I finally understand the iPad's purpose

[retailacc]

Hello guys,

Might be a long writeup. Spoiler alert, positive ending.

As an early 90s kid, I was lucky enough to grow up with computers and later phones. I have a degree in Computer Science, so I compute scientifically for a living. Being what I consider a heavy user (and a seasonal Apple enthusiast) I always found the iPads conflicting. I had the classic love/hate relationship that every tech YouTuber ever seems to have. It's great, but it's limited by its software. It's great, BUT.... For myself included, there was always this "but" that made me revert back to my full desktop-class operating system. Combined with my (sometimes unhealthy) frugal (maybe cheap?) personality, and the iPad would always end up on eBay sooner than later.
Last year with the 10.5 my inner PC nerd couldn't resist that 120hz display. I knew it wasn't gonna be for me, but my dad was in need of a computing solution for his spreadsheet + web browsing needs. I figured hey I'll test drive it to get it out of my system and I'll gift it to him afterwards.. and I did.
Fast forward to today, and he came to me saying that he really enjoys the iPad (although it wasn't an easy conversion from Windows) but that he sometimes misses the versatility of a full fledged file explorer. He needed to transfer a file to a flash stick to update his car's dashboard or something.

I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to a product I always found interesting but that I had never tried myself. The Surface lineup. What could go wrong I thought, the OS he was somewhat familiar with in the past with a proper file explorer and mouse support PLUS the flexibility of having a device that can also be detached and used as a tablet. Oh boy.
We bought a mid-high tier model with LTE and the official Microsoft keyboard. And to be completely honest, I kind of liked it. Made me want to daily drive it myself for a few days and leave my MacBook Pro at home.
And that's where the problem is. It's great for me. Not for him. Within a few hours, he had installed the crappy iCloud Drive app that Apple provides for Windows. He had also installed Google Drive and Chrome, which synchronized a million files and 200 widgets from his old XPS (half were probably trashy ones that are suggested by sites). The SSD was almost full because of the mess of files and the poor CPU was at high usage almost all the time. I figured hey, it's Windows and he knows what this is all about. I'll give him time to re adjust. He's fallen behind when it comes to tech but he was never bad at it in the first place.
One week goes by.
So yeah, the Windows scaling setting was changed from the recommended value to something higher (valid and correct approach) but the UI was so blown up that there was barely any space for apps on the task bar and worst of all: some apps did not even scale correctly. The SSD was almost full, his desktop was messy, and chrome was literally frozen from a previous attempt to cast to his Android TV. If all of these so called 'options' are going to absolutely destroy the experience, why even allow them in the first place?

Is this Microsoft fault? I'll go ahead and say no. He's not the most technical personal in the world, but he is by no means bad with tech. He's better than I will ever be with Excel and knows a bunch of Outlook rules and tricks. He's an excellent writer and is a master of Word formatting. The problem is that he is great at what he does, but not as good at everything computer related (like myself, maybe). He, and rightfully so, does not have the need nor the interest of putting up with things that do not relate to his actual line of work, and Windows and this Surface doesn't just want a bit of that, it REQUIRES a LOT of that. For someone like myself (I'm not trying to sound tacky) this is simply second nature. But my peers and I, we're a very specific breed. As we move forward, people are going to be less familiar with the complexity of fully flexible OS's because app-based systems like iOS are actually more than good enough. The reason why they haven't taken over is because our digital world was built by and for desktop OS's, where mobile devices were not just an afterthought, but really something that came much later. So at some point, for some reason, you'll always be stuck with that one process that requires a desktop OS because they iPad's software is just "not there yet" (there where?!)

And I get it now. The iPad's simplicity is not a weakness. It's actually its biggest strength. I'll even say that Apple has done an impressive job packing a lot of functionality in such a simple software experience. It'll never replace your classic laptop, because it really doesn't have to. I understand this marketing campaign because they're appealing to the legacy concept of laptop as the more friendly computing device, but in reality what we have with the iPad is THE new default computing concept/device.

Feel free to comment on this or call out whatever you disagree with. I had fun phrasing all these ideas.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I agree with a lot of this. The younger generation has no interest in desktop PCs. If it can’t run on a tablet, they don’t really care. It makes me a little sad. I love my iPad 12.9” OG, but it would be almost useless without my desktop.

