Make It WORK FOR YOU

Tabbed Browsing is normally touted as one of the Internet breakthroughs of the 21st century. I beg to differ.

Yes, tabbed browsing was cool in its infancy. But now, we have much better operating systems than a few years ago.

My Ubuntu system live previews open windows during app switching (the Alt+Tab). I’m so grateful for “Show all windows” (Expose?), that makes it easy for me to pick a window visually (not a tab). I’m using Dockbar X, with superior grouping & window switching capabilities.

And I like juggling windows around in my dual monitor setup for best productivity.

Windows 7 also does these almost equally well.

Firefox tabs does none, at least not without some additional add-ons… that slow Firefox. But this applies for all browsers.

So I love windows better than tabs, for browsing purposes.

Along these lines though… is that sometimes we take innovation for granted, that we forgot why it was invented in the first place.

Tabbed browsing was not invented to solve a computer performance problem. Users are who needed it most, to manage their browsing activity, back in the day. What about now? Perhaps a bit, but not so much.

Phones, chat, and text messages also get overused these days. They are innovations in COMMUNICATION.

When these tools actually hamper your communication, something is wrong: Either the tool or how you use the tool.

Smartphones (PDAs?) should be easier to use than your agenda… Or is it? If you feel more productive with your agenda, by all means use it and ignore your smartphone’s features!

While it’s true that just because you can doesn’t meant you have to use it… it’s also true that just because you don’t use something means you can’t have it. I’m not suggesting to be lavish of course, just being practical.

Whatever tools, technology, or method you use: Make sure it WORKS FOR YOU.

You may or may not follow the crowd. You may or may not up to the latest trend. But NEVER FIGHT AGAINST YOURSELF.

By all means, if I can live happily without a smartphone, a laptop, and the Internet, I will not miss them at all. *shrugs* Not yet, though, but I hope one day I can forego all of these things. Seriously. Not even TV.

What’s YOUR OWN preference: good ole’ school grandpa’s sleek tricks… OR latest & shiniest Iron Man-style new tech?