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Do You See the iPad Completely Replacing Your Home Computer Eventually?
- Thread starter Cheebo
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Two thoughts: (1) iOS doesn't have to replace Mac OS, developers simply need to create iOS apps that duplicate the functionality of desktop apps, (2) Windows 8, when it arrives, will run on desktops and tablets. There's no reason to believe that Apple does not have similar ideas brewing in their labs for some variant of iOS or Mac OS.
One would have to be pretty short-sighted to say that iOS apps can never replace desktop apps for the vast majority of what we do. Give it time.
Why not? So many people use a computer simply to check their email, surf the web, and perhaps play some casual games. The iPad can easily handle all that and more.
It can handle simple things just fine. Any serious work like Office, audio/video editing, etc still require a full-fledged desktop OS based computer.
iOS doesn't even have a proper file system. It is impossible to duplicate the functionality of desktops apps like say adobe suite. iOS was never intended to replace Mac/PC, it was meant to complement them.
I'm not saying that tablets could replace every computer on earth. I don't think anyone is. My point was that not everyone needs a computer for serious work.
Also my own personal experience tells me that a certain level of productivity is possible on the iPad. And a lot more could be done if Apple only made the three fairly simple additions I mentioned on the first page.
It is a great option for elderly people and others without any computer experience, if some occasional support is available from a more experienced user with OS X.
It could replace laptops for casual use at most, for people like me who use a desktop for the above mentioned tasks iPad/tablet don't replace anything. The problem with iOS is that its locked down way too much by Apple. Even the very basic things like homescreen needs to be improved, 9.7" screen just showing grid of icons shows how much of space is wasted. Split-screen apps, proper filesystem, widgets, etc could make iPad so much better.
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
For me, no. It would need a new text-input paradigm (and preferably not one where Apple stores your spoken voice a la Siri). I think there is some way to do text-input better on a tablet. With the original iPod, Apple used inertial wheel-scrolling to allow you to navigate easily between thousands of songs. To this day, a lot of cheaper, niche-market consumer devices don't allow such easy navigation. I think Apple showed with the iPod that new interfaces can enable smaller devices to be easily navigable. In the same way, I think a new mechanism for text-input for the iPad could be a great advance and would possibly help it become a PC-replacement device. It really is hard to imagine what that could be . . . but I would bet someone at Apple is thinking about it.
Yes, but again I never said it could. Just understand that there are plenty of folks out their who only have a computer for those so called casual uses.
I agree to an extent. Although given Apple's recent direction with Mac OSX, I doubt we will ever be given full access to the iOS file system (yes, it does have one underneath). At the same time I don't think that's really necessary either. We really just need one directory which any app can access (with sub-directories to keep things organized).
Never without a physical keyboard attached in a sane way
For most of us, info input to the device - often text - but also other PRODUCTIVE AND CREATIVE activities, are of utmost importance and indeed a plain necessity when we use a computing device. Because the iPad by its very nature lacks a good way of ever be able to handle this feature, IMO it will NEVER be able to replace a laptop with a regular keyboard. But the iPad has other ways it can be used, but then we are of course speaking mostly - perhaps in daily reality: completely - of the iPad being a device for CONSUMMATION: entertainment and some info searching (limited by the input hassle). Alone, even with a smart case, it is difficult to see that is much more than a tablet, a (touch)screen, but as such it is great. But why are so many people trying to insist and tell us that is it something that it certainly is not and is not meant to be? One wonders...
For most of us, info input to the device - often text - but also other PRODUCTIVE AND CREATIVE activities, are of utmost importance and indeed a plain necessity when we use a computing device. Because the iPad by its very nature lacks a good way of ever be able to handle this feature, IMO it will NEVER be able to replace a laptop with a regular keyboard. But the iPad has other ways it can be used, but then we are of course speaking mostly - perhaps in daily reality: completely - of the iPad being a device for CONSUMMATION: entertainment and some info searching (limited by the input hassle). Alone, even with a smart case, it is difficult to see that is much more than a tablet, a (touch)screen, but as such it is great. But why are so many people trying to insist and tell us that is it something that it certainly is not and is not meant to be? One wonders...
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Dock or peripherial don't solve the problem
Having to carry around one more separate item does certainly NOT solve the issue, at least not for most of us, I think. But an accessory like ZAGGfolio or ClamCase is the closest one can get to have a useful info input method or device connected to the iPad. But then we are no longer talking of the iPad alone any more...
Having to carry around one more separate item does certainly NOT solve the issue, at least not for most of us, I think. But an accessory like ZAGGfolio or ClamCase is the closest one can get to have a useful info input method or device connected to the iPad. But then we are no longer talking of the iPad alone any more...
For me, no. It has 99% replaced the computer for my parents, but the functionality I require from a computer is simply not available on an iPad (yet).
Im into my gaming personally, and have my eye set on the Alienware MX17 with all the bells & whistles. Plus I know you assumed that nearly all of us are using Macs, but I am firmly entrenched in the Windows environment. Maybe in the future, Microsofts vision of a tablet that you take with you, but can plug into your desk at home to gain aditional power and peripherals will come true, and if it works I could see myself doing that.
But replacing my computer entirely with an iPad? I just couldn't manage that.
Im into my gaming personally, and have my eye set on the Alienware MX17 with all the bells & whistles. Plus I know you assumed that nearly all of us are using Macs, but I am firmly entrenched in the Windows environment. Maybe in the future, Microsofts vision of a tablet that you take with you, but can plug into your desk at home to gain aditional power and peripherals will come true, and if it works I could see myself doing that.
But replacing my computer entirely with an iPad? I just couldn't manage that.