 

[retailacc]

I agree with a lot of this. The younger generation has no interest in desktop PCs. If it can’t run on a tablet, they don’t really care. It makes me a little sad. I love my iPad 12.9” OG, but it would be almost useless without my desktop.

I too feel sad, but it's more of a personal nostalgia thing. The new format is just a simpler approach. Kind of like going from DOS to Win95 with a proper GUI (maybe not, but it's the best analogy I was able to come up with).

 

[secretk]

Good read. I guess it depends on habits and what you are used to. I have been exposed to Windows and Android before iOS and I find iOS not intuitive at all. I don't find it simple. Every day I have to go through some hoops to do simple things. I don't see iPad being my primary device anytime soon. It's actually the least used device. I use mostly my computer, then my phone and lastly the iPad.

However just like you I am Software Developer. Not only we find certain things like second nature, we thrive for them. We love playing with tech and we love to have the freedom to do so.

In my country actually kids do have computers, but that's because every student studies software programming in school. Some more than others, but basically we all have programming and working with MS office classes. Because of this students have to have computers. Plus to be honest here students do game a lot and they have good desktop machines with Windows to play most of the game.

Now yes they do have smartphones and some buy iPads, but most of the students here do have computers and get the computer experience.

 

[spacebro]

I was horrified when the world moved to windows 95 and forgot about dos. "But dos games have twice the resources and are much butter", "but its easier to program for dos". These were valid points for a while but 3-4 years later they stopped being valid points and the world had fully moved on. It will be the same way with the laptop to tablet transition. "But full desktop apps are better, faster, easier to develop", this is true now but it will stop being true soon enough.

 

[retailacc]

However just like you I am Software Developer. Not only we find certain things like second nature, we thrive for them. We love playing with tech and we love to have the freedom to do so.

Yeah, iOS vs Android discussions aside (as really they're somewhat equivalent, with Android being the more flexible) I do think that the key factor is that it just comes natural to certain people, and probably because of their history.

If you're saying that in your classrooms good ol' PCs are still being used like in my time, then things might go down differently wherever you are. What I can say is that the kids in my very own family rarely get to play with computers, and the most 'traditional' tech device they own is a Nintendo Switch (traditional because it's a console).

 

[dr34mc4st3r]

One key thing about iPad that i loved, vs traditional desktop OS is the lagless experience. Even with SSDs, you will experience minor lags and slowdowns, whereas on iPad, everything just keeps moving along. Not seeing a spinning beach ball is a great thing.

Sometimes I don’t think Apple should over develop iOS to make it a full traditional laptop experience. Just focus on some key features that will satisfy many of us - able to read files from thumb drives, open multiple documents from same app, and i think I will be pretty happy already. I don’t wish for iOS to be bloated in the years to come. Simplicity can be bliss.

 

[secretk]

I was horrified when the world moved to windows 95 and forgot about dos. "But dos games have twice the resources and are much butter", "but its easier to program for dos". These were valid points for a while but 3-4 years later they stopped being valid points and the world had fully moved on. It will be the same way with the laptop to tablet transition. "But full desktop apps are better, faster, easier to develop", this is true now but it will stop being true soon enough.

You are right. And I think that this would have been valid if it was only about OS comparison. Unfortunately it's not. I honestly find the screen of the ipads small for day to day work. I don't imagine myself working with such screen on daily basis. I need 23 inch display. And I need two of them. Otherwise I get neck pain. iPads are still not mainstream when it comes to multiple monitors support and multi tasking in general. I quite often need to open multiple files of the same type with the same app.

Then I need trackpad and keyboard to do my daily work. The keyboards covers are too small for me to type 8 hours a day at work. So I would need regular Bluetooth keyboard. All of this makes the iPad as a device less portable and more cumbersome to use IMO.

I do believe that at some point most people would be OK with just using tablets and only small percentage of people will be like me. I am not sure when this time will come though because I think iPad appeared around in 2010. So 8 years and people still need computers. Even for certain setup tasks for iPad you need computer. Same for phones. I think that there are still a lot of logistic as well as OS issues so that we can forget about computers and move to tablet territory.
[doublepost=1545412347][/doublepost]

Yeah, iOS vs Android discussions aside (as really they're somewhat equivalent, with Android being the more flexible) I do think that the key factor is that it just comes natural to certain people, and probably because of their history.

For some it definitely is natural. I guess it also depends on the person and our own preferences .

