We don't need roads

Recently, I’ve read a lot of interesting posts about the iPad and the future of computing, and then some posts about the ReadWriteWeb/Facebook login page: some say we’re the stupid ones, others say no, we’re not. Anyway, the Internets talked about the n00bs.

(seriously, read these articles, it’s worth it)

My favorite feature of the iPad as a device for n00bs — but also with the iPhone OS as a system for 75 000 000 people — is the hidden filesystem: no file, no folder, no double-click to open a document or an application.

(Please don’t think I’m saying the iPad is only for the n00bs. I think it will be the very first good computing experience for A LOT of users)

I’ve seen friends and colleagues from the IT sphere being afraid of change, scared about losing the multitasking feature, the right-click, the windows… It’s not going to happen.

Time for the never-ending cars analogy: the firsts automobiles were for people who knew how to deal with a broken engine. They had to know how to fix a car. I have no idea how to fix an engine, and the best part is, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to use my car, only go where I have to. When it’s broken, I bring it to an expert, the kind of guy who has a better car he uses and fix every week, because he loves to.

The Macintosh didn’t kill the shell. It brought mouse to the IT sphere and computing to the Real World. 25 years later, I still use a shell everyday, and my father has no idea he can right-click on his Mighty Mouse. I’m pretty sure the iPad will hide the filesystem from the n00bs the same way Mac OS X hides the shell from the real world. I know computer experts will always have a shell to create a great computer world for them and the Real World.

I hate to be disturbed. I try to end every day with an empty “Today” list in Things and an empty Inbox in Gmail. I don’t want to be interrupted while I’m working on one task. Most of the points below are tricks that help me empty my Things inbox and complete projects. In other words: they help me get things done.

About the Finder:

• I use a dark background (the fewer details the better) and the Mac OS Graphite theme so that only the colors get my attention (that means notification in the Dock).
• I dumped most of the icons from my task bar: I don’t care about the volume (I have three dedicated keys on my keyboard), I don’t care about how much battery I have unless the icon turns red. Jumpcut is a very useful utility for clipboard history.
• I removed most of the icons from my Dock : I only left the applications that are always launched (Tweetie already has an icon in the task bar, but we can’t remove the one from the Dock, yet). I use Spotlight to launch the other applications.
• I use Command-Option-H to hide every application but the one I’m using: I almost never need more than one window to focus on.
• I don’t use any notification system: no Growl, no Gmail Notifier, no Facebook notifier, and Tweetie task bar icon is set to never turn blue except when I got a direct message.
• I don’t use NetNewsWire on my Mac anymore. I only check my RSS feeds in the morning during my commute to work, using the new iPhone app. Breaking news make it through Twitter. Interesting-but-long articles go into Instapaper, I read them before going to sleep.
• Hazel’s default configuration help me empty my Downloads folder.

Safari:

• I removed the previous/next buttons: I use trackpad gestures for that.
• I removed the bookmarks bar: Command-L is my friend, and for the small amounts of bookmarklets I use, they’re all in the dedicated bookmarks menu.
• I hide the status bar. The prefpane Secrets offers the possibility to show a link’s URL if you move the mouse over the link.
• My homepage is Start.io: it’s clean and shows the links I open in the morning when I sit in front of my Mac.
• I watch YouTube videos within Quietube: video without the distractions.
• I read ugly online newspapers within Readability.
• I use ClickToFlash to get rid of the worst thing that happened to the web: Flash.

Gmail:

• I realized I don’t either need to read my e-mails every minute, nor to answer e-mails the minute I received them: I only check my e-mails when I’m not focused on a task. It’s more productive and less intrusive than a Growl notification.
• I make a smart use of Gmail filters so that only important e-mails get to the Inbox, and I immediately archive the one I read (and answered if needed). Gmail Labs provide a useful “Send and archive” button for that.
• j/k/x/e are my friends: I use these keys to quickly select and archive e-mails.

Interested in uncluttering your Mac? Read Minimal Mac.