IMO inputting text on the touchscreen, with practice, is only a hassle when compared to proper touch typing. Which itself is a skill that most computer users still seem to lack.
I'm not insisting that an iPad could replace a computer for everyone and in every possible situation. Far from it.
Text input is not only a problem for those who use touch typing
I disagree: The virtual keyboard is clearly not "in the same league" as a real physical keyboard, with its tactile feedback of hitting the keys and with its ability to have a good angle (for both writing and viewing the screen). A separate - or loose - keyboard to carry around, in addition to the iPad, will not be appealing or practical to many persons, I am pretty sure of.
But this thread is somewhat strange: Why not just accept that the iPad is designed for other areas of activities than a laptop? Even from the outset, at the initial presentation of the iPad, there seems really to be not a small amount of grandiosity with regard to the iPad's status as a tool, as something almost magical, etc. And some people seem to be more than willing to kindle this attitude further. It just doesn't make sense. And by saying this, I do not in any way deny the assets and really good aspects of (the natural ways of using) the iPad. But what I still don't understand, is the immense need of some people to try and make it more than what it is and can be, with its form factor. It is on this point my thoughts about grandiosity come into the picture.
I disagree: The virtual keyboard is clearly not "in the same league" as a real physical keyboard, with its tactile feedback of hitting the keys and with its ability to have a good angle (for both writing and viewing the screen). A separate - or loose - keyboard to carry around, in addition to the iPad, will not be appealing or practical to many persons, I am pretty sure of.
But this thread is somewhat strange: Why not just accept that the iPad is designed for other areas of activities than a laptop? Even from the outset, at the initial presentation of the iPad, there seems really to be not a small amount of grandiosity with regard to the iPad's status as a tool, as something almost magical, etc. And some people seem to be more than willing to kindle this attitude further. It just doesn't make sense. And by saying this, I do not in any way deny the assets and really good aspects of (the natural ways of using) the iPad. But what I still don't understand, is the immense need of some people to try and make it more than what it is and can be, with its form factor. It is on this point my thoughts about grandiosity come into the picture.
In my experience tactile feedback is not all that important when you're hunt and pecking. In fact the iPad arguably as an advantage with this style of typing, in that you don't have to take you're eyes off of the screen. Which BTW is easy to view at a typing friendly angle thanks to Apple's inclusion of an IPS display.
What you have to understand is that not everyone's needs and tolerances are the same. Personally I don't find myself typing up long documents all that often, and find the on-screen keyboard is perfectly addiquate for inputting replies like this. Feature-wise it may not have all the bells and whistles of a laptop, but not everyone needs all that. For me the ipad sufficient >90% of the time, which is why it has completely replaced my laptop and I now resort solely to my desktop when I need something more powerful. And I know for a fact there are those whose needs are basic enough that it could fully replace their computer.
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For me, it's a big yes. So much so, two months ago I replaced my i7 iMac with a low end Mac mini, which I rarely use now.
Looking at the numbers, I'd say I'm not alone.
The iPad out sold all Macs combined by 2.27:1, while iOS devices in general accounted for 70% of Apple's 4Q 2011 revenue. It's hard to argue that the iPad is just a complementary device with numbers like that. In fact, I'd argue the opposite - that the Mac is becoming a complementary device in an increasingly iOS dominated world.
Looking at the numbers, I'd say I'm not alone.
The iPad out sold all Macs combined by 2.27:1, while iOS devices in general accounted for 70% of Apple's 4Q 2011 revenue. It's hard to argue that the iPad is just a complementary device with numbers like that. In fact, I'd argue the opposite - that the Mac is becoming a complementary device in an increasingly iOS dominated world.
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Unless Apple releases it's "death grip" on the iPad, there is no way that it will be "allowed" to do near enough to even do the simpler things I do not my desktop!
I doubt it will be much different even in the future as Apple will NEVER let it's hardware free on iTunes!
I doubt it will be much different even in the future as Apple will NEVER let it's hardware free on iTunes!
Personally? No.
HOWEVER. I know many people (read: my Mum) who actually use an iPad as their only device. The only thing that it lets her down with is when she wants to Skype (she has an iPad 1) and if she needs to print (which could be fixed if we got an airprint enabled printer!). So yeah, I think a lot of people who don't need a computer for heavy duty iwork usage or computer specific tasks can use an iPad as their sole machine atm.
HOWEVER. I know many people (read: my Mum) who actually use an iPad as their only device. The only thing that it lets her down with is when she wants to Skype (she has an iPad 1) and if she needs to print (which could be fixed if we got an airprint enabled printer!). So yeah, I think a lot of people who don't need a computer for heavy duty iwork usage or computer specific tasks can use an iPad as their sole machine atm.
I believe that the iPad will soon replace my wife's iMac (less than a year old, just sitting on her desk)
For some reason the beautiful and bright iMac's screen gives her a headache, no matter how much she adjusts the screen's brightness. I imagine that in this case size matters (?) since her face is about a level near the middle of the screen. Not so with her iPad 2, so she is loving it.
But then, this is what she does be it the iPad or her iMac: Facebook, check her e-mails, write to her family and friends, and to surf the Net every now and then. She also prints documents and other stuff straight to a HP 1102w printer that's "AirPrint" ready. Since the iPad is just about perfect for her, I will probably be using her iMac for photo editing in addition to mine. So, I have gotten her iMac ready for this task with CS5, plus Nik's and OnOne Photo Suite 6. She didn't even want a new MacBook Pro I have, just a new iPad
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No it couldn't replace my main computer ever, the form factor just doesn't work well for some things. I used an iPad as my main computer for a couple months when my computer died and while it worked a touch screen is not the greatest form factor for a main computer. However it could eventually replace a laptop and I would have a desktop as a main computer.