If you're saying that in your classrooms good ol' PCs are still being used like in my time, then things might go down differently wherever you are. What I can say is that the kids in my very own family rarely get to play with computers, and the most 'traditional' tech device they own is a Nintendo Switch (traditional because it's a console).

Maybe it depends on the country too you know. In my country it's cheaper to buy computer than even the regular iPad so naturally people have more computers at home then iPads. And even if parents had iPads they don't give them to their kids as they are expensive. As a result the kids here still use computers and not tablets.

 

[retailacc]

Sometimes I don’t think Apple should over develop iOS to make it a full traditional laptop experience. Just focus on some key features that will satisfy many of us - able to read files from thumb drives, open multiple documents from same app, and i think I will be pretty happy already. I don’t wish for iOS to be bloated in the years to come. Simplicity can be bliss.

I always thought of this, but like you said, it's hard to draw the line between bloat and simplicity, and even a simple feature like a file explorer can have a big impact. I'm really not savvy enough to say if it's the right move or not, but this is probably why they have been so careful and SLOW with every feature they implement on iOS.

 

[secretk]

One key thing about iPad that i loved, vs traditional desktop OS is the lagless experience. Even with SSDs, you will experience minor lags and slowdowns, whereas on iPad, everything just keeps moving along. Not seeing a spinning beach ball is a great thing.

Are you talking about iPad pro or iPads in general? My experience actually is in reverse. I have 6th gen iPad that does have lagging. It even closes apps on its own and thus does not save the last changes I have done which annoys me to no end. On the other hand my computer has no lagging at all. However I have Windows computer with 500 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and i7 CPU so my computer is more powerful than the iPad. So maybe it's not a fair comparison.

 

[Greenmeenie]

 

[rowspaxe]

Hello guys,

Might be a long writeup. Spoiler alert, positive ending.

As an early 90s kid, I was lucky enough to grow up with computers and later phones. I have a degree in Computer Science, so I compute scientifically for a living. Being what I consider a heavy user (and a seasonal Apple enthusiast) I always found the iPads conflicting. I had the classic love/hate relationship that every tech YouTuber ever seems to have. It's great, but it's limited by its software. It's great, BUT.... For myself included, there was always this "but" that made me revert back to my full desktop-class operating system. Combined with my (sometimes unhealthy) frugal (maybe cheap?) personality, and the iPad would always end up on eBay sooner than later.
Last year with the 10.5 my inner PC nerd couldn't resist that 120hz display. I knew it wasn't gonna be for me, but my dad was in need of a computing solution for his spreadsheet + web browsing needs. I figured hey I'll test drive it to get it out of my system and I'll gift it to him afterwards.. and I did.
Fast forward to today, and he came to me saying that he really enjoys the iPad (although it wasn't an easy conversion from Windows) but that he sometimes misses the versatility of a full fledged file explorer. He needed to transfer a file to a flash stick to update his car's dashboard or something.

I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to a product I always found interesting but that I had never tried myself. The Surface lineup. What could go wrong I thought, the OS he was somewhat familiar with in the past with a proper file explorer and mouse support PLUS the flexibility of having a device that can also be detached and used as a tablet. Oh boy.
We bought a mid-high tier model with LTE and the official Microsoft keyboard. And to be completely honest, I kind of liked it. Made me want to daily drive it myself for a few days and leave my MacBook Pro at home.
And that's where the problem is. It's great for me. Not for him. Within a few hours, he had installed the crappy iCloud Drive app that Apple provides for Windows. He had also installed Google Drive and Chrome, which synchronized a million files and 200 widgets from his old XPS (half were probably trashy ones that are suggested by sites). The SSD was almost full because of the mess of files and the poor CPU was at high usage almost all the time. I figured hey, it's Windows and he knows what this is all about. I'll give him time to re adjust. He's fallen behind when it comes to tech but he was never bad at it in the first place.
One week goes by.
So yeah, the Windows scaling setting was changed from the recommended value to something higher (valid and correct approach) but the UI was so blown up that there was barely any space for apps on the task bar and worst of all: some apps did not even scale correctly. The SSD was almost full, his desktop was messy, and chrome was literally frozen from a previous attempt to cast to his Android TV. If all of these so called 'options' are going to absolutely destroy the experience, why even allow them in the first place?

