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iPad Are you a Power User?

iPadDad

iPadDad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2014
313
156
Wondering how many people on this forum would give themselves the coverted;) title of being an iPad Power User?

So many people on this forum use thier iPads simply for, reading, surfing, and games.

If you andwered yes to any of the questions below i would say you are a Power User.

Have you replaced your laptop with an iPad?
Do you do all your business work on an iPad?
Do you use advanced programs or features not used by the average person?

I think it would be interesting to see who are the serious iPad users on the forum, this can also serve for all as a reference when reading iPad threads, to see who are the folk that one should take seriously.
 
I don't agree that replacing your laptop with an iPad makes you a "serious power user". It just means that someone is either a very casual IT user or a person whose job allows them to use an iPad exclusively.

I can't associate not needing a larger screen, multiple windows, plenty of CPU power, 3+ USB3 ports, etc. with being a "power user" in an IT sense. It just sounds like someone who doesn't need a full featured computer setup to get work done.

I could do about half my work with an iPad. Probably more if I made sacrifices in terms of convenience and ergonomic QoL aspects. I could also sleep on my floor, shower with cold water, and wear three coats instead of turning on the heating, but why would I do that?
 
Mivo said:
I don't agree that replacing your laptop with an iPad makes you a "serious power user". It just means that someone is either a very casual IT user or a person whose job allows them to use an iPad exclusively.

I can't associate not needing a larger screen, multiple windows, plenty of CPU power, 3+ USB3 ports, etc. with being a "power user" in an IT sense. It just sounds like someone who doesn't need a full featured computer setup to get work done.

I could do about half my work with an iPad. Probably more if I made sacrifices in terms of convenience and ergonomic QoL aspects. I could also sleep on my floor, shower with cold water, and wear three coats instead of turning on the heating, but why would I do that?
Click to expand...

So you are saying, if somebody has replaced their laptop with an iPad, they are a casual pc user?

Are also saying that someone that doesn't need a full featured computer set up to get work done is not an iPad Power User??
 
Just for fun I tried editing a few Youtube videos using my iPad. Had to use a few different editors to get everything I wanted, and also used the likes of Pixelmator for some thumbnails/stills. It works, and is fine for some basic users, but I really want Apple to bring FCPX to iPad (touch friendly of course). There is no longer a lack of power, and people would happily pay money for such a thing if it's full featured enough (and has Hand Off support with the Mac version just like Pixelmator).
 
MartinAppleGuy said:
Just for fun I tried editing a few Youtube videos using my iPad. Had to use a few different editors to get everything I wanted, and also used the likes of Pixelmator for some thumbnails/stills. It works, and is fine for some basic users, but I really want Apple to bring FCPX to iPad (touch friendly of course). There is no longer a lack of power, and people would happily pay money for such a thing if it's full featured enough (and has Hand Off support with the Mac version just like Pixelmator).
Click to expand...

Nice, what iPad were you using?
 
And to answer your questions;

iPadDad said:
Have you replaced your laptop with an iPad?
Click to expand...

Yes. No need for a laptop when I have my iMac for the heavy lifting. For doing laptop type work (in terms of email, web browsing, some games, basic photo editing with Pixelmator). The point of a laptop to me, is that I can walk away from my iMac, and with the expense of some performance or extra functionality, continue to get my work done. My iPad Air 2 achieves this, mainly due to the likes of Hand Off (where I could be working on a PSD file in Pixelmator on my iMac, then jump on my iPad where I left off and still have the same power and possibility of putting it back to the Mac) and iCloud Drive (for example, having a big presentation in Keynote when I could take my iPad away and show it / edit it).

iPadDad said:
Do you do all your business work on an iPad?
Click to expand...

No, with the exception of some basic things such as documents in Pages...

iPadDad said:
Do you use advanced programs or features not used by the average person?
Click to expand...

What do you mean by this? Are you asking if I use features on my iPad that the basic use would not such as Hand Off? If so then I do. I use these features to jump across my computers (iMac and iPad) seamlessly so my work is ready when I am where ever I am.

----------
iPadDad said:
Nice, what iPad were you using?
Click to expand...

I'm running an iPad Air 2 64GB. The 2GB of RAM really future proofs the device and allows me to have multiple tabs open in Safari for research and have the likes of Pixelmator, Pages and Keynote running with large documents without paging out and closing the apps in the background. With family members iPad Air 1's, I found the free RAM after a restart to sit around 350MB. My iPad Air 2 gets around 1350MB of free RAM. Really gives piece of mind on the longevity of the device in terms of OS upgrades. Loving the CPU and GPU performance too.
 
