A very clever approach by The Economist for displaying creative people’s work space, the objects in that space, and why they’re there. There is some fascinating stuff here.

I particularly love Mercedes Bunz’s quote about her laptop:

The laptop is a part of me. Everywhere you travel, everywhere you go, it’s part of you. It’s a very strange object because a laptop is something where your private life and your friends meet your working life and stress. It’s all on one object now, and it’s the centre of my little world. I’m a writer, that’s what I do most. My ideas happen while I’m typing.

(Via Ryan Gonzalez)

Julian’s Setup:

What does your desk look like?

2. What is your current Mac setup?

A 2 × 3.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core) Mac Pro, with 6GB of RAM. Unfortunately still with the slow hard drive Apple Refurb put into it, so speed-wise there’s still a bottleneck to bust. To control this machine, I’m using a wireless Apple Keyboard and also a bluetooth Mighty Mouse, which unfortunately sometimes needs a special treatment.

Thanks to eBay, I recently added a second screen to my setup, totaling 2 × 30″ Apple Cinema HD Displays connected to the Mac Pro.

For my audio needs, I’m still using my old Sony stereo—its speakers hide behind the displays, iTunes DJ is shuffling through nearly all genres all day.

Unfortunately this setup isn’t worth anything on-the-go: When I’m working outside or at the university, I rely on my 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM) and, of course, on my 32GB iPhone 3GS.

3. Why are you using this setup?

Throughout the day, I’m switching between various setups depending on the task at hand. Whether that means “communication”, “coding” or “designing”, I always need to have multiple applications (and windows) open.

As Shawn put it: I’m “a dude with over 8 million pixels worth of screen real estate” (8.192.000 pixels to be precise), and I found large screens to be way more efficient than constantly switching between Leopard’s Spaces, as I did before.

And the MacBook Pro—well, easy: My iPhone can do a lot, but I need a real computer for lectures and the cafeteria, and it’s great to leave the desk for the garden every now and then.

4. What software do you use on a daily basis, and for what do you use it?

• Things combined with Things Touch on my iPhone — a killer task management setup for me. Everything goes into Things.
• Safari — browser of choice.
• DropBox — all my projects live in folders synced with DropBox. This ensures that all my data on the MacBook Pro is automagically up-to-date and everything I do at the university is reflected on my Mac Pro.
• iCal — All lectures and appointments go here. Thanks to MobileMe, this is always in sync on my machines and my iPhone always knows where I have to go next.
• mite. — I’m a web guy, so my time tracking lives on the web. DynaMite on the Macs, web interface on my iPhone.
• Mail — can’t get used to GMail. My Google Apps account lives in Mail.
• iTunes — I’m constantly listenin’, told ya.
• Aurora — wakes me up in the morning.
• Tweetie & Tweetie — my Twitter client on the Macs and iPhone.
• Adium — to log on to my XMPP server, OneTeam on the iPhone.
• Skype — constantly in use with my most regular customer.
• Fever — Shaun Inman’s feedreader immediately knocked out NetNewsWire for me.
• TextMate — I do all my coding with it, sometimes even CSS.
• CSSEdit — Explains itself.
• Terminal — Ruby on Rails and server administration via SSH doesn’t work without it.
• GitX — for version control. I version control everything. If it’s not in git, it’s at least in TimeMachine.
• Transmit — for good ol’ (S)FTP and Amazon S3.
• Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator (both CS3) — to edit pictures, and to check out what the designers did for me.
• Numbers, Pages & Keynote — for my office needs and presentations. So much happier with the iWork suite than with Office (which happens to get dusty on my HD).

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

In the right corner of my desk I have a 1TB Time Capsule to connect me to our WiFi and for backing up with TimeMachine.

Mobile devices:

• A 32GB iPhone 3GS, with me all the time.
• An 8GB iPhone, which is used by my girlfriend.
• I used to own still have a 60GB iPod 5G (hidden in my desk’s drawer, never used again since my first iPhone).

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

Nope. Just updated from an iPhone 3G to the 3GS, everything else is fine for now. Well, maybe a faster hard disk for the Mac Pro?

More Sweet Setups

Julian’s setup is just one in a series of sweet Mac setups.

David’s Setup:

1. What does your desk look like?

2. What is your current Mac setup?

A 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, with 4GB of RAM. It sits upon a Rain Design mStand which, whilst not the most versatile laptop stand, looks stunning.