Is this Microsoft fault? I'll go ahead and say no. He's not the most technical personal in the world, but he is by no means bad with tech. He's better than I will ever be with Excel and knows a bunch of Outlook rules and tricks. He's an excellent writer and is a master of Word formatting. The problem is that he is great at what he does, but not as good at everything computer related (like myself, maybe). He, and rightfully so, does not have the need nor the interest of putting up with things that do not relate to his actual line of work, and Windows and this Surface doesn't just want a bit of that, it REQUIRES a LOT of that. For someone like myself (I'm not trying to sound tacky) this is simply second nature. But my peers and I, we're a very specific breed. As we move forward, people are going to be less familiar with the complexity of fully flexible OS's because app-based systems like iOS are actually more than good enough. The reason why they haven't taken over is because our digital world was built by and for desktop OS's, where mobile devices were not just an afterthought, but really something that came much later. So at some point, for some reason, you'll always be stuck with that one process that requires a desktop OS because they iPad's software is just "not there yet" (there where?!)

And I get it now. The iPad's simplicity is not a weakness. It's actually its biggest strength. I'll even say that Apple has done an impressive job packing a lot of functionality in such a simple software experience. It'll never replace your classic laptop, because it really doesn't have to. I understand this marketing campaign because they're appealing to the legacy concept of laptop as the more friendly computing device, but in reality what we have with the iPad is THE new default computing concept/device.

Feel free to comment on this or call out whatever you disagree with. I had fun phrasing all these ideas.

hours of fun?
Edit

 

[retailacc]

You are right. And I think that this would have been valid if it was only about OS comparison. Unfortunately it's not. I honestly find the screen of the ipads small for day to day work. I don't imagine myself working with such screen on daily basis. I need 23 inch display. And I need two of them. Otherwise I get neck pain. iPads are still not mainstream when it comes to multiple monitors support and multi tasking in general. I quite often need to open multiple files of the same type with the same app.

Then I need trackpad and keyboard to do my daily work. The keyboards covers are too small for me to type 8 hours a day at work. So I would need regular Bluetooth keyboard. All of this makes the iPad as a device less portable and more cumbersome to use IMO.

I'm quoting this part only because I absolutely agree with you and feel the same way, and I cannot see how I'd ever be able to do my job on iPads.
However, like you have mentioned later in the same post, I also think that (perhaps not anytime soon) occasionally we'll be the minority. As the product becomes more and more mainstream Apple, Google, Microsoft, whoever develops these 'tablets' of the 'future' will likely adapt them to whatever people need - whether that's the option to use them with bigger displays, with features that prevent neck/position related issues, etc. So there is some room for improvement in that regard for sure, I just feel that the simpler software isn't necessarily going away anytime soon. Obviously, our type of work won't just disappear, but rather adjust and adopt a matching workflow.

 

[dr34mc4st3r]

Are you talking about iPad pro or iPads in general? My experience actually is in reverse. I have 6th gen iPad that does have lagging. It even closes apps on its own and thus does not save the last changes I have done which annoys me to no end. On the other hand my computer has no lagging at all. However I have Windows computer with 500 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and i7 CPU so my computer is more powerful than the iPad. So maybe it's not a fair comparison.

My apologies, i was comparing my 2016 13” MBP with my iPad Pro 11”. I don’t encounter the same issues on my IPP. Thanks for sharing, looks like it’s really a case of YMMV.

 

[secretk]

My apologies, i was comparing my 2016 13” MBP with my iPad Pro 11”. I don’t encounter the same issues on my IPP. Thanks for sharing, looks like it’s really a case of YMMV.

It's cool that you don't experience any issues with the new iPad Pro! After all this device does have more power than most laptops. The rest is a matter of usage and apps that you have installed and specific workflows.

I am not super surprised that my regular iPad has issues because I am a power user. I tend to open a lot of apps, I tend to do a lot of things at once and on top of it I notice even the slightest lag. I am hard to please when it comes to this which is why I buy a powerful laptop.

 

[gixxerfool]

In a way, isn’t the iPad what we have been shooting for in the first place? We have come a long since the days of Windows 3.1.1. Isn’t the simpler interface the point? Aren’t computers specifically designed to make complicated tasks easier? While they may not be one size fits all for everyone’s use case, the demand has pushed Apple and developers to keep going and build a better product. As more and more processes head towards a digital only interface I think we will see these become more useful sooner than you think.

