Key Takeaways
- Veteran tech investor Keith Rabois says he stopped utilizing laptops and desktops in 2010, working his work life from an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch as an alternative.
- He was impressed after seeing Jack Dorsey function his fintech enterprise from an iPad, which satisfied him that conventional computer systems weren’t mandatory for high-level government work.
- Rabois says that cellular gadgets make him extra targeted and productive.
Keith Rabois hasn’t touched a laptop computer or desktop pc since 2010 — and insists he’s extra productive with out one. As a substitute, the longtime investor and former government at PayPal, LinkedIn and Stripe runs his total skilled life from an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad.
Rabois not too long ago instructed Lenny’s Podcast that he traces his laptop computer breakup to his early days at fintech firm Sq., now Block. He watched cofounder and CEO Jack Dorsey run the corporate from an iPad. Seeing a CEO function a fast-growing startup on a pill satisfied him that conventional computer systems had been optionally available for severe work.
“I instantly transformed in September of 2010, and haven’t appeared again,” Rabois instructed the podcast.
The shift wasn’t an informal experiment. For greater than a decade, Rabois has described his iPhone as a “persistent pc, not as a ‘telephone.’” His argument is straightforward: smaller, lighter gadgets make him extra targeted and extra cellular. Working from a telephone, watch or iPad forces him into tighter interfaces and shorter interactions.
He additionally believes carrying a laptop computer means lugging a heavier machine than he really wants, together with the distractions that include conventional desktop-style computing. “There’s no purpose to make use of a extra highly effective, heavier-weight, much less versatile machine,” he mentioned on the podcast.
Over the previous 12 months, new AI instruments have shifted extra work to cellular gadgets, together with “vibe coding” apps that allow customers create apps by AI prompts on their telephones. Vibe coding apps are attracting extra curiosity — and funding. For instance, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian invested $9.4 million in seed funding for Vibecode, an iPhone app that lets customers construct new apps straight on their telephones by prompting AI.
Nonetheless, pc demand is rising
Laptops and desktop computer systems stay an vital a part of private and enterprise computing, with international PC shipments rising about 3% in early 2026, based on a current report from Omdia analysis.
Dell, for example, reported $13.5 billion in consumer PC income in its newest quarter ending January 30, up 14% 12 months over 12 months. The quantity highlighted regular demand from business patrons. In the meantime, Apple nonetheless generated $8.39 billion in Mac income within the first quarter of 2026, serving to push its PC market share to 11%.
Different firm leaders don’t use computer systems
Frits van Paasschen, the previous CEO of Starwood Accommodations and Resorts, instructed The Wall Avenue Journal in 2014 when he was CEO that he did all of his work by way of cell phone. He removed his desktop pc as a result of he didn’t use it.
Van Paasschen says he discovered it simpler than the typical worker to maneuver away from laptops and desktop computer systems as a result of he spends most of his time touring, reviewing paperwork and attending conferences — actions that swimsuit his cell phone properly.
“Primarily, my workplace is wherever I’m going, and I will be rather more productive,” he instructed the Journal.
Jack Dorsey, who impressed Rabois to go laptop-free, additionally works primarily from his telephone. He admitted in 2018 that he didn’t have a laptop computer and relied on voice typing instruments as an alternative of a keyboard.
“For me, it’s one software at a time,” Dorsey mentioned at a press breakfast in 2018.
Key Takeaways
- Veteran tech investor Keith Rabois says he stopped utilizing laptops and desktops in 2010, working his work life from an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch as an alternative.
- He was impressed after seeing Jack Dorsey function his fintech enterprise from an iPad, which satisfied him that conventional computer systems weren’t mandatory for high-level government work.
- Rabois says that cellular gadgets make him extra targeted and productive.
Keith Rabois hasn’t touched a laptop computer or desktop pc since 2010 — and insists he’s extra productive with out one. As a substitute, the longtime investor and former government at PayPal, LinkedIn and Stripe runs his total skilled life from an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad.
Rabois not too long ago instructed Lenny’s Podcast that he traces his laptop computer breakup to his early days at fintech firm Sq., now Block. He watched cofounder and CEO Jack Dorsey run the corporate from an iPad. Seeing a CEO function a fast-growing startup on a pill satisfied him that conventional computer systems had been optionally available for severe work.
“I instantly transformed in September of 2010, and haven’t appeared again,” Rabois instructed the podcast.
