TMO Workspaces: Jeff Gamet

This week, we’re taking a look at The Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, Jeff Gamet.

Jeff has comfortable, modern home office perfectly set up for the two Macs he uses to keep tabs on Apple and creative design news and events.

In addition to his comfy red chair, his office walls feature original artwork in the form of an RGB design that especially tickles creatives like Jeff.

Starting with the left side of his desk Jeff has a Razer Pro Mouse Pad, a necessity for his glass desk. On top of the Razer is an Apple Magic Mouse, which he uses with both his MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Jeff’s portable travel workstation is a 2011 13-inch 1.8GHz i7 MacBook Air with 4 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Whenever Jeff leaves his office, whether heading to the local coffee shop or to a conference across the country, his MacBook Air provides him with the perfect combination of power and versatility.

Off to the right of the Air is a 2nd Generation iPod touch. Although Jeff also has an iPhone and an iPad, the touch still sees good use as a portable alarm and reference tool when the iPhone or iPad isn’t immediately on hand.

The touch sits in an Element Stand, a machined aluminum, durable product that also holds Jeff’s iPhone while he’s at his desk.

Also scattered on the left side of Jeff’s desk is a USB-to-Ethernet adapter for his Air, 3rd generation “fat” iPod nano, 6th generation iPod nano, a magnification loupe for critical design work, and a Sharpie bin loaded with different sizes and colors for some good old fashioned pen-to-paper creativity.

Close the lid of Jeff’s MacBook Air and several goodies are revealed. On the shelf above the air is a Ten One Design Magnus, a small metal stand for the iPad.

Below the Magnus is a 3rd generation iPod that, except for a failed original battery, still works great. A quick trip to Other World Computing to pick an iPod battery replacement is all Jeff needed to bring this classic device back to life.

Tucked in next to the iPod are are several hard drives consisting of, from left to right, a MacBook Air Time Machine backup drive, an iTunes media drive, a nightly clone backup drive, and a MacBook Pro Time Machine backup drive.

Finally, on the right, is Jeff’s Rode USB Podcaster microphone on a ProLine desktop mic stand. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Gamet’s voice flow through your speakers while listening to a podcast, it’s highly likely that the Rode is what recorded the magic.

Moving on to the right side of Jeff’s desk, on the far left of the photo is Jeff’s Fitbit, a nifty little wireless device that measures a wearer’s steps throughout the day, quality of sleep, and other health-based personal metrics.

Next is the MacBook Pro, a 15-inch 2.2GHz i7 model with 16 GB RAM and a 750 GB HDD. For day-to-day work at home, and on those occasions when Jeff thinks he’ll need extra horsepower while traveling, Jeff turns to his trusty MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro is resting on a Griffin iCurve stand. Griffin no longer makes the stand, and Jeff is not surprised; the stand bounces and shifts vertically with ease, shifting the MacBook Pro up and down in a frustrating manner. But, it does keep the MacBook Pro off the desk and it will suffice until Jeff can decide on a new aluminum laptop stand.

Tucked behind the iCurve is an Apple Aluminum keyboard, which Jeff uses to type on during podcasts due to its quiet typing and ease of mobility. Rather than selecting the even smaller Apple Wireless keyboard, Jeff went with the wired USB version to avoid having to worry about battery and syncing issues.

In the middle of the desk is a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display. Jeff loves the color consistency, sharp image, and lack of glossy surface. With Apple phasing out this style of display in 2008 for the glossy 24-inch Cinema Display (now 27-inch Thunderbolt Display), Jeff worries about what he’ll do when his monitor eventually dies. Perhaps HP will rescue the day if it can continue to produce its “DreamColor” displays.

Flanking the Cinema Display are two M-Audio Studio Pro 4 speakers. Considering their compact size, Jeff finds that they have good sound. Through a lack of proper shielding, however, they have a tendency to occasionally pick up public safety radio broadcasts. Most people would consider that a major negative trait of the product. Jeff Gamet is not one of those people.

In front of the Cinema Display is Jeff’s Wacom Intuous3 design tablet. While it helps Jeff get creative in design apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, he also finds it useful as a pointing device, using the stylus as a replacement for the mouse during long work sessions. The shift between mouse and stylus helps avoid wrist strain and, hopefully, repetitive stress injuries.

Tucked under the Cinema Display is a Mobee Magic Charger, the white device just to the right of the visible portion of the Apple keyboard. It’s an inductive charger that Jeff uses with his aforementioned Magic Mouse. Through the magic of inductive charging, the batteries in the mouse charge simply by setting it down on the surface of the Mobee.

To the right of the Wacom tablet is Jeff’s 3rd generation iPad, a 64 GB WiFi only model. Jeff realized he never really found a need for 3G or 4G connections on his iPad so he opted to save money on the wireless chip and bump up the capacity instead.

Down in front of the desk on the keyboard tray is a Kensington Orbit trackball. Jeff often prefers using the Orbit in lieu of traditional mice; it uses a small trackball and is ambidextrous, a necessity for left-handed folks like him. In fact, Jeff’s been an Orbit fan since their very first product, a bulky beige device that he connected to his Quadra 610 via ADB!

For general typing, Jeff turns to the Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard. “It’s loud, and it’s awesome. I can’t imagine using any other keyboard for my daily work. It’s like a tank turned into a keyboard, but without missile launchers.” Jeff says of the keyboard.