Again, let me dumb it down:
Which it is. It is just not a Windows computer, or a Linux Computer, or a macOS computer.
Since this is a point you keep raising, let me ask you to clarify your concern. Is it your argument that the iPad is not a computer? Is it that you believe that for the vast majority of people who use a laptop for work, the iPad Pro is not a suitable machine? Is it that you believe these ads are trying to mislead people into buying something that is not suitable for them? What exactly is your concern about Apple encouraging people who would have bought a macOS or Windows computer to consider an iPad Pro as an alternative?
From the article you reference above:
This new ad takes a different tack, declaring that the iPad Pro is a computer capable of streaming vivid movies, producing music, and running Photoshop.
Absolutely true statements. Adobe even thinks it is more than capable of running the full version of
Photoshop, as it is, without major changes.
From the same article:
But even if Apple wants to make us believe it, love it, and just get it, there are many areas where the iPad Pro still falls short compared to a laptop: you can’t use external storage over USB-C, and you can’t open multiple browser windows to be displayed at once, just to name a couple examples. And until those limitations are lifted, we’re likely to keep having this argument.
Aside from the obvious factual error in the quote (one can have two browser windows displayed at once), the problem with the rest of the quote is the presumption that the things that the iPad Pro lacks are things that average users need to get their day to day work done. While exchanging files on USB sticks was common years ago (and may still be common for some today), most people with whom I collaborate exchange files using Box, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
- It is marketed as such so that consumers can visualize an association between a product that they are familiar with and the product that Apple is offering.
It is being marketed by showing functions for which people use Windows and macOS computers being performed on an iPad Pro, as well as by saying that its hardware is faster than many of the Windows or macOS computers people might consider to perform those same tasks.
- Why? Because Apple wants to sell their products to a wider audience i.e not just a "tablet" audience, not just a "netbook" audience etc
This marketing campaign is designed to get people who would not have considered an iPad Pro because they think they need a “computer” to consider one. This campaign is very similar to those Apple used to run trying to get people to consider macOS instead of Windows.
To use Steve Jobs’s car/truck analogy, assume that, up until now, everyone who had a vehicle for work had a box truck. Most people just drove back and forth to work in the truck, sometimes stopping to buy groceries or clothes enroute.
Now someone creates a new vehicle - a 4-door convertible. To market it, they run ads showing people going to work (but with the top down), they show people buying groceries and clothes and putting them in the car. They also show people driving along the ocean in the summer with the top down. The ad says: “This is your next vehicle!”
- The onus is on the consumer to decide whether this product fits their usage requirements. Some will like it, some won't. But that won't stop Apple from advertising.
The onus is always on the consumer to decide if a product meets his or her needs. Apple Store Associates are not on commission. Their goal is to make sure customers get a product that meets their needs. I have listened to people who came to buy iPad Pros were encouraged to get macOS systems (and occasionally Windows computers), because that is what would meet their needs.
- Requested amendments and software changes can increase the functionality of the iPad Pro without hampering or changing the identity of the iPad Pro i.e for those who prefer the iPad Pro as it is, can still enjoy it as it is. No one is "forcing" you to change.
Some of the changes (like supporting external storage), can (and almost certainly will) be added without a negative impact on the current iPad Pro experience. Some changes (like more aggressive multi-tasking) are more likely to have more serious trade-offs. The point that many others and I are making is simple - we are not opposed to adding functionality, as long as the things that make an iPad attractive to us for our uses are not harmed.
Again, if you read, I never mentioned "not liking Apple's trade-offs". I am a happy iPad Pro owner. I just cannot fathom the delusional and uneducated nature of said "fans" who don't understand Apple's marketing strategy.
My understanding of their marketing strategy is pretty clear - get people who would normally just buy the next version of the machine they have to consider the iPad Pro as an alternative. What is not clear to me, is what you think they are doing that is inappropriate, and why many of the people who dislike these ads seem to feel that no one who is a professional could possibly use an iPad or iPad Pro as a primary portable work machine.
