This post was inspired by The Setup, which I absolutely love.

David Pier

Cloud Architect

1. Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is David Pier. I'm a CRM geek and audio engineer. I currently work at HubSpot in Cambridge, MA. I like Volvos and music.

2. What hardware are you using?

My main machine is a 2008 2.8 GHz 8 Core Mac Pro. It has just 4 GB of RAM and is running Snow Leopard (10.6). On the inside are three hard drives (2 TB, 320 GB, 320 GB). Everything is stored on the 2 TB and the two additional drives are used for sharing files. I have a ton of external drives, all of which are from OWC. I have a 2 TB external I back up to via Time Machine, a 750 GB external I back up my music to via ChronoSync, and various other drives I use to store archived Pro Tools sessions. I've recently started experimenting with cloud backup solutions, namely CrashPlan, however, its been horribly slow and is telling me it's going to take upwards of 85 days to back up my files. My monitor is a 22" Chimei. I use a cheap Logitech mouse and a full Apple keyboard. I listen to most of my music through a pair of Sony MDR-7506's with Beyerdynamic EDT 200 earcushions.

At HubSpot I use a 15" MacBook Pro. It's got an i5 and 8 GB of RAM and is quite snappy. It (unfortunately) has a glossy screen, which is basically like looking into a mirror. I use a Magic Mouse (which admittedly hurts my hand after prolonged use) and type on an Apple Compact Wireless Keyboard. I look at an Acer 24" monitor and keep my laptop shut for the most part. When I have to access Windows- I do so via Parallels and go into Windows 7 64bit.

I also have a Samsung N130 netbook with Ubuntu 11.04 installed that sits in the bottom of a drawer at HubSpot. I rarely use this machine, as I've no real reason to.

I use an iPhone 4, which I'm (admittedly) glued to. I keep a bumper on it, as I'm afraid I'll scratch or drop it, but once in a while I will carry the phone around outside of its case to marvel at its beauty. I was previously an Android user. The iPhone just works. My Android didn't.

3. And what software?

I love Dropbox, which has essentially rendered thumb drives useless for me. Chrome is my browser of choice (when Chrome first came out I hated it because it was too fast. Now everything else seems bulky and sluggish to me by comparison). I've been using Evernote more and more lately and although the UI is fairly bloated, I enjoy it very much. For audio editing and mixing I run Pro Tools LE 8 at home and couldn't live without the Massey Plugins. I run Last.fm in conjunction with iTunes and use XLD to rip CDs and convert FLAC downloads to aiff files. Most of my music is acquired via BitTorrent by way of Transmission. For instant messaging I use Adium. My text editor of choice is currently Sublime Text, although I'll once in a while dabble with TextWrangler and TextMate. I use LastPass to manage all of my web passwords because It's free and 1Password isn't. I've recently gotten into Alfred, which I use as an app launcher/Quicksilver replacement.

I'm currently on a mission to find a solid productivity/to-do list management app. I currently use Wunderlist, but only because it's free and available as a desktop, iOS and web app. All the other decent alternatives I've come across are quite pricey.

I just can't get into Apple's iCal and Mail apps. I've become too reliant on Gmail/Gcal's fancy labels and coloring, plus I would lose access to some great Gmail plugins like WiseStamp, Boomerang, and Rapportive.

On my iPhone I use the stock Notes app probably more than any other. I really only use the EverNote iPhone app if I need to search for something- it's awful for jotting quick notes IMO. I use some photo apps like Instagram and Camera+. It's probably only a matter of time before I go to the dark side and get Hipstamatic as well. I've somehow managed to only pay for two iPhone apps to date. The first is Reeder, the second is a baseball app I accidentally paid $15 for. I have a list of 10-15 (paid) apps I want to check out but can't bring myself to actually do.

4. What would be your dream setup?

A 13” MacBook Air with a 2 TB drive, 16 GB of RAM, matte high-res screen, and a thinner bezel.

The MacBook would have the ability to sync with any other Apple device(s). The sync would happen real-time, and I would be able to specify which folders got synced and whether I wanted it to be one way or bi-directional. 

I would have a beautiful wireless monitor, and a wireless mouse that is more comfortable but just as good looking as the Magic Mouse.

I would have a sexy AirTunes setup where I would wirelessly stream my iTunes to my home stereo using a slick DAC of my choosing. My iTunes library would also be available on my 2 TB iPhone, where again- everything is in sync. 

I would still have multiple external hard drives to act as backups, but they would connect wirelessly and be blazingly fast.

I also dream of a world where before updating to a new version of OSwhatever- I am warned of potential version conflicts with any unsupported or not yet tested pieces of software I have installed. This is namely so I can keep ProTools and my plugins happy. 

I am confident that this will all be possible within the next 10 years.