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Anyone use their iPad as their only computer for an extended period of time?
- Thread starter Yr Blues
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Unlikely, I am afraid. There is no file system, so no way to select it. This is one area where the iPad totally and completely fails me. Such a simple thing on a computer, but complex or impossible on the iPad.
This is the kind of stuff that forces me to say that I do 90% or even 99% of my work on the iPad, but never 100. It just isn't there yet.
Fortunately, such situations are rare, and I usually just wait until I get home or borrow a university computer to upload it.
iCab has a filesystem and you can upload stuff to web with it.
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I really use my iPad most of the time nowadays. I turn on my computer to download some torrents or if I need to do some serious typing.
I've tried with Blackboard and cannot get it to work. It seems that it doesn't work with every site. Has anyone been successful on this site? The best I can do is "invalid file."
The OP poses an interesting question. I've been working with the iPad 2 for about a month now specifically to see how well it does as a replacement for a laptop.
So far my experience is that if I'm mindful of the limitations both the device (hardware) and OS impose then it can reliably handle about 80% of what a I used to rely on a laptop to do.
One key is finding an native app or a cloud app that provides reasonable office suite functionality and other task or business-function specific apps that meet a user's particular needs. A good example is the AutoCAD WS app, which allows me to quickly review CAD files uploaded to AutoCAD's cloud server by co-workers.
Two other key productivity tools are the Go-To-Meeting and Go-To-My-PC apps that just came out. Go-To-Meeting in particular has turned out to be very useful for collaboration meetings between me, my team and our business partners. The same for DropBox. I love that app!
At this point I have absolutely no qualms about taking just an iPad on short or even medium length trips - vacation or business. Much of what I need to handle when away from the office normally takes place via email, and the iPad is as good at email as any other mobile device. I have it synced with our work Exchange server and it does as well at that task as the Dell workstation sitting on my desk in my office. What really, really helps is the Apple wireless keyboard (though I expect that any Bluetooth keyboard designed for the iPad will work just as well). I simply can't type quickly or accurately on the iPad's on-screen keyboard, even in landscape mode (I learned to type when the IBM Selectric ruled the business world, and tactile feedback is the key to accuracy for me.) Taking the keyboard along on trips greatly improves the overall usability of the system for me. It is well worth the added space and weight in my luggage.
Some may argue that, with the keyboard included, I've got a laptop-footprint sized device so I might as well just take the laptop instead. That misses the point. The value of the iPad is mobility. I can grab it off it's stand, rush off to a meeting, take some notes, do a pass-around of the iPad to let others view a drawing or map that we are discussing (I'd love for our IT guys to set up Apple TVs in a few conference rooms so we could share out our iPad desktops), throw it into a truck and take it to the field to collect some data (I use the Griffin Survivor case to protect it), come back in from the field, put it back in it's stand and pick up with the emails right where I left off.
Since getting the iPad I've hardly fired up my laptop; I can get virtually every routine office task done on the iPad and for the heavyweight stuff I turn to my Dell workstation. Is it a replacement for a desktop? No. Can it handle enough of your computing tasks to allow you to comfortably leave the laptop behind on trips? For me the answer is yes!
So far my experience is that if I'm mindful of the limitations both the device (hardware) and OS impose then it can reliably handle about 80% of what a I used to rely on a laptop to do.
One key is finding an native app or a cloud app that provides reasonable office suite functionality and other task or business-function specific apps that meet a user's particular needs. A good example is the AutoCAD WS app, which allows me to quickly review CAD files uploaded to AutoCAD's cloud server by co-workers.
Two other key productivity tools are the Go-To-Meeting and Go-To-My-PC apps that just came out. Go-To-Meeting in particular has turned out to be very useful for collaboration meetings between me, my team and our business partners. The same for DropBox. I love that app!
At this point I have absolutely no qualms about taking just an iPad on short or even medium length trips - vacation or business. Much of what I need to handle when away from the office normally takes place via email, and the iPad is as good at email as any other mobile device. I have it synced with our work Exchange server and it does as well at that task as the Dell workstation sitting on my desk in my office. What really, really helps is the Apple wireless keyboard (though I expect that any Bluetooth keyboard designed for the iPad will work just as well). I simply can't type quickly or accurately on the iPad's on-screen keyboard, even in landscape mode (I learned to type when the IBM Selectric ruled the business world, and tactile feedback is the key to accuracy for me.) Taking the keyboard along on trips greatly improves the overall usability of the system for me. It is well worth the added space and weight in my luggage.
