather take a more conservative approach to the OS and apps I use for my daily life.

For example, I prefer to use Linux Mint on my laptops because of its focus on stability. While I see why some people prefer, or need, an OS with the latest and greatest, I prefer my OS to be stable and just add new things when they are mature. In apps like my web browser and office suite, I prefer to be a lot more up to date with modern standards.

All depends on what I need to use a certain piece of software for, and the same goes for hardware. Most of the the time I just need them to be stable for every day use, without any feature that gets on my way. I don't mind learning new ways to do things, if those news way will actually are a better way to do something. If not, there is no good reason to change anything.

Meanwhile, I don't mind software developers change the aesthetics of their app, or OS in the case of Linux Mint, until I actually use it. Most of the time, the change in aesthetics is not that much of a big deal, and I get used to the new way it looks rather quickly. Most of the time, I don´t notice it much.

When the workflow is changed, I reserve judgement until I actually have time to use it and see if it works for me. The reason I moved from Ubuntu to Linux Mint full time, was when Canonical dropped Unity and Cinnamon became the better fit for my needs. The reason I did not made the jump sooner, mainly was that Cinnamon wasn't mature enough for me when I first tried it.

At the end, I've become aware that one has to be selective where and when one can play conservatively. Sometimes, it is worth to be at the forefront of tech while others is better to wait for it to mature.