 

[Chloros]

In the end....its a great way to watch netflix in bed that can afford it.

 

[Saurus504]

Hello guys,

Might be a long writeup. Spoiler alert, positive ending.

As an early 90s kid, I was lucky enough to grow up with computers and later phones. I have a degree in Computer Science, so I compute scientifically for a living. Being what I consider a heavy user (and a seasonal Apple enthusiast) I always found the iPads conflicting. I had the classic love/hate relationship that every tech YouTuber ever seems to have. It's great, but it's limited by its software. It's great, BUT.... For myself included, there was always this "but" that made me revert back to my full desktop-class operating system. Combined with my (sometimes unhealthy) frugal (maybe cheap?) personality, and the iPad would always end up on eBay sooner than later.
Last year with the 10.5 my inner PC nerd couldn't resist that 120hz display. I knew it wasn't gonna be for me, but my dad was in need of a computing solution for his spreadsheet + web browsing needs. I figured hey I'll test drive it to get it out of my system and I'll gift it to him afterwards.. and I did.
Fast forward to today, and he came to me saying that he really enjoys the iPad (although it wasn't an easy conversion from Windows) but that he sometimes misses the versatility of a full fledged file explorer. He needed to transfer a file to a flash stick to update his car's dashboard or something.

I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to a product I always found interesting but that I had never tried myself. The Surface lineup. What could go wrong I thought, the OS he was somewhat familiar with in the past with a proper file explorer and mouse support PLUS the flexibility of having a device that can also be detached and used as a tablet. Oh boy.
We bought a mid-high tier model with LTE and the official Microsoft keyboard. And to be completely honest, I kind of liked it. Made me want to daily drive it myself for a few days and leave my MacBook Pro at home.
And that's where the problem is. It's great for me. Not for him. Within a few hours, he had installed the crappy iCloud Drive app that Apple provides for Windows. He had also installed Google Drive and Chrome, which synchronized a million files and 200 widgets from his old XPS (half were probably trashy ones that are suggested by sites). The SSD was almost full because of the mess of files and the poor CPU was at high usage almost all the time. I figured hey, it's Windows and he knows what this is all about. I'll give him time to re adjust. He's fallen behind when it comes to tech but he was never bad at it in the first place.
One week goes by.
So yeah, the Windows scaling setting was changed from the recommended value to something higher (valid and correct approach) but the UI was so blown up that there was barely any space for apps on the task bar and worst of all: some apps did not even scale correctly. The SSD was almost full, his desktop was messy, and chrome was literally frozen from a previous attempt to cast to his Android TV. If all of these so called 'options' are going to absolutely destroy the experience, why even allow them in the first place?

Is this Microsoft fault? I'll go ahead and say no. He's not the most technical personal in the world, but he is by no means bad with tech. He's better than I will ever be with Excel and knows a bunch of Outlook rules and tricks. He's an excellent writer and is a master of Word formatting. The problem is that he is great at what he does, but not as good at everything computer related (like myself, maybe). He, and rightfully so, does not have the need nor the interest of putting up with things that do not relate to his actual line of work, and Windows and this Surface doesn't just want a bit of that, it REQUIRES a LOT of that. For someone like myself (I'm not trying to sound tacky) this is simply second nature. But my peers and I, we're a very specific breed. As we move forward, people are going to be less familiar with the complexity of fully flexible OS's because app-based systems like iOS are actually more than good enough. The reason why they haven't taken over is because our digital world was built by and for desktop OS's, where mobile devices were not just an afterthought, but really something that came much later. So at some point, for some reason, you'll always be stuck with that one process that requires a desktop OS because they iPad's software is just "not there yet" (there where?!)

And I get it now. The iPad's simplicity is not a weakness. It's actually its biggest strength. I'll even say that Apple has done an impressive job packing a lot of functionality in such a simple software experience. It'll never replace your classic laptop, because it really doesn't have to. I understand this marketing campaign because they're appealing to the legacy concept of laptop as the more friendly computing device, but in reality what we have with the iPad is THE new default computing concept/device.

Feel free to comment on this or call out whatever you disagree with. I had fun phrasing all these ideas.