I use a 23″ Apple Cinema Display as my primary monitor, along with a Logitech S530 Laser keyboard and mouse. I still rely on a 6 year old set of Altec Lansing 2100 speakers that work flawlessly.

In recent months I have come to love my ScanSnap S300M, a tiny duplex scanner capable of providing a completely paper-free office environment.

3. Why are you using this setup?

I have found that portable Macs offer all the power I require in a far more useful form factor than a desktop. Since purchasing a first generation MacBook I haven’t looked back. Coupling my notebook with a large monitor feels natural and works wonders for productivity.

The original reason I made the move to OS X was for the wonderful user interface. It shunned the brash colours of Windows and appealed to the designer in me. After a few months I began to fall in love with all the other benefits of the platform.

4. What software do you use on a daily basis, and for what do you use it?

I use all of the following on a very regular basis:

• Mail - I remain reluctant of moving to a web-based system, and enjoy the simplicity offered by Mail.
• Safari - One of the reasons I originally switched to OS X, and still the fastest browser available for the platform.
• Things - For organizing my life and scheduling tasks to remember in the future. A fantastic user interface.
• NetNewsWire - Great iPhone synchronization makes this my go-to choice for RSS. I’m also experimenting with Fever.
• Tweetie - Having swapped between various Twitter clients, I’ve settled on Tweetie for now.
• DevonThink Pro Office - For maintaining the aforementioned paperless office. It offers incredible OCR for scanned and imported PDF documents.
• Spotify - Being in one of the supported countries, I’m a huge fan of the free streaming music service on offer.
• Pixelmator - For remarkably fast image editing. Not as powerful as Photoshop, but I find myself using it far more often.
• iWork 09 - I completely stepped away from Microsoft Office earlier this year. Pages and Numbers are perfect for my needs.
• Transmit - Still my FTP client of choice, though I also use ExpanDrive from time to time.
• TextMate - For coding and basic text editing.
• Querious - Makes working with MySQL databases enjoyable — no mean feat!

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

I own a 1TB Time Capsule to act as a router and external hard drive for media, along with a 1TB Lacie d2 that mirrors my Time Capsule once a week.

An original MacBook (black) serves as a second machine if my MacBook Pro ever encounters a technical problem or surreptitious burglar.

I also own a few iPhones/iPods:

• A 16GB iPhone 3G, with me at all times.
• An 8GB iPhone now commandeered by my significant other.
• A 3rd generation iPod shuffle for running. Rarely used.

An Apple TV sits in my lounge, though slightly sub-par WiFi reception makes it somewhat of a hassle to use regularly. Plans are in place to run an ethernet cable, but it’s no easy task.

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

I’m thoroughly content with my current Mac setup, though would likely purchase a 30″ LED Cinema Display if Apple ever get around to producing one. I’m also a big fan of the MacBook Pro keyboard, and will pick up a Wireless Apple Keyboard to replace my Logitech at some point in the near future.

More Sweet Setups

David’s setup is just one in a series of sweet Mac setups.

Lukas Mathis’ article on modes versus quasimodes yesterday reminds me of linear beats versus layered beats on the drums. Linear beats are when you only play one sound surface on the drums at a time. Versus a layered beat, where you play multiple sound surfaces at the same time.

(If the lesson video linked to above isn’t that exciting, and you just want to see some crazy drumming, check out these clips of Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater. Mike often played face-melting linear drum beats and fills.)

Speaking of birthdays, this was one of the first gifts I got today. It’s a very fun and well-made board game for the whole family. And if you too are in the giving spirit, pick up Ticket to Ride via this Amazon affiliate link, and send little extra birthday cash my way.

Kevin’s Setup:

1. What does your setup look like?

Home:

Work:

2. What is your current Mac setup?

A 15″ 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 2 GB of RAM that I purchased in March 2007. I use it at home and at work.

At home, I connect to a 20″ Apple Cinema Display (ACD), a LaCie 250 GB External FireWire drive, and JBL Spot speakers. The external display at work is a 22″ Dell E228WFP that has the same resolution as the ACD.

In each location, I have an Apple wired keyboard, a Logitech MX Revolution mouse, and a Griffin Elevator desktop stand. A pair of Sony MDR-EX85LP headphones drown out the ambient noises at the office and help me focus on my work.

3. Why are you using this setup?

OS X is the finest operating system I’ve ever used, and the MacBook Pro is powerful enough for everything I need to do. Using the same computer for both home and work means I only have to buy one copy of the applications I use and also negates synchronization problems. I’ve read how people attempt to keep multiple computers in synch, but for me this is a non-issue.