Some may argue that, with the keyboard included, I've got a laptop-footprint sized device so I might as well just take the laptop instead. That misses the point. The value of the iPad is mobility. I can grab it off it's stand, rush off to a meeting, take some notes, do a pass-around of the iPad to let others view a drawing or map that we are discussing (I'd love for our IT guys to set up Apple TVs in a few conference rooms so we could share out our iPad desktops), throw it into a truck and take it to the field to collect some data (I use the Griffin Survivor case to protect it), come back in from the field, put it back in it's stand and pick up with the emails right where I left off.
Since getting the iPad I've hardly fired up my laptop; I can get virtually every routine office task done on the iPad and for the heavyweight stuff I turn to my Dell workstation. Is it a replacement for a desktop? No. Can it handle enough of your computing tasks to allow you to comfortably leave the laptop behind on trips? For me the answer is yes!
I use my iPad (1st gen) as my primary machine for probably 90% of my activities. I have a pretty old MBP, which is full, slow and pretty temperamental - so it prompted my initial move to using my iPad as my primary machine. But since then, I've barely looked back.
I still use my MBP for the odd thing here or there, but honestly, I probably wouldn't notice if I didn't pick it up for weeks on end.
Granted, I have a desktop at work which I'm obviously using every day, and I do rely on that for things that the iPad simply can't do very well (uploading files, printing etc). But considering most people will have that, I've really no qualms in recommending that my friends put their laptop in a box and start living off the iPad.
I still use my MBP for the odd thing here or there, but honestly, I probably wouldn't notice if I didn't pick it up for weeks on end.
Granted, I have a desktop at work which I'm obviously using every day, and I do rely on that for things that the iPad simply can't do very well (uploading files, printing etc). But considering most people will have that, I've really no qualms in recommending that my friends put their laptop in a box and start living off the iPad.
Thanks. Now, as a juxtaposition, my wife is an elementary school teacher. Unfortunately the iPad just can't cut it as a classroom management tool. It may be a good tool for the students (though I'm an old fart and believe every kid needs to learn writing and composition using paper and pencil) but for all the heavy weight data entry she has to do - entering grades, developing lesson plans using school-approved web interfaces, etc. she quickly found out that a laptop is a much better option. That's OK though. This Christmas she'll get updated from a Dell laptop to a 13" MacBook Air. When Apple updates the OS so she can mirror the MBA screen on our large screen TV through Apple TV she'll be squealing with delight.
I work/travel 3 or 4 weeks at a time with only my iPad 1. It is perfect for me, but I no longer am heavy into content creation. I do take photos and load them to the iPad, but don't do much photo manipulation.
Oh, and just loaded iOS5 yesterday, so don't know how that might change my usage.
Oh, and just loaded iOS5 yesterday, so don't know how that might change my usage.
I did this whenever I moved into my apartment. The cable people were backed up for 3 weeks so I had to use my iPad as my only computer...kind of.
My tower was still used for work but I needed to access my classes on the internet and the iPad was the only thing that could get on the internet.
My tower was still used for work but I needed to access my classes on the internet and the iPad was the only thing that could get on the internet.
Pen and paper is an impressive technological combination, but you might be surprised at how great the iPad does with a stylus (even just your finger) + great notetaking program (Note Taker HD or Notes Plus).
I got my iPad 2 about a month after they came out and have been using it every day since. The first thing I noticed was that my iPhone usage went way down. Why surf or watch movies on my iPhone when I have my iPad handy?
The next thing that stopped being used was my laptop. I have never liked lugging around a laptop outside the house, but I liked having one so I could work at the kitchen table and be near my family instead of down in the basement on my tower. The laptop was reformatted and sold shortly after I got my iPad. I wasn't doing anything on it that couldn't be done on my iPad.
My Xbox 360, PS3, and gaming PC have also suffered from lack of attention. There are a lot of new games coming out now that have made me go back to them, but sometimes I'd rather just play a quick session of Cut the Rope and go to bed. (I still say that nothing beats a full blown video game in surround sound on an HDTV, so don't get me wrong on this one.)