MartinAppleGuy said:
Just for fun I tried editing a few Youtube videos using my iPad. Had to use a few different editors to get everything I wanted, and also used the likes of Pixelmator for some thumbnails/stills. It works, and is fine for some basic users, but I really want Apple to bring FCPX to iPad (touch friendly of course). There is no longer a lack of power, and people would happily pay money for such a thing if it's full featured enough (and has Hand Off support with the Mac version just like Pixelmator).
Click to expand...

Is garageband a power user?
 
MartinAppleGuy said:
And to answer your questions;



Yes. No need for a laptop when I have my iMac for the heavy lifting. For doing laptop type work (in terms of email, web browsing, some games, basic photo editing with Pixelmator). The point of a laptop to me, is that I can walk away from my iMac, and with the expense of some performance or extra functionality, continue to get my work done. My iPad Air 2 achieves this, mainly due to the likes of Hand Off (where I could be working on a PSD file in Pixelmator on my iMac, then jump on my iPad where I left off and still have the same power and possibility of putting it back to the Mac) and iCloud Drive (for example, having a big presentation in Keynote when I could take my iPad away and show it / edit it).



No, with the exception of some basic things such as documents in Pages...



What do you mean by this? Are you asking if I use features on my iPad that the basic use would not such as Hand Off? If so then I do. I use these features to jump across my computers (iMac and iPad) seamlessly so my work is ready when I am where ever I am.

----------



I'm running an iPad Air 2 64GB. The 2GB of RAM really future proofs the device and allows me to have multiple tabs open in Safari for research and have the likes of Pixelmator, Pages and Keynote running with large documents without paging out and closing the apps in the background. With family members iPad Air 1's, I found the free RAM after a restart to sit around 350MB. My iPad Air 2 gets around 1350MB of free RAM. Really gives piece of mind on the longevity of the device in terms of OS upgrades. Loving the CPU and GPU performance too.
Click to expand...

I would say you are a power user,
 
If by power user you mean someone that uses it all the time, then yes that is me.

I use my iPhone strictly for work email, quick web browsing on the go if I don't have my iPad and phone calls/text.

My iPad is used for probably a majority of my web browsing, ebooks, personal email, gaming, light photo editing, videos. It has replaced my need for a person laptop. I have the mac mini for any web browsing (when I feel like being at the desk) or Facebook games/Mac App store games I want to play that I can't do on my iPad.

Between my 3 Apple devices, phone, mac and iPad my iPad sees the most use.
 
iPadDad said:
Wondering how many people on this forum would give themselves the coverted;) title of being an iPad Power User?

So many people on this forum use thier iPads simply for, reading, surfing, and games.

If you andwered yes to any of the questions below i would say you are a Power User.

Have you replaced your laptop with an iPad?
Do you do all your business work on an iPad?
Do you use advanced programs or features not used by the average person?
Click to expand...
Why would you think that makes someone a "power user", whatever that means? A true "power user" of a computer would likely not be able to completely replace their notebook with an iPad, since the iPad is far more limited in capability. Likewise, anyone with a relatively complex, large or long-established business would likely have computing needs far beyond the capabilities of an iPad. Finally, someone could use an app or even a feature of the iPad that the majority doesn't use, and still not be fully proficient with overall iPad operation or apps that most people use.

The definition of a "power user" is very subjective, and varies widely between those using the term.
 
GGJstudios said:
Why would you think that makes someone a "power user", whatever that means? A true "power user" of a computer would likely not be able to completely replace their notebook with an iPad, since the iPad is far more limited in capability. Likewise, anyone with a relatively complex, large or long-established business would likely have computing needs far beyond the capabilities of an iPad. Finally, someone could use an app or even a feature of the iPad that the majority doesn't use, and still not be fully proficient with overall iPad operation or apps that most people use.

The definition of a "power user" is very subjective, and varies widely between those using the term.
Click to expand...

This. I would never try to replace my laptop with an iPad permanently, and never try to do ALL my work on an iPad . However, I consider myself an iPad power user. I know the functionality inside and out, know how to tweak every setting to my liking and know what apps to use in each use case. I think that is what constitutes a "power user.'
 
iPadDad said:
So you are saying, if somebody has replaced their laptop with an iPad, they are a casual pc user?
Click to expand...

No, just that replacing a laptop with a tablet doesn't make anyone a power user. It just makes them a person who doesn't need a full-fledged computer to get work done.
 
iPadDad said:
If you andwered yes to any of the questions below i would say you are a Power User.

Have you replaced your laptop with an iPad?
Do you do all your business work on an iPad?
Do you use advanced programs or features not used by the average person?
Click to expand...

The official definition of power user only covers your last point. You are confusing everyone with those other made up 'definitions.'
 
Lack of file management I can't use iPad for heavy duty stuff. But just for fun and I am a former power user during Windows PC years. :apple:
 
iPadDad said:
Wondering how many people on this forum would give themselves the coverted;) title of being an iPad Power User?

So many people on this forum use thier iPads simply for, reading, surfing, and games.