With the laptop situated to the right of an external display, I run all my communication apps on the MacBook Pro’s screen. It’s far enough to the side to not be distracting and close enough for glancing at new items.

4. What software do you use on a daily basis, and for what do you use it?

• OS X Mail: I have three email accounts setup: one Mobile Me and two Gmail.
• Microsoft Entourage 2008: I currently use Entourage to connect to our Exchange Server, but will move to OS X Mail on Snow Leopard when it comes out. I’ve tried using Leopard’s Mail for sending and receiving messages, but things got tricky with meeting requests, so I went back to Entourage.
• iCal: I have Entourage synching with iCal so all my work and personal appointments are available. I also use it to track when my bills are due.
• Adium: I like Adium for instant messaging primarily for the border-less window appearance.
• 1Password: Working in the IT field means I have a lot passwords to track (currently over 130). For a while, I was storing them in Yojimbo, but the amount of steps required to access them was slowing me down. 1Password takes care of that with its browser integration and one-click copy button.
• Terminal: I use the Terminal quite a bit for network troubleshooting. Ping, dig, host, and traceroute are some of the most often used utilities. I also use it to connect to network devices and servers over SSH. The display is currently set to 13 pt. white Anonymous Pro (no antialias) on a black background.
• Things: By far, my favorite application for keeping track of all my work and home projects and tasks.
• Yojimbo: This is where I store software serial numbers and license codes, bookmarks for KB articles, quotes from vendors, and web receipts. After I purchase something online, I use the Save PDF to Yojimbo feature to save the confirmation page.
• TextExpander: I use this for expanding email signatures, some canned email responses, and a few Terminal commands. So far, it has saved me from typing over 200,000 characters.
• Google Quick Search Box: For application launching, queuing iTunes music, and showing contact phone numbers in large type.
• SuperDuper!: I let Time Machine handle regular backups and supplement it with full HD clones from SuperDuper! On average, I remember to execute the backup about 3-4 times a week. OK, more like 2-3 times a week.
• Remote Desktop Connection Client 2: Part of my job is working with Windows Servers. The RDC client works perfectly for connecting to them.

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

I have an 802.11g Airport Express and four iPods:

• 1st generation blue 4GB iPod mini: For the iHome alarm clock
• 40GB iPod photo (also known as iPod with color display): For the car
• 2nd generation silver 1GB iPod Shuffle: For working out
• 1st generation 8GB iPod Touch: For the apps

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

I’ve had me eye on an Apple TV and might pick one up soon. I’ll probably buy it from Apple’s Refurbished items store. You get the same product with the same warranty at a cheaper price. Plus, all refurbished products are tested and certified by Apple. Something which cannot be stated for the brand new ones.

More Sweet Setups

Kevin’s setup is just one in a series of Sweet Mac Setups.

Car and Driver Magazine finds out what we all could have guessed anyway. (Via @ianbarker)

But instead of hunting down more people, I thought it would be fun to feature the setups of those who are already reading the same site you are.1

If you want to showcase your (cool/dorky, clean/messy, old/new, etc.) setup to other shawnblanc.net readers, send an email to sbnet@mac.com, and I’ll reply back to you with the details.

Thanks for reading, and, as always, thanks for being awesome.

- Shawn

What happens when you lose your iPhone while in Chicago for a Lego convention but have MobileMe and an internet-tethered laptop.

(Via @jsnell.)

Sebastiaan’s Setup:

1. What does your desk look like?

2. What is your current Mac setup?

I’m currently using a Mac Pro as my primary workstation, with a 30″ Apple Cinema Display and Wacom Cintiq 12WX attached. I use the Cintiq for occasional drawing, sketching, and signing off paperwork, but as a very ‘posable’ secondary display it’s also quite useful. My desktop hardware is always surrounded by figures and models.

I was using an old first-generation MacBook Pro as my first Mac and out of the office: it used to be a real pain as it has almost completely broke down. The first run of the MacBook Pro was pretty unreliable, and my first unit literally melted. I very happy to have obtained a new laptop during my week in San Francisco at WWDC, the 17″ Macbook Pro.

3. Why are you using this setup?

I got a Mac Pro after saving up enough money because I realized how severely limiting my laptop was. I often found myself back tapping on the laptop case as it was performing some sort of Photoshop operation and being annoyed at the heat it made during operation. It was fantastic to go to a workstation with such raw power, and being able to pick my own display and swap out hardware was a huge plus for me. I never regretted that, as I’ve expanded its graphics, RAM, and storage abilities quite a few times since I got it.

