Isn't the iPad Really Just A Toy Still?

[Joe h]

If it's so good - why does he have two monitors, a keyboard and a desk
Just because you could, doesn't mean you will.. and clearly he only uses the iPad when its the "only" option.

Strange people above even call out screen size, size clearly is a link to productivity then? - remind me where i find a 32" iPad? or iPhone?
Same people call out multiple apps on the screen at once... golden.



I'll help you out...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/surface/devices/surface-studio/overview

"Whats a computer"?

The great debates that will go on for ages. Is this boy with pink glasses? Is it possible that a gen z does not know what a damn computer is? Is it ok to beat this condescending brat?

 

[Atomic1977]

I don’t think the iPad was ever really a toy. Yes you can play games on a iPad but a iPad a toy I don’t think so. Some people actually use iPads for there job. I don’t think this discussion will ever be done.

 

[Eric5273]

Anyone knows the best way to transfer hundreds GBs of thousands of files between 2 iOS devices without having to pay for cloud services, please let me know. I’d really appreciate it.

That’s like complaining that a car is not real transportation because you cannot drive from New York to Florida without paying highway tolls.

Cloud services is the future of computing. In another few years, I doubt any data will be stored locally, probably not even the OS. Your computing device will just be a terminal of sorts and all the computing and data will be done up in the cloud.

The cost of cloud services is a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy an iPad or a computer. For the difference in price between an iPad and a MacBook, you can probably pay for cloud services for 20 years.

 

[canesalato]

That’s like complaining that a car is not real transportation because you cannot drive from New York to Florida without paying highway tolls.

Cloud services is the future of computing. Over the next few years, I doubt any data will be stored locally, probably not even the OS. Your computing device will just be a terminal of sorts and all the computing and data will be done up in the cloud.

I’ve been hearing this for years, but i don’t believe making users miserable for 10 years when dealing with files is a nice thing, just because the cloud is, supposedly, the “future”. Cloud and local storage are not in competition, they are complementary and users should be able to use both depending on the situation. Also, please notice that local storage support is already in iOS since version 3.x, so i don’t see the purpose in these battles of ideology that keep going on the internet. The feature is just very poorly implemented and should be improved and integrated within the Files app.

 

[Atomic1977]

What is a Toy?

 

[subjonas]

I’ve been hearing this for years, but i don’t believe making users miserable for 10 years when dealing with files is a nice thing, just because the cloud is, supposedly, the “future”. Cloud and local storage are not in competition, they are complementary and users should be able to use both depending on the situation. Also, please notice that local storage support is already in iOS since version 3.x, so i don’t see the purpose in these battles of ideology that keep going on the internet. The feature is just very poorly implemented and should improve and gets integrated with the Files app.

I agree, cloud is not THE future. It’s A future. It is, like you said, a convenient option for certain circumstances—not all. Companies push cloud services as the future simply because they stand to make an easy, steady stream of income from it. It is in many cases much more inconvenient than local storage and transfers. Also why do I want to pay monthly to store or transfer my data when I’ve been doing it for free on my devices all this time?
[doublepost=1515983730][/doublepost]

That’s like complaining that a car is not real transportation because you cannot drive from New York to Florida without paying highway tolls.

Cloud services is the future of computing. In another few years, I doubt any data will be stored locally, probably not even the OS. Your computing device will just be a terminal of sorts and all the computing and data will be done up in the cloud.

The cost of cloud services is a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy an iPad or a computer. For the difference in price between an iPad and a MacBook, you can probably pay for cloud services for 20 years.

See above

 

[sparksd]

That’s like complaining that a car is not real transportation because you cannot drive from New York to Florida without paying highway tolls.

Cloud services is the future of computing. In another few years, I doubt any data will be stored locally, probably not even the OS. Your computing device will just be a terminal of sorts and all the computing and data will be done up in the cloud.

The cost of cloud services is a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy an iPad or a computer. For the difference in price between an iPad and a MacBook, you can probably pay for cloud services for 20 years.

Great idea except when you're somewhere where Internet service is very poor, which is not all that unusual in a lot of rural areas.

 

[Eric5273]

I agree, cloud is not THE future. It’s A future. It is, like you said, a convenient option for certain circumstances—not all. Companies push cloud services as the future simply because they stand to make an easy, steady stream of income from it. It is in many cases much more inconvenient than local storage and transfers. Also why do I want to pay monthly to store or transfer my data when I’ve been doing it for free on my devices all this time?

