An unusual tech travel kit

This first half of August I was away from home, visiting my mother in Italy. Knowing I would have little time for work, I brought with me a lighter tech travel kit; now you’re looking at the photo and smiling at the words ‘lighter travel kit’. Lighter doesn’t necessarily mean minimal. I’m through with minimalism. I have tried, repeatedly, to embrace a more minimal tech lifestyle, but I ultimately realised it just brought disappointment and friction. Yes, friction. I realised it was like wanting to have a different body shape. While I can lose weight and achieve a fitter look with some effort, I cannot change my body shape, the thickness and structure of my bones… I’m digressing.

I looked up the definition of maximalist, but heh heh it turns out it doesn’t mean the opposite of minimalist. Noun: (especially in politics) a person who holds extreme views and is not prepared to compromise. Adjective: of or denoting an extreme opinion. Maybe I could use terms like byzantine or baroque to denote my opposing direction to minimalism, and to characterise my tech setups. But I like to use maximalist — tongue in cheek, obviously.

Some days ago I tweeted:

I forgot [to talk] about my current tech travel kit. It comes in twos.

2 iPads

2 iPhones

2 Nokia phones

And one Bluetooth keyboard.

Oldest device is from 2006. Newest from 2014. I can’t do my main job, but I can manage everything else.

Tim replied: I am pretty curious what the uses are for the devices. I am always interested in how people use their tools!

I promised a post. Here it is.

The devices are:

A first-generation iPad. 2010. 16 GB. iOS 5.1.1

A third-generation iPad. 2012. 32 GB. iOS 9.3.5

An iPhone 4. 2010. 16 GB. iOS 7.1.2

An iPhone 5. 2012. 32 GB. iOS 10.3.3

A Nokia E61. 2006. 2 GB (micro SD). Wikipedia says its OS is S60 platform third edition on Symbian OS.

A Nokia Lumia 830. 2014. 16 GB + 16 GB (micro SD). Windows 10 Mobile.

A Logitech iPad Keyboard and Stand Combo Bluetooth keyboard.

You might be wondering why such a redundant setup. As a ‘maximalist’, instead of concentrating functionality in the fewest possible devices, I have the tendency to do the opposite — i.e. to distribute tasks across multiple devices. The iPad 1 has been my daily driver for a few months now, and it was indeed the one I used the most during my stay and while travelling. I had ripped a few episodes of some TV series I’m following, and watched them with VLC. The 8‑year-old iPad had no problems playing them and VLC could even handle subtitles when needed. I also used the iPad 1 to write the draft of this post. And to check a bunch of secondary email accounts. And to quickly jot down a few notes in Evernote Penultimate (the old version with the good design). And much more. The iPad 3 was my backup, and I resorted to it when I needed to use more modern apps.

The iPhone 5 is (still) my main phone, and the one I used the most. But when I go to Italy I usually bring another phone with my old Italian SIM card, and the Nokia E61 was the only working phone that supports a regular-size SIM card among the phones I own. In the past my choice was the good old iPhone 3G, but lately its battery life has been noticeably shortening. It took a bit to get accustomed to the physical keyboard again, but in the end it was rather pleasant to type text messages on it.

When I visit Italy, I also keep an additional data-only SIM card with an advantageous data plan I can reactivate by simply buying enough credit. And that’s what the iPhone 4 is for: I put this data-only SIM card in it, activate Personal Hotspot, and all the other devices can connect to the Internet.

Finally, the main reason I also brought the Nokia Lumia 830 with me is that this phone has the best camera (10 MP) of all these vintage devices. Its lens is also wide-angle, so it’s really great for the kind of photography I like to do with a smartphone. I also like using Windows Phone, and there are a few apps I still enjoy using, so there’s that too.

The Logitech Bluetooth keyboard was really a worthy addition to the kit. It’s lightweight enough, sturdy enough, and its case transforms into a stand (as you can see on Amazon), which has proven quite handy in a few occasions. I used it mainly with the iPad 1, but it would have been just as easy to pair it with the other iPad or one of the phones if necessary.

As I said in the original tweet, I can’t do my main job with this setup. For that I need a Mac — it’s a matter of software and screen real estate. But this perhaps unusual travel kit took good care of every other need, without taking up too much space. All the phones, cables and chargers went into my Adept travel pouch, and with the two iPads and the keyboard in my backpack it was like carrying around a couple of books.

Yes, it may be a byzantine, a baroque, a convoluted setup, but it really worked for me. Once again, I put older devices to good use and they, in turn, did not let me down.