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Nah mate screen is awesome outside except most people are stuck on macbooks that are simply unusable due to extreme screen glare.
Can’t tell if you are describing a screen type or are Aussie
Nah everything is fine except there are people I don’t like doing things I don’t like…
I work outside all spring, cool summer days, and a lot during the fall. 8 hours or more out there, hacking away, taking Zoom calls. I have a decent time with sunglasses and my MacBook Pro.
Sun glare, sand, bad WiFi… yeah, it looks better than it feels 😭
If I’m ever envious of someone doing work in places where they should be relaxing, please kill me.
If we had invented the laptop first, the very next invention would be a place to go inside of to use it.
Download Vivid for your MacBook Pro and it forces the 1600 nits of brightness usually reserved for HDR content to your display full time. Outdoor work is entirely possible in this scenario.
Being on your laptop
outsideis a miserable experienceftfy
As a lifelong desktop PC user, laptops just feel claustrophobic 😅 Especially sucks without a mouse, fuck the trackpad.
I think it’s an excellent compromise for being a portable PC. If I’m going to university, to a study space or a lecture, a laptop is freaking fantastic.
Also all laptops universally have one killer feature that nearly no desktop PC has: a built-in UPS. If power goes out, the laptop just keeps chugging along on battery power, giving you an extra few hours of work.
It’s not my workstation of choice by any means, but I wouldn’t call it miserable. It’s fine.
I work on industrial production lines. I’ve gotten used enough to laptops that I don’t mind too much.
Work from home on my 34" curved screen + 27" flat is amazing tho.
I use a tiling window manager and copious number of workspaces. It helps with the feeling of claustrophobia if anything can be easily full-screened and swapped around easily.
A 64" monitor with floating windows now feels clunky to me compared to a 15" screen with tiling set up like I like it
Unfortunately I like Plasma very much
Bro, people today prefer trackpad. Its fucking mindblowing. Ive met several IRL people that love trackpads and don’t own a mouse.
I almost guarantee I’m 10x faster at anything on a PC than them
I have fond memories of my Macbook Pro’s touchpad. That was over a decade ago, I still haven’t found a comparable experience.
I prefer a trackpad while I work, and the reason is simple: Much less movement to switch from trackpad to keyboard than from mouse to keyboard. And much easier to land on the key you want without looking.
And I very much doubt you’d be faster than me with a mouse!
Trackpads give me handcramps very fast. Also if Trackpads were faster, gamers would use them.
You’re assuming these people are doing something useful, they could be dealing with Microslop licensing as their full time job. Which is definitely a full time job, its just not useful work in the broader sense.
Ha, true
I don’t own a mouse. I like the trackpad because I’m left handed and a mouse always felt weird to me left handed because schools in the 90s forced me to use it right handed.
So, uhh, are you good and comfortable at using the mouse with your right hand? If so you have no reason to use your left. I have a left-handed friend who has always exclusivity used his right for the mouse. Ain’t no law saying your mouse hand must be your writing hand. Not to mention the benefits: it’s the default setting on any system, and there are lots of great quality asymmetric mouses that only fit the right hand.
I’m not trying to change you, by all means if you like the trackpad more power to you. Just curious why you’d try to mouse with your left if you’ve already learned to use it with your right.
I am comfortable with it in my right hand but I have a tendency to click the buttons backwards. Trackpad is easier one finger left click 2 finger right click just seems more intuitive.
Yeah, i have no idea how all those people are doing their work. I need a big monitor or two, a good keyboard and a nice mouse!
My partner is a psycho who does like 90% of her graphic design work on a 13" macbook air using only trackpad
As a graphic designer I need to ask what the fuck.
I never use drawing tablets, honestly, but I do need a real mouse.
Yeah, i mean she uses a tablet when doing the actual creating part, but mostly the job these days is moving assets around to fit the necessary sizes for different social media. I still don’t understand how someone can stand to do that using a trackpad, but she’s good at what she does so 🤷♂️
As a graphic designer, I’d quit being a graphic designer if laptop+trackpad was my only option D:
My partner used to do design on her laptop on the sofa with a graphic tablet. Inconceivable for me .
Don’t fall asleep.
i use the keyboard nipple myself
Hell yeah another clit stick user, there are dozens of us!
Dude I know these people. My brain explodes at how inefficient they must be.
Sometimes I forget not everyone is computer literate and so fast that their work laptop can’t keep up with them
i have no idea how all those people are doing their work.
like people in cafes “working”.
and what screen is visible on a sunny day outside.
I was thinking that too, just looking at the image is giving me a headache imagining squinting at your screen notched up to full blast and still dim, through your sunglasses.
What in the stock image hell is this. Lmao
Plug in mouse. If you need to, pllug laptop into external monitor(s)/TV
I can’t work on a big screen. I’m thriving on my laptop with my 3x3 virtual desktop grid, though.
Amazingly, there is this nifty thing called a “port” that allows a mouse to be plugged into a laptop. It is pretty incredible technology. /s
I tend to vacillate myself depending on the noise of the environment vs the work at hand. If I need to spread out across a few monitors, dock it. If I just need to do some simple paperwork, portable. If I want to force no distractions, portable (as it is more difficult to see things when your screen real estate is reduced.)
Helps if you have good eyesight too, laptop UIs today are at clown magnification levels anymore.
