Obviously it was time for a replacement, but the adventure I took to get there has been a wild one. You see, for the first time in my life, not only did I consider a Mac as a viable option, but I’ve gone ahead and made the switch.

I guess you would say that I’m a PC. I’ve been using PCs since I purchased my first one nearly 20 years ago. From DOS to Windows 3.0 to Vista, it’s been my world. I’ve learned the ins and outs of using and managing the various OS flavors. I’m comfortable with shortcut keys, have compiled thousands of tips and tricks for hundreds of software packages for Windows. I’m not an evangelist or a fanboy, but I’ve been quite productive using my PC and really haven’t been affected by virus, spyware or the “typical” issues that are used to describe a bad PC experience.

On the other hand, Macs  have been a mostly unknown entity. Although those who know me will speak of my legendary disdain for iTunes, I’ve never really been “anti-Mac.” I’ve helped friends and clients purchase and set them up so, it isn’t that I had no exposure to them, it was just that the time I had spent with them didn’t really do anything to convince me that there was a compelling reason to convert.

This time, I guess it was peer pressure more than anything that even got me thinking about the switch. Co-workers and friends have been raving about them, and whenever the discussion changed to my laptop replacement, the “get a Mac” proclamations became too much for me to dismiss. So I started to seriously consider it. I researched models, made lists of software, thought about pros and cons, chatted with friends and did my normal over-analysis. It’s an important decision though — my computer is so closely tied to my livelihood that it isn’t something I could take lightly. I found that my primary concerns were tied to three major areas — support, software and overall usability.

In my upcoming posts I’ll be outlining not only my pre-purchase thought process and evaluation experience but I’ll also be documenting the transition, my retraining, software changes and choices, usability challenges, and some great surprises that I’ve discovered in the process — about Windows, about Mac and about me.

If you’ve made the switch from PC to Mac, or vice versa, let us know how it went for you in the comments.

Photo by stock.xchng user andrewatla

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So what happened when legions of Apple fans were faced with being unable to change out the batteries on their beloved notebooks? Did angry mobs descend on Cupertino? Not exactly. After the initial shock wore off, we began to ask ourselves how important removable laptop batteries actually were.

There are good arguments for removable notebook batteries, especially if you compute on the go a lot. Power outlets are frequently unavailable in locations such as conference rooms, convention centers and aircraft. Power access is improving in newer facilities but it is still easy to find yourself without power. Having the security of the second battery in your bag makes the quest for power a little less panicked. Also, replacing a battery that has outlived its hardware life requires no downtime.
A sealed battery has its advantages too, though. It can provide more power for the same weight/space as a removable battery, because you aren’t sacrificing some of the footprint to the hardware and case to make it removable. Your onboard battery will thus get you further with no need for extra power (or to carry around the weight of the back-up).

This debate was front-and-center in my mind when I purchased my latest computer, a MacBook, last April. My choices were narrowed down to a white MacBook with a removable battery, and the MacBook Air that has a sealed one. (Obviously these machines have a lot of other major differences, including their prices.) I was finally convinced to discard the battery difference as an issue when my geek husband pointed out that I rarely if ever used the backup battery that I had for the machine I was replacing. I realized that the spare battery was more of a security blanket that I hauled around than a necessity. Although I eventually purchased the white MacBook, I haven’t felt the need to buy a spare battery for it yet.

The reality is that only a small percentage of notebook users do purchase and use extra batteries. Apple seems committed to this path, and Dell is also trying the concept out. Others may follow.

But heavy battery users are not completely out of luck, and we aren’t all doomed to a future of using our notebooks for four hours at a time. An accessory market has sprung up for external batteries for MacBooks. While not as convenient to use as (and definitely more expensive than) an onboard battery, they do fill that need for people who must have additional power.

We should remember that technology advances. Batteries will continue to improve and soon will be easily capable of getting a notebook through an entire workday. New aircraft are being built with in-seat outlets to power passenger electronics through long flights. Maybe Apple will even realize that there is money to be made by offering its customers the option of a battery upgrade at purchase.

Do you have a spare notebook battery? Do you use it?

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RSS Feed Bundles

Google has unveiled a slick way to create what they call “bundles” of RSS feeds. These are actually just collections of related RSS feeds that you pick. For example, here’s a bundle that I created in a couple of minutes which aggregates all of the sites from the GigaOM Network:

In order to create a bundle, you just have to login to your Google Reader account, click “Browse for stuff” and then click the “Create a bundle” button. You then simply drag and drop the RSS feeds you want to include in this bundle, give it a name and description, and save it. After that you can share the bundle many different ways. You can email it, share the bundle’s URL on a social network or create a “bundle clip,” which is like a widget you can embed on your web site. Here’s an example of this bundle as it would appear as a bundle clip:

Create RSS Feeds of Site Collections with Delicious

The social bookmarking service Delicious offers a quick and easy way to share a collections of web sites, similar to the Google bundle method, except that this collection can contain links that are not RSS feeds. This means you can collect any type of web site in your Delicious collection and share them with individuals or groups (or even make them public for all the world to see.) The cool part about this is the fact that Delicious automatically creates an RSS feed for each and every tag that you create. This means people can subscribe to your tag, and automatically see new bookmarks that you add to that tag whenever you add to the collection. This is a powerful collaboration tool and something that could prove useful for clients and projects. Here’s an example of a new tag for a collection I created called GigaOm_Network, using the actual URLs for each site. I also included Om Malik’s Twitter account.