But let's go back to that tower I have. While it does serve a very important purpose in my house (it hosts all my media and runs automatic backups at night), the only time I ever actually got on it to do anything was to sync/backup my iPod and iPhone or to look something up real quick IF I happened to be right next to it. iOS 5 introduced wifi iTunes syncing, and that need is now gone. I used to do slideshows for people now and then in Windows Movie Maker--no more. I put together a pretty awesome slide show for my wife's grandmother's 80th birthday in a little $5 app called iMovie. Does it do as much as Movie Maker? No. But Movie Maker has a lot of extraneous stuff I'll never use. I just need slides, transitions, and music. That's it. We had about 5 groups of people watch the slide show at the birthday party, and it brought tears every time. My wife's aunt, who's a graphic designer, asked me what I used to make it and was pretty impressed when I said it was done on an iPad. I won't get into all the cool stuff I've done on Garage Band. And iWork with iCloud integration has filled a lot of needs for me.
All those stacks of old magazine subscriptions all over my house? Gone. I get Wired, Game Informer, and The Daily on my iPad now. No more magazines to toss.
Netflix BluRay subscription? Gone. We would get a BluRay in, it would sit on our coffee table for a month and a half before we got around to watching it, and then we paid a monthly fee for nothing. Now I just hook my iPad up to the TV with the HDTV out dongle and we get brand new movies from iTunes right now in full HD without the 30 day waiting period for the new stuff or waiting for it to be back in stock.
iOS 5 and all the devices it runs on were designed to be simple. As a former Apple hater, I didn't think that it actually worked as well as all the fanboys said it did. But I can now have all my media, created content, and everything else in digital form, actually USE it in digital form, and never have to worry about losing anything. For me, the days of the full blown home PC being the center of my digital life are now officially over. Yes, I do like having it for backups and to use as a media server if needed, but even that is becoming extraneous functionality that I don't need.
The next thing that stopped being used was my laptop. I have never liked lugging around a laptop outside the house, but I liked having one so I could work at the kitchen table and be near my family instead of down in the basement on my tower. The laptop was reformatted and sold shortly after I got my iPad. I wasn't doing anything on it that couldn't be done on my iPad.
My Xbox 360, PS3, and gaming PC have also suffered from lack of attention. There are a lot of new games coming out now that have made me go back to them, but sometimes I'd rather just play a quick session of Cut the Rope and go to bed. (I still say that nothing beats a full blown video game in surround sound on an HDTV, so don't get me wrong on this one.)
But let's go back to that tower I have. While it does serve a very important purpose in my house (it hosts all my media and runs automatic backups at night), the only time I ever actually got on it to do anything was to sync/backup my iPod and iPhone or to look something up real quick IF I happened to be right next to it. iOS 5 introduced wifi iTunes syncing, and that need is now gone. I used to do slideshows for people now and then in Windows Movie Maker--no more. I put together a pretty awesome slide show for my wife's grandmother's 80th birthday in a little $5 app called iMovie. Does it do as much as Movie Maker? No. But Movie Maker has a lot of extraneous stuff I'll never use. I just need slides, transitions, and music. That's it. We had about 5 groups of people watch the slide show at the birthday party, and it brought tears every time. My wife's aunt, who's a graphic designer, asked me what I used to make it and was pretty impressed when I said it was done on an iPad. I won't get into all the cool stuff I've done on Garage Band. And iWork with iCloud integration has filled a lot of needs for me.
All those stacks of old magazine subscriptions all over my house? Gone. I get Wired, Game Informer, and The Daily on my iPad now. No more magazines to toss.
Netflix BluRay subscription? Gone. We would get a BluRay in, it would sit on our coffee table for a month and a half before we got around to watching it, and then we paid a monthly fee for nothing. Now I just hook my iPad up to the TV with the HDTV out dongle and we get brand new movies from iTunes right now in full HD without the 30 day waiting period for the new stuff or waiting for it to be back in stock.
iOS 5 and all the devices it runs on were designed to be simple. As a former Apple hater, I didn't think that it actually worked as well as all the fanboys said it did. But I can now have all my media, created content, and everything else in digital form, actually USE it in digital form, and never have to worry about losing anything. For me, the days of the full blown home PC being the center of my digital life are now officially over. Yes, I do like having it for backups and to use as a media server if needed, but even that is becoming extraneous functionality that I don't need.
Need flash? iSwifter app plays lots of flash sites rather well. It's not perfect, but I stream plenty of TV shows of network sites and use a few sites that are flash based it it works fine. Not bad for three bucks imo.
Untrue. The iPad is actually a powerful tool for content creation. I know others have written about music. I can't speak to that, but I can speak to its ability to produce text.
