Uses This

A collection of nerdy interviews asking people from all walks of life what they use to get the job done.

A picture of Zoltan Istvan

Zoltan Istvan

Futurist, journalist, transhumanist

Posted in journalist, windows

Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Zoltan Istvan, and I'm a futurist, journalist, and entreprenuer. Most people know me as one of the leaders of the transhumanist movement, a social movement of a few million people worldwide that want to use science and technology to radically modify the human being and human experience. I'm currently also running for California Governor under the Libertarian Party.

What hardware do you use?

Currently, I use a Toshiba Satellite laptop for most of my writing (I write journalism articles every week). But at home I also use an iPad Air for browsing and quick communication. And probably most of all, I use an iPhone 6S for calls, texts, and tweets.

I haven't been thrilled with the laptop, but it's such an ordeal to switch machines. But I was at Best Buy the other day looking at Microsoft Surfaces.

And what software?

Much of what I do revolves around Microsoft Word, since I write so frequently. So as a result, I'm still a PC guy when it comes to my laptops, and therefore a Windows person. I also use Yahoo SiteBuilder, for managing websites. It's simple stuff and quick and easy for me to update, or for designers to do so. But it's another PC application.

What would be your dream setup?

I'm not thrilled with Windows, but, again, it's hard to make the switch to anything else, so my dream setup would include a Microsoft Surface 4 with keyboard, with full Office suite built-in, and the latest version of Premiere. I do a lot of video and audio interiews.

Regarding my phone, I'm pretty thrilled with the capabilities of my iPhone and iPad. For me, the quest is really to upgrade to a better laptop, since that is such a vital component of my daily work life -- and night life is watching videos too.