iPad mini 4 Years Later as a Minimalist Digital Minimalism
#MinimalistStyle, #SimpleLiving, #MinimalDesign, #LessIsMore, #CleanAesthetic, #ModernMinimalism, #MinimalVibes, #DeclutteredLife, #MinimalistHome, #MinimalFashion, #ScandinavianDesign, #NeutralTones, #ClutterFree, #MinimalArt, #SleekDesign
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A couple weeks ago in my capsule tech setup video I mentioned I wanted to make
an updated iPad mini video because even though I have done that many times it's
been about six months or so and I do feel like I have some more takes on why
this is this single best device to fit in a minimalist lifestyle at least in my
opinion. I'm gonna talk about how it fits into my routine and my specific use
cases and I'm hoping to at least give a little inspiration to those of you who
commented on that video and told me that you do in fact have an iPad mini but
don't really know what to use it for. Here's why I think the iPad mini is the
perfect device for a minimalist. But first if you're new to my channel thank you for
stopping by. Here we talk about minimalism, frugal living, tech, and things
of that nature. So if that sounds good to you and you end up liking the video be
sure to like and please tell the subscribe button you'll represent them
in a trial by combat but then never show up. Let's get started. The first
thing is it does mostly everything rather well. I feel like this is the best
point to start out with because it really encapsulates why my iPad mini is
in fact so useful for me. No it's not the most powerful device to game on and no
it doesn't have the best camera out there but it's still sort of a Swiss
army knife in my daily life because of the things it does excel at. Handling the
things that I do pretty much every day like reading and responding to emails or
having music or movies on while I'm sitting at my desk at home or at work
and handling those things that I do on a more weekly or even monthly basis like
writing or paying bills. I actually don't even think I made an update since this
OS 26 came out and admittedly I actually kind of hated it at first but it has
grown on me and being able to completely resize the windows has been very
convenient when I need to multitask. And although on paper it's not the most
powerful or state-of-the-art iPad I would make the argument that for some of
the reasons I'm gonna talk about here in a second it really might be the most
powerful in a use case or practicality sense. And to back that up is the next
point on this list is it's pretty much the perfect size. Not too long ago in a
video I talked about how it seems everything especially tech and
electronics are just getting bigger with every release and yes that offers things
like better batteries because they're bigger but I have yet to see where
that's been a really good thing for at least me personally. I have to make the
very bold statement that I think the iPad mini is the single best electronic
device I've ever used as far as size and ergonomics go. It fits perfectly into my
small bag and pretty much everywhere I've ever decided to keep it. And I don't
know if this matters to anybody but if being inconspicuous is a factor for you
this is where that small form factor can shine the most. If I had this thing in
high school I would have never gotten anything done. I still didn't get a lot
done but this would have just made it way worse. I would even go as far as to
say is its size has influenced how much I actually use it because it's a huge
reason why I bring it with me daily in the first place. Its size reinforces the
idea that I don't need the biggest or most powerful option just what fits my
life. It can replace multiple physical items. I don't think I'm as extreme as I
once was when it just comes to owning as few things as humanly possible in order
to feel like a minimalist. That being said the iPad mini can absolutely
replace many physical things if I wanted to or just needed it to. If I
really felt that need to I could declutter the journals that I used to
write, physical books to read, and my gaming device and just use the iPad mini
for all these things albeit with some compromise. I used to draw a lot in high
school and the iPad mini helped me rediscover that love for drawing and it
just helped me not have to commit to buying any sort of supplies just to try
it out to see if I even wanted to do it again. I mean yes I do have the Apple
pencil but that serves some other purposes as well. More so in the early
stages of minimalism when I was more focused on getting down to the lowest
number of items I was just able to centralize several hobbies and methods
of productivity into this one small device. Not to mention there are plenty
of ways to get free books, movies, shows, and games on here completely for free. So
in a way this could replace a lot of physical media across a lot of
categories as well unless you're someone who likes physical media. Overall in
regards to living a minimalist lifestyle this can really reduce as many
things in my daily life as I allow it. Perfect for creativity with low
commitment. I just talked about how the iPad mini made me fall in love with
drawing again but specifically as a minimalist it offers me the ability to
sketch, animate, and even edit pictures and videos at a pretty intermediate
level without having to commit to buying any additional products. I don't
personally edit videos here but you can literally just record videos straight
from the iPads camera and import it to iMovie which is a free app on here and
edit decent videos that way. Editing pictures here is super convenient
because it feels about the size of a photo you would have printed and hanging
on the wall anyways. And where it shines the absolute brightest in my opinion is
when you take advantage of Procreate. Genuinely the best $10 I've ever spent
in my entire life and I'll make my case known right now in case I ever work with
Procreate is the single best iPad app. I usually just make thumbnails on here by
adding text and messing around with colors but I've seen people who make
full animated cartoons here. And while Procreate is one of the many apps you
can use to sketch and draw there are plenty of other creative apps where you
can make things like comic strips and cartoons. I think a really popular one
is called ToonSquid. To me Regular Show is one of the best cartoons ever made
and I wanted to make a cartoon like that one day so I was looking into apps.
Essentially I think no matter what level of artist you are and especially if
you're a beginner this at the very least aligns with minimalist decision-making
because if you want to eventually commit and invest into a hobby you can at least
try it a little bit here on this iPad. And it means that decision will just be
a little bit more intentional now. It lowers the pressure to upgrade. Now I
know this video praising the iPad mini in itself can create a sense of FOMO or
fear of missing out but I really didn't even think about this up until four
years of owning this iPad. And being someone who used to heavily fall for the
hype of new products I never felt the need to upgrade or replace this iPad
because of how versatile and capable it is. Of course resisting the urge to
upgrade tech is more of a case of willpower and intentionality but it
absolutely helps when what you already have does everything you need it to.
Ultimately living as a minimalist just means there's more intention behind
these purchasing decisions especially expensive ones like electronics and the
purchases that I do make well I just don't want to be able to see the end of
ownership with them at least anywhere in the near future. In the end I simply
think everyone's version of minimalism will look vastly different and if there
ever was a point where minimalism was a contest about getting to as few number
of items as possible well we're just way past that and I think it's evolved quite
a bit. These are just a few of the reasons why I think iPad mini is still
perfect for minimalists or even someone who just wants to at least minimize
their tech space. I hope you found some value in the things that I talked about
here today. Let me know some of your specific iPad mini use cases if you
have any. Anyways as always I appreciate the time you spend here and I appreciate
you watching. If you did like this video and you like this type of content be
sure to like and consider subscribing to my channel and I'll see you next time.