Future-proof computer setup for Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo workflows

[Ben Wiens]

Abstract
I'm a futurist and this is my 2025 New Years day prediction. Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo will become widely used in the future and will replace most word processing, desktop publishing, illustration, and photo editing programs. There will also be alternatives to the note taking program OneNote and a presentation program alternative to Powerpoint built around the core suite. A separate Data Asset Management program will be available for finding files easily. Electronic systems will be optimized around the Affinity programs. Most people will own three sizes of devices, a 100 mm/4 inch screen wrist phone running on regular Android or iOS, a 200 mm/8 inch screen touch screen tablet running on regular Windows or MacOS, and a 400 mm/16 inch screen 2 in 1 laptop running Windows or MacOS hooked into an 800 mm/32 inch screen external monitor when at home or the office.

100 mm/4 inch screen wrist phone
The 100 mm/4 inch screen wrist phone will run on regular Android or iOS. This size of device needs a low power operating system. These devices will be able to run the thousands of apps available on the Android or iOS system. None of these apps are that capable but will be handy to have on your wrist all the time. This device will be able to take and receive calls even from satellites. Short calls will be done via speaker phone on your wrist while longer calls will be done via a Bluetooth headset or by twisting off the wrist phone from the wrist band and holding it to your ear. This device is already available by combining a 100 mm/4 inch screen Android smartphone with a special case that includes a twist off fitting with wrist band.

200 mm/8 inch screen tablet
The 200 mm/8 inch screen touch screen tablet will run on regular Windows or MacOS. This is the smallest size of device that can run the regular Windows or MacOS operating systems. This device will be able to run all the regular programs used on laptop or desktop computers. That will be great because the 200 mm/8 inch screen form factor is highly portable, just a little wider and the same length as a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. It will have a stylus and a high quality stylus compatible touchscreen. This tablet will be able to run the regular version of Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo which is the real benefit as these programs will not run on Android. This device is already available from Sincoole Technologies of China with 1920x1200 resolution touch screen for a stylus, 16 Gb RAM, 512 Gb SSD, GPS, WiFi, camera and 4G wireless connectivity and can be also used as a phone using VoIP software and contracts.

400 mm/16 inch screen 2 in 1 laptop
The 400 mm/16 inch screen 2 in 1 laptop with touchscreen for stylus is very compact but powerful form factor. Hooked up to a  800 mm/32 inch screen external monitor this can be a desktop replacement. The 2 in 1 400 mm/16 inch laptop will be the most widely used computer in the future as this size has room for a numeric keypad and has a touchscreen for stylus which is often more desirable for working on Affinity Designer illustrations than using a mouse. Many people will use the 200 mm/8 inch screen tablet synchronized to the 2 in 1 computer for doing smaller illustrations or making short notes because it's too much effort to flip the screen into tablet mode for short projects, a downside to this type of computer. Many people will use the 2 in 1 in tablet mode most of the time with a separate keyboard for this reason. But the 2 in 1 is more versatile than a tablet with attachable keyboard. The 2 in 1 16 inch will be the most popular type of computer in the future because people will work less at one desk and often will not have access to an external monitor and the 2 in 1 laptop is generally more powerful than a tablet with detachable keyboard and the 16 inch screen with QHD or 4K resolution results in being able to view a lot of information on the screen at one time. Regular laptops will disappear as meeting notes are best done with a stylus using tablet mode. The ideal device in this category was available new about 2 years ago, it was the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 inch laptop with high power CPU, 32 Gb RAM, 4 Gb VRAM and GPU, 4 Tb maximum SSD, 2 cooling fans, 99.99 Wh battery, and QHD 100% RGB touch screen for stylus. Others like it might be available in the future but presently there is not much that compares. 

Why will Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo become widely used in the future
Affinity Publisher, Designer, Photo will become widely used in the future and will replace most word processing, desktop publishing, illustration, and photo editing programs. Microsoft Word does not handle illustrations and images very well. Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are too expensive and file sizes are way too large. We live in a world where increasingly more illustrations and images are used. People used to have secretaries type out their letters, and in the same way people will have to do their own desktop publishing in the future as it will be more efficient. Documents often go through many editing stages including after the document appears almost ready and so it makes sense to write, edit, and publish in the same program.

