Why do I have to switch anyway?

Perhaps, its just me, but lately my YouTube feed has been filled with so many videos that are basically titled along the lines of; "long term iPhone user switches to android", "long term mac user tries windows snapdragon" and so on and so forth. You get the point. It seems these are the videos that get views because people appear to be interested, and I am one of those people.

Obviously, I shouldn't and do not care if someone else moves from one ecosystem to another. The reason is simple: my circumstances and preferences are unique to me and the chances that I share the same considerations with Youtubers is as remote as is the Antarctic.

Since publishing my "one month with Surface Pro" post, I have been planning my next experiment where I switch completely from macOS and iPadOS to Windows. Yes, I am a planner, I think things through. Sometimes, to my detriment, overthinking is a problem that I face more often than I would like.

Anyway, at some point, it occurred to me that the point of undertaking this experiment is lost on me. Why am I doing this experiment? What am I intending to achieve?

I didn't buy the Surface Pro to replace macOS. The sole reason was that the Surface Pro offered an unorthodox form factor which solved many of the friction points I experienced on my 12.9 inch iPad Pro for years. I must admit, the Surface Pro has certainly achieved that objective with flying colours.

Despite this, I enjoy using macOS. It is a wonderful operating system. Why the hell should I? Unlike most things in live, I think, I can have have my cake and eat it too.

Which brings me back to why undertake this exercise?

Curiosity...

“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” – William Ward (May we keep the fires of curiosity burning – and light the way with our creativity).

Yes, I am curious and keen to explore how this snapdragon powered Windows device performs when it does all the heavy lifting for both my work tasks and my personal endeavours. This implied restriction will force me to alter my workflows and explore new ways of doing things. It should be fun 🤣.

Being curious is enough of a reason to undertake this experiment but because I do not intend to "switch" from macOS permanently, this experiment will only go for 7 days. One full working week should be enough to feed my curiosity. Obviously, I can extend it if required.

A few years ago, I decided not to be invested in any ecosystem exclusively. I feel a sense of freedom from using a device that is best suited (for me) for the said tasks I am intending to complete. This expands my horizon from Apple range of devices to every device on this planet. Also, it is a lot more fun 😂.

Yes, this approach has its drawbacks but after living in the Apple ecosystem for over 10 years, I am happy to live in a multiplatform ecosystem. Apple has built a nice wall garden but as nice as it is, it is far from perfect and each year, it appears to get just a little bit worse and bit more expensive. With Apple "it just works" until it doesn't.

Building my very own ecosystem... this is exciting ⛵


Written entirely on Surface Pro 11

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