The Leading a better life Quora consistenly posts great stuff, and this post on “Becoming a better Superman” is no exception. The key idea behind the post is balancing idealism and pragmastism. This is a great way to approach life.

Without idealism, we dream too small. We aim to survive, and fail to live. We neglect to inspire ourselves.

Without pragmatism, we fail our dreams. Life is a frustrating, perpetual disappointment. We never reach our potential.

Frasier Spiers comes up with an interesting way to compare iPhones, iPads, and “PC” devices:

I’d like to propose that we can look at the ‘sweet spot’ for each type of device along two axes: task complexity and task duration. Task duration is the more obvious of the two: how long of a continuous period will you be using your device for the task.

Task complexity requires a little more unpacking. When I talk of “complexity”, I’m looking at a combination of factors that make a task complex:

• The number of steps to completion
• The extent to which you’re combining data from multiple sources
• The amount of data that is being manipulated
• The linearity or otherwise of those steps - the less linear, the more complex the task

This certainly seems to encompass the things I think about when I decide which device to use for a particular task. Whilst the iPad can undoubtebly be used for creation, rather than just consumption, there are still tasks that require a more PC-like interface to accomplish them. Taking advantage of the strengths of each device is the key to getting the most out of your computing experience.