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Pixel Slate | |
2019.04.16 19:24:24 UTC | |
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Last week I received my new work machine, a Pixel Slate with a Pixel | |
Slate Keyboard and a Pixelbook Pen. This is replacing my previous HP | |
13" chromebook. | |
I really liked my previous chromebook. The main reason I moved to | |
Mac machines was the overhead of using any of the alternatives. I | |
did not want to administer my local machine as a complex system. I | |
just want it to work and get out of my way. Yes, I enjoyed modifying | |
and adjusting my Linux and BSD machines as much as I could in the | |
past, but I noticed this was taking too much of my time. When it | |
came down to being productive, they were getting on my way. | |
Yes, the price I paid is very high: a lot of proprietary software, | |
fewer features, fewer options and less control of my computing | |
devices. My inner hacker screams at me for this decision. | |
But I got what I wanted: a device which always worked, required | |
minimal administration and had all of the features I needed to work. | |
Yet it couldn't do everything I needed for non-work scenarios. I | |
still carried around my iPad for things like reading e-books, taking | |
hand-written notes and some other apps. | |
When the Pixel Slate was announced, I was excited to give it a try | |
and finally I got one at work. So far I am really enjoying this | |
device! It does everything my previous chromebook did, but the pen/ | |
stylus solves the hand-writing need, and being able to use it as a | |
tablet solves the other use cases for my iPad. The result: I'm now | |
back to carrying a single device! | |
The cherry on the top is being able to run a linux container [1] on | |
this device, solving the need for a remote workstation! Previously | |
I used to SSH into my machine at home to work from my shell there. | |
Now I can do it all locally and not worry about Internet connection. | |
I'm still moving all of my apps into this device and adjusting my | |
personal workflows, so maybe I'll run into a snag later. Now that | |
I mention it, I just remembered one: they delivered the device with | |
an UK (ISO) layout keyboard. I prefer US (ANSI) layout, so I will | |
have to change it soon - hopefully on my next trip to the US. | |
[1] https://support.google.com/pixelslate/answer/9136958 |