If you andwered yes to any of the questions below i would say you are a Power User.

Have you replaced your laptop with an iPad?
Do you do all your business work on an iPad?
Do you use advanced programs or features not used by the average person?

I think it would be interesting to see who are the serious iPad users on the forum, this can also serve for all as a reference when reading iPad threads, to see who are the folk that one should take seriously.
Click to expand...

Nope, have not replaced my laptop with my iPad fully, I still used my laptop for uni assignments, any other serious stuff I need to do.

There is no way I'd be able to do my business/work on my iPad solely, I'm a digital marketer, I work in Google AdWords, the clients website and Excel, I require a laptop as well as a 2nd screen, so I have a Samsung 22inch HD SyncMaster, it would be incredibly annoying to use the iPad for all that.

I don't use any particulary "advanced" apps. I use my iPad mostly for web browsing, Online banking, as my Calendar at work, testing web pages or seeing how landing pages look on a tablet, playing Asphalt now and then and I use it a lot for GPS navigation, Google Maps + iPad 4 at full screen brightness = the best SatNav, IMO.
 
Most of the time, if I need to do heavy duty work, I go to my computer. However, in a pinch, I can do at least 95% of my work from the iPad. I have lots of apps on my iPad that I think the average user wouldn't know how to use, but that lets me do almost everything I do on the computer. So in that sense, I think I qualify as a power user, but I wouldn't replace my computer with the iPad, because a lot of the "work" stuff I do is much easier to do on a computer. So most of the time, I'm using my iPad for "play" stuff -- reading books, surfing the web, watching YouTube, etc. But as I said, if need be, I can get "real work" done on the iPad.
 
Nope, it's purely a secondary device for me. Most of it's usage is gaming with some could web surfing thrown in the mix.
 
As a teacher, I set up an Apple TV in my classroom, which I use to mirror my iPad mini or macbook air as needed.

I won't call myself a power user, but I do use my iPad for work quite a bit. I don't get all this criticism about the iPad being a poor laptop replacement. To me, that's precisely its charm - that it doesn't try to be a poor alternative to something I already have, which in turn frees it up to shine on its own terms.

I can record screencasts using Showme, annotate on worksheets with notability, scan documents with PDF Office, prepare documents with iWork's, blog using wordpress, just to name a few. And the form factor of the iPad lets me do all these far more quickly and conveniently compared to a conventional PC.
 
Tweezers said:
This. I would never try to replace my laptop with an iPad permanently, and never try to do ALL my work on an iPad . However, I consider myself an iPad power user. I know the functionality inside and out, know how to tweak every setting to my liking and know what apps to use in each use case. I think that is what constitutes a "power user.'
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but that definition can still only describe your experience -because there is no universally accepted "usage" of an iPad. You have figured out the apps that you need and the settings that support your use. There may always be someone who will outgun you with the range of apps they use and the associated tweaks they want. Would that make them a more "powerful" user? On the other end, someone who just wants to use the iPad for light browsing, email and social media - only needs to know those apps to use the iPad the way they want to. I would say that they are sufficiently empowered too.
 
MartinAppleGuy said:
but I really want Apple to bring FCPX to iPad (touch friendly of course). There is no longer a lack of power, and people would happily pay money for such a thing if it's full featured enough (and has Hand Off support with the Mac version just like Pixelmator).
Click to expand...

YES!! iMovie is fine basic editor on iPad but it sucks for anything like transitions or titles or even trimming clips in the center. I use FCPX on my Mac Pro and wouldn't mind paying $50-$100 for FCPX for iPad as long as it was better then iMovie and I could 'test drive' it. The Air 2 has the power for it, Apple should really bring it to the iPad considering it Geekbenches higher then MacBook Pros from 4 years ago.

I recently got rid of my 15" rMBP in favor of a nMP (long story) and thought my Air 2 and 6 Plus would be able to replace it since I rarely pulled it out to begin with. Boy was I wrong. There are still things I need a desktop interface for unfortunately, like doing some semi-serious photo editing and exporting (thanks for killing Aperture Apple) and some light work in FCPX and the MBP comes in handy for that. Plus I tend to blog a lot. I found an inexpensive 13" MBP i5 on eBay and bought it. Waiting for it but I'm anxious to get it.

The iPad is amazing, I love mine. But it's just not quite there to replace a laptop completely for me. It does so much but it needs to do more before I can ditch laptops. Hell, I can even connect to other Macs on my network and control them via Bonjour on my iPad. It's great!

Yes I would consider myself an iPad power user and am proud of it. (This entire post was typed on my iPad Air 2).
 
Those criteria would make everyone owning a smartphone power users.

Especially the ones that catch public transport in the mornings.

Society has changed to absorbing and creating a lot more content these days, the bar for what is a power user has moved.
 
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