Agree with almost everything you said. With my iPad pro 11 now jut replacing my previous Macbook, there hasn't been anything I've needed so far I can't do. I even decided on only the 64GB because of the 2TB cloud storage I have. I love how easily everything I work on automatically just works and is saved on the cloud.
Your argument is a lot of the basis I tell folks who tell my Apple "just doesn't have the customization I want" for Android or windows. Apple's proprietary nature has it roadblocks every once in awhile, but their stringent guidelines to me are what make their products so smooth to operate and last so much longer.
The MacBook I sold before moving to this iPad was almost 4 years old. It honestly still worked great and I never had any issues with it, I just really liked what I saw with the new iPads. I made $600 on the sale, which is honestly crazy. I'm not sure I see many other brands holding their value like that.

 

[The Game 161]

It fits my purpose for a tablet/work tool and a laptop for my needs all in one really.

 

[KPOM]

You are right. And I think that this would have been valid if it was only about OS comparison. Unfortunately it's not. I honestly find the screen of the ipads small for day to day work. I don't imagine myself working with such screen on daily basis. I need 23 inch display. And I need two of them. Otherwise I get neck pain. iPads are still not mainstream when it comes to multiple monitors support and multi tasking in general. I quite often need to open multiple files of the same type with the same app.

Then I need trackpad and keyboard to do my daily work. The keyboards covers are too small for me to type 8 hours a day at work. So I would need regular Bluetooth keyboard. All of this makes the iPad as a device less portable and more cumbersome to use IMO.

I do believe that at some point most people would be OK with just using tablets and only small percentage of people will be like me. I am not sure when this time will come though because I think iPad appeared around in 2010. So 8 years and people still need computers. Even for certain setup tasks for iPad you need computer. Same for phones. I think that there are still a lot of logistic as well as OS issues so that we can forget about computers and move to tablet territory.
[doublepost=1545412347][/doublepost]

For some it definitely is natural. I guess it also depends on the person and our own preferences .



Maybe it depends on the country too you know. In my country it's cheaper to buy computer than even the regular iPad so naturally people have more computers at home then iPads. And even if parents had iPads they don't give them to their kids as they are expensive. As a result the kids here still use computers and not tablets.

The 12.9” iPad has a “normal”-sized display. Even the 11” has a display the exact same height as the 12” MacBook, just narrower. And now it is a breeze to connect them to external monitors. Granted, most apps are limited to mirror mode, but that will likely change.

 

[secretk]

In a way, isn’t the iPad what we have been shooting for in the first place? We have come a long since the days of Windows 3.1.1. Isn’t the simpler interface the point? Aren’t computers specifically designed to make complicated tasks easier? While they may not be one size fits all for everyone’s use case, the demand has pushed Apple and developers to keep going and build a better product. As more and more processes head towards a digital only interface I think we will see these become more useful sooner than you think.

I agree with you that the general goal is to make our life easier and the task we do daily simpler. I don't see how the iPad does this for me though. I actually have to go through hoops for the simplest things. iOS itself is not intuitive IMO. Like I said though it definitely depends on one's usage and I am sure I am in the minority. This is why while I agreee with you on the purpose of those devices, I don't seee the iPad serving that purpose for me.
[doublepost=1545548808][/doublepost]

The 12.9” iPad has a “normal”-sized display. Even the 11” has a display the exact same height as the 12” MacBook, just narrower. And now it is a breeze to connect them to external monitors. Granted, most apps are limited to mirror mode, but that will likely change.

12.9 is a good size display, but it's not portable for me. Again pretty specific, but I have small hands and I have wrist issues. Both 11 inch and 12.9 inch are not portable for me. I would not be able to hold them with one hand. In other words that size is not a tablet for me, it's for laptops. And if I have a tablet of the size of laptop, I prefer to buy a laptop that has the functionality I need and full fledged desktop OS experience.

Yes, with the new one you can duplicate screens and that's useful for giving presentations. For my day to day work I need extending screens functionality. As a Developer for me it's easier to open the application console in one screen and the code in another. Also quite often I have to open an app more than once because I want to work with multiple files of the same type in the same time.