I am writing my dissertation on the iPad now. I'd call that content creation
I also produce presentations with it (I've given two using the iPad since I upgraded to the iPad 2), write a blog, mark up and grade student essays, annotate PDFs for my research, create PDFs of handouts and educational material, produce a seemingly endless number of research notes using Evernote, and take handwritten notes on everything from lectures to meetings with my doctor.
I really cannot recommend it enough for content creation. If you are really into using the iPad in this way, I suggest getting a stylus and a bluetooth keyboard.
There are limitations, as you said, but I have found it possible to adapt my workflow. There are also benefits you cannot get with a traditional laptop, particularly for reading electronic material (I've gone paperless) and taking notes by hand.
No, Vitzr is correct.
Any kind of content creation just takes longer on the Ipad. I had the the ipad1 and now the ipad2 and love it, use it everyday for reading, surfing etc.
I tried the iPad only idea and it is a farce if you're creating content, even with the blue tooth keyboard. The MacBook Air is a better choice, you'll get more done faster with less frustration.
For me, a computer and iPad combo is the best set up.
So, because vitzr "tire
Since switching to the iPad I have written articles, presentations, handouts, blogs, dissertation chapters, and other "content" on it without any frustration. One of the things I wrote entirely with the iPad is now on bookshelves being sold. I actually prefer the iPad, and am thrilled that I can go on research trips now without lugging around my computer. There have been many times when it is easier to take out the iPad and get some work done in locations where I'd never have brought my computer in the first place.
I am not advocating the iPad as a complete replacement for a computer, because I still use my MBP (Macbook Pro) for a lot of things the iPad simply cannot do (OCR for a PDF). However, it sure beats the MBA (Macbook Air) or any other computer on a daily basis. Nowadays, I only fire up the MBP a few times a week.
Benefits of the iPad:
1. about half the price of an MBA
2. has about twice the battery life of an MBA
3. can be used as a fabulous ereader
4. about the same size and weight as the MBA with the bluetooth keyboard
5. Pages now has footnotes, so if you are at university then you can potentially go from start (collecting material and reading it) to finish (first draft all of the way to paper for submission) all on the iPad.
Anyhow, while the iPad as a content creation device may not be for everyone, I think it can be used without frustration by someone. If you are interested in getting the most out of it, I recommend learning the keyboard shortcuts (I don't even miss the mouse anymore) and taking advantage of some of the great apps out there (see some of the threads I have started). It's National Novel Writing Month, so what better time to give it a try
What do you mean by an extended period of time? The longest I have used only my iPad is when I am abroad which has been for periods of between 2 to 4 days. For these purposes I think I only had one problem in terms of web access via my iPad and that was with the O2 website trying to find some account information. Otherwise it's been smooth sailing and that was with my iPad 1, I recently bought an iPad 2 and the increased power makes things much smoother.
So, because vitzr "tireof its limitations" and you are frustrated by it, you think content creation is a farce? I'll accept that it doesn't work well for you two in your workflows, but you might not want to be so dismissive of its potential.
Since switching to the iPad I have written articles, presentations, handouts, blogs, dissertation chapters, and other "content" on it without any frustration. One of the things I wrote entirely with the iPad is now on bookshelves being sold. I actually prefer the iPad, and am thrilled that I can go on research trips now without lugging around my computer. There have been many times when it is easier to take out the iPad and get some work done in locations where I'd never have brought my computer in the first place.
I am not advocating the iPad as a complete replacement for a computer, because I still use my MBP (Macbook Pro) for a lot of things the iPad simply cannot do (OCR for a PDF). However, it sure beats the MBA (Macbook Air) or any other computer on a daily basis. Nowadays, I only fire up the MBP a few times a week.
Benefits of the iPad:
1. about half the price of an MBA
2. has about twice the battery life of an MBA
3. can be used as a fabulous ereader
4. about the same size and weight as the MBA with the bluetooth keyboard
5. Pages now has footnotes, so if you are at university then you can potentially go from start (collecting material and reading it) to finish (first draft all of the way to paper for submission) all on the iPad.
Anyhow, while the iPad as a content creation device may not be for everyone, I think it can be used without frustration by someone. If you are interested in getting the most out of it, I recommend learning the keyboard shortcuts (I don't even miss the mouse anymore) and taking advantage of some of the great apps out there (see some of the threads I have started). It's National Novel Writing Month, so what better time to give it a try
You'd be better off with a 11 or 13" MBA - ESPECIALLY if you're a writer.