But my laptop doesn’t have a PS/2 port :(
Amazingly, there is this nifty thing called a “port” that allows a mouse to be plugged into a laptop. It is pretty incredible technology. /s
Yes, I meant that it’s even worse when there’s no mouse plugged in, but I guess my phrasing wasn’t clear :)
I’m the opposite and am most comfortable on a laptop. I suppose part of it is that I’m near-sighted, but only bother wearing my glasses when I’m driving. Putting on glasses to see a monitor isn’t ideal. I also seem to concentrate better in a reclined position. I’ve spent so much time using trackpads that using a mouse doesn’t make much difference. Switching between windows on a single screen also doesn’t bother me.
I have a monstrous satellite l300 i use for light spec work and arduino programming. 17" screen. It does not feel claustrophobic in the slightest, unlike my latest gen dell work machine with a screen smaller than my first fucking 486 i need glasses to even see. where did we go so wrong.
Well, these guys aren’t working, as far as I’m concerned, if they can do it without bringing out a mouse and real keyboard and probably a second monitor. (My laptop bag is pretty heavy.) They can at best be checking emails.
Agreed.
If you can do your work on a 13" laptop with no mouse or external monitor without your productivity dropping off a cliff, you were never productive to begin with.
I disagree on the external monitor, not everyone need one or they are just used to using it, also how the OS is scaled matter too
Yeah, tbh I’m fine working as a graphic designer on my single 24-inch screen, not sure what I’d put on another one.
Though I imagine it might be useful when gaming to put a guide or spreadsheet on a smaller, vertical screen.
For real, not having the mouse slows you down big time, even though I’m more or less skilled at keyboard shortcuts
Behold! E-paper laptops! You can read them outside!
I’m thinking seriously about using something like a Daylight tablet as a thin client for a more powerful machine at home. Obviously doing real coding by hand would still suck, but LLM-based coding might actually be viable.
Queeeestion- for those non-US folks, how is WFH in your areas? Is the rto push as big as it is here? Is wfh /flex culture established, or seen as a temp thing?
In my country WFH is being enshrined as a legal right. And people say the party of trade unions is center-right.
How do people see the screen
The bit about people bringing their laptops to the beach smells like RTO propaganda
Imagine having the freedom to work from the beach and still putting on a button down shirt.
A light well made button down isn’t all that uncomfortable. I’d call it nice on a breezy day. It’s not a tie.
Depends on the print.
Solid color or conservative pattern? Hard pass.
Pineapples or flamingos? Fuck yeah.
A nice linen shirt is great in hot weather.
Fuck anything with a collar. It’s an absolutely idiotic bit of “fashion” which needs to die
👌
I don’t even like Hawaiian shirts. What’s the point of that collar? Why is western wear so obsessed with putting that style of collar on absolutely everything.
Working outside can be fun. At least AS long AS you dont need that good of an internet connection, have a comfy place to sit in and are at a somewhat dark spot, so you can still see on your screen.
If and only if these three things are all given, than it can be quite nice to work outside.
Exactly, I used to hike to the top of a mountain find a shady spot and work till my battery died then hike back down.
The dark spot also avoids overheating
Couldn’t agree more. Some of my best work and learning recently has been me on my back porch under shade with a box fan. While I have solid WiFi and power there, I also pack a portable monitor and can work without internet on much of what I do.
A coworker of mine specifically built a little gazebo on their deck to be a summer-office. They wired a little wifi repeater in the roof, retractable shades and curtains, a ceiling fan, and got a desk that specifically fits a comfy deck chair. Obviously all of this can be moved out of the way for normal back yard stuff, but it’s become the absolute envy of all my remote colleagues.
Also, if you take any meetings, it needs to be quiet enough to communicate but also not disruptive to others if you’re taking loudly.
There are some very decent outside-internet solutions. I have one of those solutions at home and it’s a joy to work outside.
WiFi mesh networks can have impressive range outdoors, without walls and reflections blocking the wifis. And they can be powered by PoE (Power over Ethernet) so you only need to run 1 cable to hook it up.
But for most of my work, a cellphone hotspot is suitable, so long as it’s not so remote that I don’t get at least a strong 4G signal. Video conferencing isn’t very data intensive with compression and, if I’m not running the meeting, slight spottiness is fine.
Working outside your home is nice. But I think a lot of these comments are talking about working outside in public is a whole other problem.
No, because then I want to do stuff that is not sitting with my laptop outside. If the weather is nice, I’d much rather play with my dog, climb a tree, or roll around in mud. Why’d I want to sit and do PR reviews?
The dark spot is only an issue if you’re using a laptop or something. Pen and a pad of paper is fine outside. Loose stacks of paper is obviously not ideal.
Unfortunately, most of us need to work using screens these days. I have hope for the future with these smart AR glasses. With the screen on the glasses, it shouldn’t be a problem to use them in bright light. And, feeling the sun on your skin is one of the best parts about being outside when the weather is good.
So it’s good if you are close to your router, have a comfortable chair, and have so much shade you’re basically indoors.
So if I just open a window in my office…
I get what you’re saying and acknowledge that that’s the best environment for some people, but for me there’s a different feel in being in your office and being on the back porch or out in the garage with the door open.
The fresh air, mild distractions on an easy day, and more natural light make me feel good. I think the beach would be a fucking nightmare for me. Same for things like a coffee shop. But if I’m in at least a semi private space and it’s not a balls to the wall day, I’ll take not being chained to the desk every time it’s practical.
I have a fucking awesome gaming laptop. It has like 2 hours of battery life tops. (the very highly operative word being “tops”) Just today I was anxious about pulling it out of my backpack due to the fact it’s being spingtime and literally all of the winter walkway gravel is in the wind. I’m a Nikon fangirl and I very much hesitated to uncap my lens.