 

[gixxerfool]

I agree with you that the general goal is to make our life easier and the task we do daily simpler. I don't see how the iPad does this for me though. I actually have to go through hoops for the simplest things. iOS itself is not intuitive IMO. Like I said though it definitely depends on one's usage and I am sure I am in the minority. This is why while I agreee with you on the purpose of those devices, I don't seee the iPad serving that purpose for me.
[doublepost=1545548808][/doublepost]

12.9 is a good size display, but it's not portable for me. Again pretty specific, but I have small hands and I have wrist issues. Both 11 inch and 12.9 inch are not portable for me. I would not be able to hold them with one hand. In other words that size is not a tablet for me, it's for laptops. And if I have a tablet of the size of laptop, I prefer to buy a laptop that has the functionality I need and full fledged desktop OS experience.

Yes, with the new one you can duplicate screens and that's useful for giving presentations. For my day to day work I need extending screens functionality. As a Developer for me it's easier to open the application console in one screen and the code in another. Also quite often I have to open an app more than once because I want to work with multiple files of the same type in the same time.

It’s certainly not a one size fits all, but I see more and more businesses use it for POS systems. My daughter uses one for school and I’m about to go back to school and purchased one myself. It’s not answer to everyone’s needs, yet. And when I say this I don’t even mean the iPad on it’s own, just tablets in general.

 

[secretk]

It’s certainly not a one size fits all, but I see more and more businesses use it for POS systems. My daughter uses one for school and I’m about to go back to school and purchased one myself. It’s not answer to everyone’s needs, yet. And when I say this I don’t even mean the iPad on it’s own, just tablets in general.

If you don't mind would you share how your daughter uses the iPad for school? Does she have a laptop or other computer? How do you plan to use it? Would you get the regular iPad or the pro model?

You are right. Not everyone uses a tablet in their workflow. I am always interested in how people use tablets because to be honest I don't use my iPad as a true tablet that much. I love the pencil and most of my usage includes pencil usage. I rarely do anything without it though.

I am now visiting my parents for Christmas and I brought only the iPad with me. It will be interesting to see how much I will use it and whether I will miss my laptop.

 

[gixxerfool]

If you don't mind would you share how your daughter uses the iPad for school? Does she have a laptop or other computer? How do you plan to use it? Would you get the regular iPad or the pro model?

You are right. Not everyone uses a tablet in their workflow. I am always interested in how people use tablets because to be honest I don't use my iPad as a true tablet that much. I love the pencil and most of my usage includes pencil usage. I rarely do anything without it though.

I am now visiting my parents for Christmas and I brought only the iPad with me. It will be interesting to see how much I will use it and whether I will miss my laptop.

She uses it for google classrooms for her assignments. She can also access her grades and possible missing assignments through genesis. She also has IXL for 90% of her homework. She also has access to iTunes U for study materials.

We have a Mini at home, that she doesn’t need as much as she used to. They use google docs a lot as well, she uses both the iPad and mini for those. Usually she only uses the mini when she forgets to charge the iPad.

I bought the 12.9” pro with pencil. My plan is to use it for a notebook and canvas access. In winter 2019 they are moving away from Pearson, which apparently is in a fight with Apple, and onto Cengage do I will have access to full digital textbooks for a fraction of the cost of real books. Being able to either split screen the text and notes or full screen the text books and work on my Mac are my goals. I will need my Mac for certain workflows, so I’m prepared for those as well.

I used my iPad for studying for the entrance exam and absolutely loved it. Split screen with the app I needed and notes was amazing.

I realize the larger sizes aren’t usable for you, maybe a case with a handle would help accommodate the larger sizes for you.

 

[cola79]

I think that Tablets like you can buy them these days replace a computer fully for most average users. At least Android allows you to connect keyboard and mouse, even printers, so for the daily things like writing documents, surfing the web, and so on nobody would need a real computer in the sense of Windows, MacOS or Linux.

It’s a bit sad that Apple doesn’t allow mouse support for iPads, just to keep their overpriced Macbooks alive. I really like my iPad and iPhone, but when i want to write a document i still have to start my 10 year old laptop, because the iPad simply sucks for writing text when you can’t use a mouse.

I began using computers when dos was popular, so i know the history of personal computers at home by myself. But i use my ipad 99% of the time. The simplicity isn’t the main factor, it’s more that it is always ready to go. No updates at startup, updates for apps just a tap, no need to download an installer or such, no need for drivers, no problem with viruses or malware.

And if you know one iPad, you know all of them. If my father has trouble with his pc, i need to have remote access or visit him at home to find out what’s the reason for his computer problem. If my mother has trouble with her iPad, i just need to check her settings and compare them with mine to solve the problem.