iPad wasn't designed with general computing in mind.
Oh really? Then what is 'general computing' besides every day tasks?
iPad wasn't designed with general computing in mind.
Given that many hardware companies to do not release Linux drivers, it most certainly can be a lot harder to get things working.
There's a huge quantity of very well supported hardware that hasn't had a manufacturer supply a single line of code for... I'm sure you've used PCs for a fair while and understand that driver quality makes or breaks devices.
It's not harder to get things working. As an average user: You switch it on, your distro boots a linux kernel, the linux kernel loads all of the drivers for you.
If something doesn't work you swear at the manufacturer for not releasing specs, deal with the fact it doesn't work and tell yourself off for not checking before buying.
Oh really? Then what is 'general computing' besides every day tasks?
If you are going to combine Apples iPad with desktops then you better combine the XBox too and all other gaming machines.
The iPad doesn't compare to a fully featured desktop operating system as much as a gaming console/device which also has web, email, etc. does.
Come back with meaningful stats. next time.
I will say that if I didn't have the bluetooth keyboard, I'd probably be much more guarded with my praise. Having an actual physical keyboard right in front of you does make it a much, much more useful tool. My experiences with Pages while sitting my iPad in portrait, plus seeing people do actual webpage work in Diet Coda is one of the major reasons why I'd class it as an actual PC (or PC-Lite since my big compromise a few posts back).
But if Apple didn't give us that choice, and we were forced to use the onscreen keyboard for everything? Nuh uh. I'd call it a straight up content consumption device, and nothing more.
So well put.This is one of those silly arguments.
A Personal Computer is a computer (any device that runs code - essentially a big counting machine) used and owned typically by one person or a family unit as opposed to a mainframe, a minicomputer or a supercomputer.
A PC is also distinct from specialist devices like a games console or the computer that monitors your car engine in that it is designed and sold as a general computing device.
Is the iPad typically owned and used by an individual or family unit? Yep. Is it designed to be used for general computing...? Yes again, but this is the more nuanced part of the argument.
What is "general computing"? I would argue that this does not require the ability to write code since about 99% of people who a PC wouldn't have the faintest clue how to do that or any desire to for that matter. General computing is exactly that - general. An iPad is not sold as a specialist device like an XBOX is sold as an entertainment device and a Kindle is sold as a reading device (a kindle is a computer too, remember). It is deliberately sold as a device for a broad range of computing purposes including, but not limited to, web browsing, email, social media, creation of written content, video editing, music, photo editing, playing games, etc.. It can be used, to varying degrees of success, for practically everything that the vast majority of people would use a traditional laptop or desktop computer for.
Is it as good for typing documents as a laptop? No. But then you could say the same about a laptop for creating spreadsheets - nothing compares to a big desktop display for spreadsheets! The question is not how well it does these things but rather if it is able to do these things reasonably well because it is designed to be used as such. I am sure I could run a web browser through the on-board computer in my car if I was clever enough but that would not turn it into a PC.
Just as a Gameboy is a games console but is far more limited than a PS3, an iPad is a personal computer even if it is more limited than a full blown workstation. An iPad is a tablet PC. A Macbook is a laptop PC and an iMac is a desktop PC. It really isn't that complicated.
Nope, can't do that, but it has a computer and it's personal. Those were the criteria were they not? What makes a PC a PC? Your definition? His? Apples? because non are the same.
Apple calls the iPad a "post PC" device, so by definition, the inventors of this product are not defining it as a PC.
You say anything that can open spread sheets and pictures. So my iPod is a PC according to you
The other guy said anything with a computer that is personal is a PC. All the examples I provided meet that criteria.
iPad wasn't designed with general computing in mind.
You can't even program for the iPad on the iPad-- you need a real PC for that. It's not self-sufficient.
In that case, the iPad which cannot play Flash, cannot connect to USB devices, cannot open more than one app at a time, cannot modify or even view the file system, cannot be used to write apps for itself, cannot run powerful pro-level apps, and cannot have apps that modify the system in any way, cannot be considered a PC.
