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applesith

macrumors 68030
Jun 11, 2007
2,775
1,570
Manhattan
laptops and desktops are no longer needed...

That is a true statement if you don't do anything very demanding, sure you can run a business with an iPad or Android tablet (purposely did not include surface as it has the same functionality as a laptop, just comes without the keyboard). Most of what is needed is looking over analytics, checking spreadsheets, finances, and mostly doing assessments in general. All of this can be done using an app, when you start talking about the things that a business needs to run, yeah... someone's going to need a laptop or desktop. Something that can pack enough power to get the job done and move on quickly.

Are laptops dead, they can be if you can live without the power and functionality that it provides. I can run my entertainment center from my iPad or even my iPhone without much trouble, but I still have my Windows computer for high end games and my iMac for everything else.

I guess you're just looking at analytics and report data, and not actually doing anything to it. For supported software, you are limited to something that has app or you need to login through a browser. How are you going to export data from Analytics, Omniture, Quickbooks, Salesforce, ecommerce platforms, and other systems- and then combine it together. Seems like an awful process on a tablet when you can't have a file system or arrange multiple windows on one screen, select copy/paste large sections of spreadsheets. I work in digital marketing and run an ecommerce business and could not imagine getting half my stuff done on an iPad of any size.

Making presentations for work is also a chore because I have multiple windows open to gather data and assets. Screenshots along would take even longer. I can command-shift-4 and select what I want. On a tablet, I have to screenshot the entire screen and then crop each time.

Sounds like you don't really get your hands dirty if you can "run a business" on an iPad...or you are not running the business.
 
I guess you're just looking at analytics and report data, and not actually doing anything to it. For supported software, you are limited to something that has app or you need to login through a browser. How are you going to export data from Analytics, Omniture, Quickbooks, Salesforce, ecommerce platforms, and other systems- and then combine it together. Seems like an awful process on a tablet when you can't have a file system or arrange multiple windows on one screen, select copy/paste large sections of spreadsheets. I work in digital marketing and run an ecommerce business and could not imagine getting half my stuff done on an iPad of any size.

Making presentations for work is also a chore because I have multiple windows open to gather data and assets. Screenshots along would take even longer. I can command-shift-4 and select what I want. On a tablet, I have to screenshot the entire screen and then crop each time.

Sounds like you don't really get your hands dirty if you can "run a business" on an iPad...or you are not running the business.

I'm developing applications all day, I get the importance of a laptop, if you are a small business owner, then yes you're going to go with an actual computer, if you can delegate everything to everyone else and just have to make business decisions that they will implement then yes you can run a business from an iPad.
 

curmudgeonette

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2016
586
496
California
It's funny, I hear this argument a lot, but I find the macbook's keyboard to be much nicer than the standard chiclet keyboard found on other macs (and most other laptops now). I'm also a writer, and do even more writing for my job, and much prefer to do it on my MB rather than my MBP.

I made a point of stopping by an Apple store and trying out the rMB keyboard. Thirty years of experience tell me that I can't (satisfactorily) type on a chiclet keyboard. The rMB keyboard was different! I'd very much prefer it over the (frustrating to me) keyboard of the 2009 MPB on which I am typing this.

To me, this is the best keyboard apple has made since the ADB, but to each their own!

I liked those, but I'm fond of the circa 2005 white and clear plastic keyboards.
 

applesith

macrumors 68030
Jun 11, 2007
2,775
1,570
Manhattan
I'm developing applications all day, I get the importance of a laptop, if you are a small business owner, then yes you're going to go with an actual computer, if you can delegate everything to everyone else and just have to make business decisions that they will implement then yes you can run a business from an iPad.

So laptops and desktops are still needed.
 
So laptops and desktops are still needed.

I never said they weren't and in the post where I said Laptops and Desktops are no longer needed... that first line was sarcasm and the next paragraph talked about a use case where it might be plausible but went on to 99% of the rest of the people working that would actually need a laptop or desktop. Please read my entire post and you'll see why I think tablets are not a replacement for laptops and desktops.
 

applesith

macrumors 68030
Jun 11, 2007
2,775
1,570
Manhattan
I never said they weren't and in the post where I said Laptops and Desktops are no longer needed... that first line was sarcasm and the next paragraph talked about a use case where it might be plausible but went on to 99% of the rest of the people working that would actually need a laptop or desktop. Please read my entire post and you'll see why I think tablets are not a replacement for laptops and desktops.

You tried to be dramatic with a headline and then sort of clarifying with "if you're not doing anything demanding". That's a given and has been said countless times. That aside, I was addressing your claim of running a business from an iPad.

You claim sarcasm, but it was just dramatic and a poorly written claim.
 
You tried to be dramatic with a headline and then sort of clarifying with "if you're not doing anything demanding". That's a given and has been said countless times. That aside, I was addressing your claim of running a business from an iPad.

You claim sarcasm, but it was just dramatic and a poorly written claim.

I agree with that, I think it's plausible to run a business with an iPad if you can delegate enough, but never practical.
 
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