First, visit The Setup, a site with interviews with prominent web people focused on their work setups. There are a bunch of forum threads and Flickr pools that have people sharing their computer setups. These don’t get old to me. I’m at the opposite end of prominent, so I decided to share my setup here.
What hardware do you use?
I do everything on a 13‚Äù unibody MacBook. It’s the late 2008 version (non-pro) that I recently upgraded to 4GB of RAM and a30GB OCZ Agility SSD. For what I do day-to-day, it flies. I don’t play computer games anymore, but I’ll probably upgrade for Starcraft II.
After Snow Leopard, there was about 20GB remaining, so I couldn’t do without my external drives: a 1TB Western Digital Elements, 250GB My Book, and a 500GB Time Capsule shared with my brother.
More than 90% of the time, I run the MacBook attached to a 24‚Äù HP LP2475w. It’s my most recent purchase so I’m still getting used to the 1920×1200 resolution. I’ve been alternating between running my laptop with the lid closed or open for the second monitor, but I don’t have a preference right now.
I’ve been trying out the newer Apple wireless keyboard without the number pad. I don’t miss the number pad but I’m not used to having the function key still in the bottom left corner. And I don’t really like chiclet keys when working on a desk. I definitely like having to move my right hand a shorter distance to grab the mouse.
My main camera is a Nikon D90. I have the 18-105mm kit lens and have had a 50mm/f1.8 for about the same amount of time. Recently I got a 35mm/f1.8. 35mm and 50mm are close enough in length that I’ll try to sell the 50mm and buy an 85mm/f1.8.
I use a 3rd-generation 4GB iPod Nano and would probably still be using my 1st-generation Nano if the screen didn’t crack in half. I loved that design. And I use a BlackBerry 9700. I’ve written about it at length and stand by the gist of what I wrote before—I love how it handles messaging, but the browsing experience is atrocious and not worth the tradeoff for me. Even with a WebKit browser in the works, I’ll probably jump ship by the end of the year.
My desk is an IKEA Jerker. People that see the setup in person say the desk is set low, and it is—the top is set to the height of most keyboard trays. During my internship at IBM my wrists were sore once in a while so I became interested in ergonomics and prefer my keyboard low.
And what software?
Chrome is my main browser. I use Firefox to watch things on Hulu and Netflix. Adium handles all of my IMing, but I rarely IM these days. iChat gets opened about every two weeks for video chatting. I use TextMate for development. I know that TextMate is much more powerful than a typical text editor, but I haven’t learned how to use it that way. CSS Edit is still in its trial period, but I’m really liking the live view. Transmit handles file transfers—droplets are fantastic. I’m trying to use WriteRoom more to write content.
I use Picasa because it preserves file directories instead of consolidating everything in a database like iPhoto. I tried Lightroom and Aperture trials when I first got the MacBook, but browsing photos just seemed slow (no doubt my system was to blame and not the programs). I’ve never felt restricted using Picasa and Photoshop, but efficiency with that workflow isn’t really something to write home about. VLC plays everything. I barely know how to use iMovie, but it’s what i use for video editing.
I recently started using Quicksilver. Just like with TextMate, I’m not a power user. However, I think learning the ins and outs of TextMate would be far more valuable than learning Quicksilver in depth.
What would be your dream setup?
Obviously, limitless speed and memory for computer hardware is one of the first things that come to mind. I was going to say wireless hard drives, but the externals wouldn’t be necessary at all if I was granted the wish of the previous sentence. It’d be nice to have my laptop dock wirelessly. Ejecting my drives and unplugging the laptop takes less than 10 seconds, but it’s still a chore. I used a Lenovo T42 at my IBM internship and the docking station experience was awesome.
Maybe another monitor. Some people feel like they’re more productive with a larger monitor compared to having more monitors. I’d definitely like to try having two 24″ monitors and also try having a 30″ monitor to compare.
My camera could be set to ridiculously high ISO settings without additional noise. And it’d fit in a pocket while still having the SLR image quality and depth of field control. Oh yeah, it’s a dream setup: make that camera I’m describing a phone also.