I see a lot of people who are either rooting for or against some kind of convergence or dual boot arguing out its likelihood or unlikelihood. But that makes me suspect these may all be utterings of wishful thinkers tainted by confirmation bias!
So I’d love to hear more opinions from those who have no horse in the race, or maybe even better, those who believe their horse is going to lose.
I’m not sure if I have a horse in the race, haven’t thought enough about what I want. But in attempting to look at this convergence question rationally, I think the first thing to look at are the fundamental philosophies or purposes behind each product. As far as I can tell, iPads are made for ultimate ease of use, Macs are made to be the ultimate tool. It seems to me that those two are opposite ends of a spectrum and cannot converge without compromising each other. Extreme ease of use and extreme robustness always seem to be antithetical in life.
So what I think has been happening since the iPad came onto the scene, is iPads have been pushing the boundaries of adding function while keeping its core identity of ease of use. And Macs have taken cues from the iPad and learned how to make certain things easier and more intuitive while still being focused as a tool. Each are readjusting their balance in light of each other, but still unable to veer far from their main identity.
So that’s convergence, what about dual boot? That I think is slightly more possible because it’s literally just putting the two together side by side, not convergence. But I’d still say that it’s unlikely. However, this is just an impression or a feeling. I think to talk about this confidently requires much more technical knowledge than I have. But my impression is that despite both OSes using the same silicon, dual boot would introduce other logistical and user experience conflicts, to the point that Apple doesn’t see it as a worthy endeavor.
I’m sure Apple isn’t sad about selling two devices, but mainly for the above reasons, I’m inclined to believe them when they say they aren’t converging. Not to mention, Apple is usually silent on their plans. The fact that they have been so repeatedly and emphatically outspoken about this to me gives their claim further credence.
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