Hello Friends,
I’ve purchased goods from an online stranger twice in my life: seven years ago when I bought a used iPod touch on eBay, and then a few weeks ago when I bought a used iPad through Facebook Marketplace.
I met the seller outside of a nearby Safeway grocery store, where he talked to me for 20 minutes about everything from what itās like working from home with a small child and cat to, well, that was basically all we talked about.
Iāve never felt more valued for being something other than a small child or cat.
(In case you forgot: you likely signed up for this newsletter on my website, jstnbrbr.com. I send a new email every month thanks to the support of my Bonsai partners. You can unsubscribe at any time via link in the footer.)
Anyway, I went home with a used 10.5ā iPad Pro, keyboard folio, and Apple Pencil all in great condition for a great price (as well as a new connection on LinkedIn).
While Iāve always been curious to try using an iPad, Chromebook, or MacBook Air, Iāve never felt like I could justify buying one since my design work requires a large screen and above average computing power.
But now that I have two primary app driven workflows for all my Bonsai projects (writing in iA Writer and editing photos in VSCO), I wanted to see if they would be better on an iPad than my laptop and phone.
(Iāll pause here to let the privilege of that last paragraph sink in.)
When I write on my laptop I can get easily distracted because of how easy it is to switch between windows, tabs, and apps. Multi-tasking is too frictionless. I was hoping that the limitations of the iPadās multi-tasking capabilities would prove easy enough to use while maintaining a level of friction that enforces singular focus.
Basically, I wanted a glorified typewriter.
So far so good ā the smaller screen and lack of mouse makes editing long pieces of text more difficult (eg. moving multiple paragraphs to different places), but as a result, Iām more focused on what Iām writing in the moment instead of worrying about the paragraphs above and below.
And because text selection requires the extra effort of keyboard shortcuts or physically touching the screen, I think twice about breaking my flow to endlessly tweak sentences.
While writing on the iPad has a few tradeoffs, editing photos on the iPad is universally better compared to the arduous task of editing on my phoneās tiny screen. I mean:

I thought that using an iPad would give me profound thoughts on the future of computing, but instead it just dug up old frustrations.
As I feared before making my purchase, the most painful part of using the iPad is the stubborn ideology of iOS. I havenāt owned an iPhone in over five years and Iāve never used Apple Mail or iCloud for anything meaningful.
And boy howdy does abstaining from iCloud make using an iPad a pain in the booty (Iām sorry you had to read that sentence).
Iāll spare you the gory details ā Iāve written enough at this point ā but hereās the gist: any time I want to save, move, or open a file or photo, Iām forced through an elaborate maze to be able to choose whatever alternative app that I use instead of Appleās default offering.
Rumor has it that Apple is finally considering giving users an option to change ādefaultā apps (after 14 software releases and the vague, existential threat of antitrust lawsuits). Will that actually happen? Probably. Eventually. š
Regardless, Iāve found the iPad to be an admirable stopgap for parts of my creative process. Which is…kind of a low bar? But that’s also all that I expected. The iPad is a slightly redundant, sometimes-more-convenient option than my 15ā MacBook Pro. It’s a luxury device.
Man, what a boring iPad review.
Something stupid: $1 Drawings
While Iāve gotten lots of time with the iPad keyboard, I havenāt gotten a chance to experiment much with the Apple Pencil yet. So! Letās do something stupid:
For the first 10 people to Venmo me $1, Iāll spend 5 minutes on my iPad drawing a picture of whatever you request (if youāre a Bonsai partner this is included as a perk š).
Within 48 hours of your request Iāll send you both the drawing and a recording of the process!
If youāre wondering
how good are you at drawing?
My answer is: eight years ago I got a B in Drawing 100 and havenāt drawn a lot since.
But if you donāt absolutely love your one-of-a-kind, commissioned piece, I guarantee a full refund.
Bonsai Updates
One of my coworkers started a ālunch and learnā series where anyone in the company is free to present on a topic of interest or area of expertise during lunch ā talks have ranged from creating 3D environments to sharing tales from a cross continent trip.
Last week I gave a ālunch and learnā on my Bonsai projects and the paid partnership model. It felt emotionally risky to present something so personal in a corporate context, but emotional risk and vulnerability is at the core of Bonsai after all.
The presentation was unrehearsed and it was also the first time Iāve tried putting together a complete story around why Iām doing everything that Iām doing (though I still forgot some important points).
If youāre interested in hearing the story I shared with coworkers, you can watch on YouTube below (the coffee shop background chatter dies down around 3:00):
Sustaining passion projects - YouTube
Lunch and learn at work
One Good Thing
Last month I linked to two newsletters that I enjoy reading and I was surprised by how much interest the recommendations drove ā so Iāve decided that Iāll end each new Bonsai newsletter with One Good Thing.
I recently gifted our friends strawberry and peach jam from INNA Jam, a locally based ā Iām not sure what the right term is ā jammer? pickler? Whatever! All of their jams are organic and made by hand and are delicious.
The moment INNAās jams landed on my tongue I knew Iād have to apologize to my taste buds for assaulting them with store bought, processed jams for all these years.
So taste buds, I am sorry. I didnāt know any better.
INNAās jams are (understandably) expensive, so if you canāt justify spending that much on jam for yourself consider giving it as a gift!
Until next time,
Justin