A few days ago I created a new user account on my MacBook Pro, called “Second Sam”. I wanted to see what it was like to start fresh, with no historical data or baggage. I wouldn’t attach my AppleID; I wouldn’t log in to iCloud Drive or Dropbox; I wouldn’t install 1Password or sync an OmniFocus database anywhere. This would be a single-device experiment.
It’s so cleansing—it’s like taking a long bath after camping for a week. All the grime and cruft is gone and you’re left with a manageable set of opporunties.
I forgot how much I like the Macintosh. A clean Finder is a pretty darn good organizational tool. The Keychain isn’t too shabby either for storing passwords. The plain-language event parsing by Calendar is nice, and an iTunes library that doesn’t sync or stream anywhere is very pleasant.
I’m not quite sure how I’ll incorporate this into my “real“ computing, but I’m enjoying this vacation.