The Cintiq was a hard choice, but very much worth it. I wanted to get back into artistic and ‘freestyle’ art a bit more, and it has really helped.

The 17″ MacBook Pro had been on my wishlist since the unibodies got shown off. The screen simply blows my 30″ Cinema Display out of the water, it’s quite light for its size, and extremely fast. As a plus side, the battery easily lasts for 8 hours. The latest update just adds more beefy specs, and I enjoy still having the ExpressCard slot; I may be that single digit percentage of the Mac userbase that finds those extremely useful for 3G hardware (I’d like to keep my USB ports available, thanks), network adaptors, eSATA, and more.

4. What software do you use on a daily basis, and for what do you use it?

I’d say my top 10 of apps is Photoshop CS4, Mail, Safari 4, NetNewsWire, Billings, iPhoto, LittleSnapper, iChat, Tweetie, and Quicktime.

I do all my work, without exception, in Photoshop, so it is almost always open. I get a big pile of email each day, so I have Mail open without exception (it starts when I log in). I do all my blog posting, half my tweeting, and most of my reading in Safari 4. I have almost 300 news sources in NetNewsWire, but they’re never a distraction. I consider it a part of my work to stay on top of everything that’s happening in my professional world. I do all my business work like invoicing, time tracking, and project estimation in Billings.

The rest sort of speak for themselves; I take a lot of photos, I use LittleSnapper with a huge gallery of icon and UI inspiration, keep in touch with iChat and Tweetie and watch videos with Quicktime + Perian.

5. Do you own any other Mac gear?

Naturally. I have a third-generation iPod 40 GB (still works!) which I saved up for by working as a dishwasher back in my younger years and serves as a testament to doing hard work to attain beautiful design, an iPod nano (second-generation), a first-generation iPhone and an iPhone 3G. I used to have three iPhones in total; since I live in the Netherlands, I had to buy them off eBay before the iPhone 3G came around. One broke, and I got a new one. The broken iPhone was later replaced in the US by Apple for a completely new unit, so I sold off my spare iPhone to my mom. True story.

I keep the iPhones in xStands: nice, aluminium Cinema Display foot-style holders for iPhones.

6. Do you have any future upgrades planned?

I keep hoping for a 30″ LED Cinema Display. The iPhone 3G S will be a sure buy later this year, considering how I’d like to test its color profile and specs for software I am making for iPhone and iPhone design / development. I won’t be bothered with supporting my local carrier, though: T-Mobile in the Netherlands is as bad as AT&T, and has no plans to support tethering or make attractive plans. I’ll be buying the iPhone 3G S in Belgium, without a SIM-lock and without a contract.

Accessory-wise, I’d like the mStand for my laptop. It’s a nice stand, similar to the xStand and Cinema Display foot I already have. It’s quite pricy, though.

More Sweet Setups

Sebastiaan’s setup is just one in a series of Sweet Mac Setups.

And tweeting about it.

Rene Ritchie asks:

“Need a handy link to send your friends who may have questions?”

Why yes, I do. And may I also suggest Dan Moren’s excellent and winded review of the new iPhone software update on MacWorld.

(Via DF.)

From the Wall Street Journal:

To me, this is the most important feature of the new iPhone 3G S. In fact, the “S” in the name stands for speed. During my week of testing, the new model proved dramatically snappier in every way than my iPhone 3G. Its processor is 50% faster than in the prior model, and it sports a new graphics chip.

Applications opened much more quickly. Web pages loaded far faster. The camera was ready to use almost instantly. And I never once saw the occasional, annoying iPhone behavior where you strike a key while typing and it sits there, seemingly stuck, before you can continue.

Though I thought for sure the “S” in the name stood for Shawn.

Jason Chen on Gizmodo says, “once you start using it, the speed of the iPhone 3GS will amaze you.”

Funny, because on the aforelinked review by Engadget, Joshua Topolsky wasn’t all that excited about the speed jump. Saying, “the additions of video recording, a compass, and a speed bump just don’t seem that compelling to us.”

Not only that, but Gizmodo’s review of the 3G S’s battery life says it is what Apple claims it to be: better. Joshua’s review on Engadget said that the new battery is virtually the same as the original 3G.

Apparently, results may vary.

iPhone 3G S and 3.0 OS reviews are all over the place today and a lot of them are pretty fantastic, too. Here is a great overview by Joshua Topolsky which includes lots of details, photos, and videos.