Firefox Collections of Add-ons
If you’re a Firefox user, then you know how useful add-ons can be in enhancing your browsing experience. Well, you can now share your favorite Firefox add-ons thanks to the Firefox Collector which allows you to create any kind of collection you want.

There are a great range of Firefox Add-on collections in the Editor’s picks. You’ll see a wide variety of collections ranging from the best add-ons for web developers to the best ones for travelers. There’s also a WebWorkerDaily collection available. If you can’t find a collection on something you want, then simply create one yourself. Just add the Firefox Collector add-on and browse the Firefox Add-ons library to find the items you want to assemble and share in your collection.

Share Groups of Firefox Tabs

Simon recently covered the Firefox add-on ClusterTabs, which includes a screencast that demonstrates how easy it is to create a group of tabs that you can share with others.

Create Document Collections With Thinkfree Portfolios

ThinkFree is an online office suite of products, similar to Google Docs. ThinkFree offers a unique feature called Portfolio, which allows you to create bundles with different types of documents. For example, you can create and share a Portfolio for a client or project that involves Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and even PDF files. If this sounds familiar, then you probably remember Microsoft Binder, which did the same thing on the desktop.

Share Collections of Twitter Users
TweepML is a new site that lets you create collections of Twitter users that you can share with others. People can select to pick and choose who to follow on Twitter from your list, or they can elect to follow them all with the click of one button. This is an excellent solution for organizations that want to share a list of all their Twitter users. Here’s an example:

We all create and share lists of our favorite things online these days thanks to services like Last.fm (music), Flickr (photos), YouTube (videos), etc.  It thus seems like a natural progression to use the same collective mindset and technology to share other things such as documents, software and bookmarks. The list of items we can share as collections is limitless.

What tools do you use to create collections of useful things to share online?

Photo credit: stock.xchng user Onatos

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The Mini 9 is available for order immediately, at a base price of $349 (though I suspect most interested web workers would go for options that put it in the four to five hundred dollar range). At that price, it’s practically an impulse buy (and I’ll admit to feeling impulsive myself – it might make a good tester for IE8 rendering, if you need an excuse). For that price, you get what appears to be a reasonably capable machine, though there are clearly compromises.

$349 gets you a box with an 8.9 inch 1024×600 display, an Intel Atom CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB solid state hard drive. 802.11g is standard, as is the black case – you pay extra for white, or for Bluetooth connectivity. The base price includes Ubuntu as the operating system, and this version is showing as ready for pre-order but not for ship. If you go up to $399, you get Windows XP and immediate availability, as well as an 8GB solid state drive. The top end of customization is 1GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD. The box weighs in at about 2 1/2 pounds, again depending on options.

In a move that should resonate with web workers, Dell has done a deal with online storage favorite Box.net – The Dell comes with 2GB of storage, and custom plans if you need more. That’s double the storage of the normal free Box.net account, and the 10 and 25GB plans are priced much lower than Box’s standard pricing as well.

Dell certainly isn’t the only one promoting small, easily connected boxes for the mobile worker. Nor is this by any means a computer you’d use to do offline work. But given their reach, it might end up being a “second device” for a great many web workers.

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Why now? By the end of May, you should have some sense of whether you’re having a good year (or not). In the US, tax time is safely past, and there are even those “economic stimulus” checks coming to encourage us all to pump up the consumer economy a bit. Personally, I’ve never been shy about spending money to make my immediate surroundings a bit nicer. I spend long hours at this desk working on the web; if it’s a nice place to work, I mind those hours less and can bill correspondingly more. If you’re of the same mind, here are four things to think about.1. Another monitor. The productivity benefits of multiple monitors are very real. If you haven’t discovered them yet, why not now? You can get a top of the line widescreen 23″ or 24″ monitor from Apple or Dell in the $700-900 range, but you don’t have to spend that much to get a boost. Reasonable brands like ViewSonic or Acer have pushed the price of these monitors below $400. They aren’t as spiffy as the high-end ones, but still plenty good enough to move secondary applications out of your main focus.

2. A good desktop scanner. For me, “desktop zero” is as important as “inbox zero” in staying on top of things and not getting distracted. After six months with it, I’m still loving my $430 Fujitsu ScanSnap. Coupled with a copy of EagleFiler and a cheap shredder, it gets me as close to the paperless office as I ever expect to get. If you’re a digital worker, it makes good sense to turn paper into bits so you can integrate it with the rest of your workflow.