Affinity alternatives to OneNote and Powerpoint
Affinity will come up with alternatives to the note taking program OneNote and a presentation program alternative to Powerpoint so there will be 5 programs in the suite. The minimum file size of an Affinity Publisher document is only 10 K which is similar to a Microsoft Word document which makes it suitable for a note taking system because it can also incorporate illustrations and images. No note taking program that is available presently can handle  illustrations and images very well. Considering that people will have all their other documents in Affinity format, it makes sense to be able to reuse these items in a Powerpoint type presentation or a note taking program. This is because notes often grow into reports which grow into papers which grown into books and manuals and so all these should use the same file format.

Conclusion
People in the future will decide that one program suite for most of their document related work is ideal and this will be the Affinity Suite for many good reasons. Because so many of their documents will be in this format they will ditch their larger Android smartphones for 200 mm/8 inch tablets running full Windows or MacOS because Android or iOS won't run these. The Android and iOS applications will be rather used on the smaller wrist phones which people will find more convenient than having a phone in their pocket as they get bombarded with email, texts, and voice calls all day long. The 2 in 1 laptop will be the most popular full size computer due to both it's power while at the desk and that it can be used as a tablet for taking notes in meetings.

Appendix
The ideal Lenovo Yogo 7i 16 inch 2 in 1 laptop mentioned above is model 16IAH7 which I bought about 6 months ago as an Open Box. It came with 1 Tb SSD which I removed and put in a Sabrent external SSD case and then I installed a Lexar NM790 4 Tb SSD in the laptop. I also bought a Lenovo Precision Pen 2 which has a rechargeable battery and a tiny logitech M187 mouse. The Lenovo Yoga uses the AES digitizer which I believe is the best type. I did tests with the Precision Pen 2 on the AES screen and the response and accuracy is excellent, equal to the Spen on my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G which uses EMR digitizer technology. I also bought a Western Digital 5 Tb My Passport external 2.5 inch HDD which is very fast and inexpensive but uses Shingled Magnetic Recording so is best used only for backups. I also bought a Dell S2725DS QHD 2560x1440 resolution 100 Hz external monitor which I like as it is fully adjustable and has built in speakers and a high quality sound system. When using the stylus, I generally use the 2 in 1 laptop with the keyboard at the front of the desk and screen angled at 45 degrees, arm resting on the palm rest and use a 2 finger picoggo palm rejection glove. I need the keyboard also as most of my illustration also have lots of text. Time will tell how much work I do with the stylus vs the mouse. For freehand raster drawing the stylus is a must but for vector drawing a mouse might be best for small amounts of drawing because I don't have to put on the glove for that. Either way the touch screen is great as I can use my left hand for menu selections and my right hand for drawing. In meetings I'll go in tablet mode however as I don't want a screen sticking up and don't want to type when talking to others at the table.

[Andreas Scherer]

Which AI tool did you use for this text? 😉

[Ben Wiens]

4 hours ago, Andreas Scherer said:

Which AI tool did you use for this text? 😉

I haven't found that AI is that intelligent so I just used my own words and ideas. Recently when I asked Microsoft Copilot what make of vehicle was the safari vehicle in "Out of Africa" movie based on it came up with the Ford Model TT truck chassis with a 2 speed transmission. Not even close as the Ford TT did not have front brakes and had a single cross leaf spring on the front axle while the safari vehicle visible in the movie clearly had front brakes and two leaf springs. After about 6 attempts I found the vehicle myself based on a very hard to make out radiator emblem, it was likely based on a 1928 International Harvester truck chassis, likely with a 3 speed manual transmission and 2 speed rear axle which was classed as a 6 speed and was a much superior vehicle to the Ford TT for safari work. Maybe word based AI like Grammarly is better? I don't really trust AI for anything but ideas.