To each their own. I have an iPad, MBA and MPB and spend countless hours using them, I'm very clear on their attributes and limitations.
Well, to each his own
As much as I love the MBA (honestly, it is a gorgeous machine) it doesn't fit my lifestyle. I easily spend more than 5 hours away from an outlet at a time (it is wonderful to be free of them), I have to do a lot of reading during the day (the iPad is great for this), and I need to take handwritten notes a lot as well (lectures, talks, meetings, etc.), so the iPad couldn't be more perfect.
Again, typing a sentence with the bluetooth keyboard on the iPad and typing one on the MBA is exactly the same. I don't see how I would be better off paying more money for less battery life, an unpleasant e-reading experience, and no ability to take handwritten notes.
Palpatine can certainly speak for himself (and has done so) but I think the point you're missing is that he already has a MacBook Pro. If he's trying to fill a functional "gap" he argues, and I suspect he's right, that the iPad/MBP combination covers a wider spectrum than the MBA/MBP combo.
My situation is similar to his, though my other devices are Windows systems rather than Apple. I have a 15" quadcore laptop that cannot be replaced with a 13" (much less smaller) lightweight portable, neither an MBA nor a Windows equivalent.
When I bought my iPad I also had a 3lb 11" notebook that I used on planes (where even opening my larger laptop was a challenge.) The addition of the iPad has meant the 11" notebook is now my daughter's computer. While it provided some features (e.g. portability) my larger laptop didn't have, it turned out that the iPad trumped the small notebook on those features and the notebook's greater strengths simply weren't worth keeping it in the mix.
With the combination of my powerful laptop and the iPad I simply cover a greater spectrum of use than was the case when I used two laptops.
I have a iMac and a ipad2 here at college.
I went 4 months in the summer without the iMac and only used the iPad. I missed certain things about having a real computer, (mainly downloading movies/music/books/etc).
I definitely got by on just using the iPad, but occasionally had to go to my parents computers to do some heavy typing, or emailing with many attachments
So do I think I could have used my iPad2 as a standalone pc? NO
I think I can use the iPad 2 alone for about a month, before having to use a computer comes into play.
(I ended up buying a mbp, and all 3 find a place perfectly in my day to day use, however, I don't need both a macbook and iPad (since I have a iMac), so I'm probably going to sell one of them, haven't made up my mind yet on which one)
I went 4 months in the summer without the iMac and only used the iPad. I missed certain things about having a real computer, (mainly downloading movies/music/books/etc).
I definitely got by on just using the iPad, but occasionally had to go to my parents computers to do some heavy typing, or emailing with many attachments
So do I think I could have used my iPad2 as a standalone pc? NO
I think I can use the iPad 2 alone for about a month, before having to use a computer comes into play.
(I ended up buying a mbp, and all 3 find a place perfectly in my day to day use, however, I don't need both a macbook and iPad (since I have a iMac), so I'm probably going to sell one of them, haven't made up my mind yet on which one)
I use my iPad 2 a good 4 hrs a day, mostly for email, Netflix, Hulu, blog post editing and note taking (Evernote, Penultimate, Noteability, Simplenote).
I do a fair amount of writing on it (fiction), news reading (Livestand, Editions, NPR). I tend to use my MBP 15" equally heavy throughout the day, but would love to sever the ties more and carry just the iPad 2 more places.
I have taken 1-2 day trips with just the iPad, which works great, but anything longer than that, I tend to need/rely on my MacBook Pro.
Photo editing and manipulation isn't something I've done on the iPad yet. My needs are too file specific (I rename all of my photos from their IMGxxx.JPG to something specific related to the photo eg. 01-disneyland-spacemtn.jpg)
If there is some type of app that will allow me to edit file names before uploading to FTP/Dropbox/iCloud storage, I could do some of my general photo management on the iPad.
I do a fair amount of writing on it (fiction), news reading (Livestand, Editions, NPR). I tend to use my MBP 15" equally heavy throughout the day, but would love to sever the ties more and carry just the iPad 2 more places.
I have taken 1-2 day trips with just the iPad, which works great, but anything longer than that, I tend to need/rely on my MacBook Pro.
Photo editing and manipulation isn't something I've done on the iPad yet. My needs are too file specific (I rename all of my photos from their IMGxxx.JPG to something specific related to the photo eg. 01-disneyland-spacemtn.jpg)
If there is some type of app that will allow me to edit file names before uploading to FTP/Dropbox/iCloud storage, I could do some of my general photo management on the iPad.