3. A single-serve coffee maker. Many web workers are fueled by caffeine. If you’re one of them, you likely know how nasty the coffee is at the bottom of the pot in the afternoon. You can get rid of that nastiness once and for all by buying a single-serve coffee maker that churns out one cup at a time when you want it, fresh. There are a variety of these machines on the market at prices ranging from about $30 to $300. If you want to try one cheap, check out the Share Senseo promotion, which will score you one for $15 if you fill in the right answers for their survey (hint: tell them you belong to lots of clubs and are influential with your friends and family). One thing to watch out for – the special coffee packets that these machines take are more expensive than regular grounds; you can beat that by purchasing aftermarket refillable packets.

4. Noise-cancelling headphones. Here again you have a variety of choices, ranging from $5 to $500. To a certain extent, you get what you pay for, but the $100-$150 range will get you something nice enough if you’re not a die-hard audiophile. I haven’t found anything better for helping tune out distractions so that you can get “into the zone” and focus your concentration on tricky work. One drawback: noise-cancelling makes it harder to hear the phone ring, so you either need a loud ringer or something like Skype that will pipe the ring right into your headphones.

Have you upgraded your own personal workspace lately? What did you get? Any recommendations for your fellow web workers?

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But let’s not be too hasty. After all, there are some reasons why we won’t be digging graves for fax machines any time soon.

Some documents require signatures. This includes contracts or forms that need to be signed with someone’s actual handwriting – not a digital signature. Electronic signature laws vary from country to country, and as web workers, we’re likely to do business with people all over the world. If you want to make sure that your agreements are legally sound, faxing might be your better option.

Not everyone is as web savvy as you are. Throughout your career, you’ll gain many business contacts, whether they are your clients, vendors, or suppliers. You’ll find that some or even many of them prefer to exchange documents via fax. True, you can request to be the exception to their rule, but there’s no guarantee your request will be granted. These businesses have their own procedures and to divert them from that requires extra hours and effort on their part. I’ve had my fair share of scanner-less clients who were getting a website for the first time. I would’ve missed out on some great projects if I wasn’t able to send in paperwork via fax.

There are places without stable Internet access. You urgently need to send a report to your client, but she’s on a trekking trip in Nepal. Her hotel doesn’t have Internet access, but it has a fax machine. One doesn’t need to step out of the metropolis to encounter this type of scenario. There are many reasons for the lack of a stable Internet connection, including natural disasters, Internet service provider malfunctions, and even Murphy’s Law. When the web fails us, we need to work with other technologies at our disposal – no matter how archaic they may seem.

Other industries require paperwork – in actual paper. Companies involved in pharmaceuticals, health care, finance, law, and other similar fields require a paper trail for all transactions or communications. They don’t necessarily frown upon electronic options, they just need hard copies for safekeeping and record purposes. If you’ll be working closely with people in these fields, you might be sending and receiving more faxes than the average web worker.

It improves credibility. This is especially true if your target market is located in a different country from your own. Outsourcing firms in South America or Asia can get a credibility boost by having a US or European fax number – assuming that’s where most of their potential clients are based in. You can acquire a local or toll free fax number from most e-fax services, if that’s the case. Plus, with the extra costs associated with faxing (in terms of the equipment and fees) some people see it as a symbol that you’re part of a real business. Especially since it’s still an essential communication tool for the corporate world.

For most of these reasons, getting an e-fax account with an attached fax number will be sufficient. Let’s face it – until the whole world bends over and cooperates, we’ll just have to be reachable via fax. Unless there’s a low cost, well-distributed, highly secure, and legally acceptable alternative to the fax machine, it will be here to stay.

Photo Credit: Image by Daniel Battiston

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After signing up (easy, with an email confirmation), you end up at the Tasks tab, ready to create new tasks. This is a matter of clicking “New Task” and then just typing; the user interface is very responsive. You can assign tasks a priority and due date, and track elapsed time: there’s even a timer built into the application so you can use it for time-tracking. You can also assign any number of time-stamped notes to a task.

Voo2do also has a number of smart features built on top of the basic task-tracking. You can arrange tasks into projects, and assign a context to each project. With the various lists being filterable by context, this makes Voo2do suitable for GTD-style tracking. There are also collaborative features: you can add collaborators for private sharing, or share your task list on a public or password-protected web page, so the solution also scales to small teams. It’s also easy to add new tasks via a dedicated email address. You’ll also find a simple HTTP API that lets you create new tasks or retrieve existing information from other applications, making it useful in mashups.

All in all, Voo2do covers the basics of task and project management in a responsive user interface without a lot of extra fluff. Task management tends to be a very personal thing – people are passionate about the features they like and dislike – but if I were going to use a web-based solution this one would be high on the list.

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