Whether or not iPads and other tablets should be counted as PCs has become a vigorous debate as observers take differing views on how "personal computers" should be defined. But with Apple making the iPad "PC Free" by eliminating the need to sync to a computer via iTunes and increasing numbers of consumers relying on their iPads for everyday computer functionalities such as browsing, email and music, as well as a broad array of apps, lines between the two types of devices are becoming increasingly blurred.
Others can and do actually. Not every device is suited to be a main PC for everyone.Could I use an iPad as a primary work computer? No.
A Personal Computer is a computer (any device that runs code - essentially a big counting machine) used and owned typically by one person or a family unit as opposed to a mainframe, a minicomputer or a supercomputer.
What is "general computing"? I would argue that this does not require the ability to write code since about 99% of people who a PC wouldn't have the faintest clue how to do that or any desire to for that matter.
Codea. Look it up. You *can* code for the iPad on the iPad.
Of course, given that the *vast* majority of PC users couldn't code for their PC *on* their PC if their lives depended on it, I don't see that as being a particularly good definition unless you think that the *vast* majority of bog-standard Windows boxes aren't PCs.
You have a list of arbitrary features, none of which have *ever* been included in the traditional definition of a PC. To top it off, most of them are flat out *incorrect*.
The very first IBM PC couldn't play Flash, does that mean it wasn't a PC?
My iPad can, has, and does connect to USB devices.
An iPad actually *does* run multiple apps at the same time. It is limited to one user-facing app at a time
but so were early PCs, and *they* were certainly PCs. Heck, they were actually limited to one app at a time *period*, and they were still PCs.
An iPad most certainly *can* modify or view its file system. If it couldn't, you wouldn't be able to install apps, or save files locally.
An iPad *can* be used to write apps for itself locally (see Codea).
Define 'powerful pro-level apps'. If you're talking about CPU/GPU power, then a 5 year-old PC suddenly becomes 'not a PC' because the new 'powerful pro-level apps' take more resources than it can deliver.
Also define 'modify the system'. I can't even begin to figure out what you mean by that.
Some people like my parents will buy an iPad instead of a new PC/Mac. No one buys an XBox instead of a PC/Mac.If you are going to combine Apples iPad with desktops then you better combine the XBox too and all other gaming machines.
The iPad doesn't compare to a fully featured desktop operating system as much as a gaming console/device which also has web, email, etc. does.
Come back with meaningful stats. next time.
Most business users have no need to "program" especially when they are on the road but if they do, then their company likely has something like Citrix in place to facilitate that sort of remote access.
PS. You can technically "write" web apps directly on the iPad.
Perhaps you don't understand the difference between 'is' and 'has'. A car has a computer, but a car is not a computer. An iPad does not have a computer, an iPad is a computer. A car is no more a computer, than a car is an axle, tire, engine, or gas tank..
*WHOOSH*Running on what, an iPad? Oh, no a server. So it requires a PC* to do the heavy lifting, once again proving iPads are not PCs
*Yes you can argue semantics, a server is not a "PC." But it doesn't exactly run a phone OS either.
You would be surprised what a web app can do these days. You can do a lot with HTML5 and Java script and those apps can leverage features found on the device it is running on. Take the google maps web app for example. It can make use of your location, your gestures and other features of your device.Oh, web apps, woohoo. Because web apps that allow you to scan documents or edit video or create spreadsheets just work so well in a browser that refreshes all its tabs every other time you reopen it
Web apps simply don't cut it. Even Apple recognizes this, thus the reason for the App Store. But the fact remains I cannot write any native on the iPad, and from there distribute it to other iPad users without using a PC.
So is my Casio calculator if we dismiss any realistic definition like you are doing.
So an iPad is much more a computer than laptops and desktops?
How?
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So your implication here being that people are buy iPads as PC replacements. Tell me this then, how many people in the world who own an iPad do not also have a PC in their household?
Except for screen size how is an iPhone not functionally identical to an iPad?
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How do I program software for an iPad? I can do it on an iPad since it's a PC...right?
I replaced my laptop with an iPad and use it independently from my iMac. I still don't understand why people take this so seriously/personally
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"independently" from your iMac? what does that mean? If it was truly a PC replacement you wouldn't have an iMac... I use my iPad independently from my toothbrush, wtf does that prove other than I need both and one is not a replacement for the other?
People who don't call iPad's PC's aren't being general at all, quite the opposite actually.