You haven’t been doing it for “free” unless you are getting your devices for free. Probably not. Instead of paying for cloud services, you are paying for devices with more storage and probably also paying for external storage devices as well so you can back up your locally stored data.

Obviously that is your right. But don’t act like the decision is free vs. not free. They both have costs, and often times the cloud storage cost is actually less expensive. For me, I pay $6/month for cloud storage. That includes 1TB of storage on Microsoft OneDrive ($5/month, including the use of MS Office Suite), and 50GB on iCloud ($1/month) — hardly what anyone would consider expensive.

 

[Amplelink]

I’ve been hearing this for years, but i don’t believe making users miserable for 10 years when dealing with files is a nice thing, just because the cloud is, supposedly, the “future”. Cloud and local storage are not in competition, they are complementary and users should be able to use both depending on the situation. Also, please notice that local storage support is already in iOS since version 3.x, so i don’t see the purpose in these battles of ideology that keep going on the internet. The feature is just very poorly implemented and should be improved and integrated within the Files app.

Very, very well said. The implementation could be much more improved. Really that there's by default so much assumed reliance on the cloud with an iPad is one reason I don't use one. Not the biggest reason, but one of them.

 

[Saskat]

That’s like complaining that a car is not real transportation because you cannot drive from New York to Florida without paying highway tolls.

Cloud services is the future of computing. In another few years, I doubt any data will be stored locally, probably not even the OS. Your computing device will just be a terminal of sorts and all the computing and data will be done up in the cloud.

The cost of cloud services is a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy an iPad or a computer. For the difference in price between an iPad and a MacBook, you can probably pay for cloud services for 20 years.

Not in my case. My files are used locally and it is crucial I have them offline.

The problem with the cloud is 2 fold and the price is only one. Another one is there is no easy way to transfer massive amount of files between iOS devices using iCloud and it is not always clear whether a file is local or in the cloud even with third party apps.

Right now I am looking into wireless portable harddrive as a possible solution since the iOS/iCloud combo has not proven itself very capable for a seeming simple problem.

 

[Eric5273]

Not in my case. My files are used locally and it is crucial I have them offline.

The problem with the cloud is 2 fold and the price is only one. Another one is there is no easy way to transfer massive amount of files between iOS devices using iCloud and it is not always clear whether a file is local or in the cloud even with third party apps.

Right now I am looking into wireless portable harddrive as a possible solution since the iOS/iCloud combo has not proven itself very capable for a seeming simple problem.

I own a music production company. I’m always transferring large sound files to Cloud storage and to and from FTP sites, and I’ve had no issues doing this with Documents by Readdle. In fact, I find it easier and faster on the iPad than I did using my previous MacBook Pro with Finder.

I can’t speak for other apps, but in Documents the only files that are local are those in the “Documents” section (when you click Documents on the left panel). The iCloud section (which is right below Documents) is actually local AND on the cloud — Documents syncs all files to be both local and on iCloud Drive in the folder called “Documents by Readdle”. Then any other cloud services you add in the Cloud section are not local are only in the cloud.

The best way to transfer a large amount of files is to zip them up into a single zip file, then upload to the cloud. Then download on the other iPad and unzip. Documents is super fast at zipping and unzipping files — way faster than I’ve ever experienced on a PC or Mac.

In fact, this is how I back up my files. I keep all my work/business files in iCloud, and then once per month I take the entire Documents by Readdle folder from iCloud Drive and zip it into a single zip file, name it with the date, and then I upload it to an Archive folder I keep on Microsoft OneDrive. So I have monthly backups of all my files.

 

[iPadDad]

It's ok for if you want to climb a tree and play minecraft - but it's no computer

You’re right, its so much BETTER than a computer!!!

 

[Saskat]

I own a music production company. I’m always transferring large sound files to Cloud storage and to and from FTP sites, and I’ve had no issues doing this with Documents by Readdle. In fact, I find it easier and faster on the iPad than I did using my previous MacBook Pro with Finder.

I can’t speak for other apps, but in Documents the only files that are local are those in the “Documents” section (when you click Documents on the left panel). The iCloud section (which is right below Documents) is actually local AND on the cloud — Documents syncs all files to be both local and on iCloud Drive in the folder called “Documents by Readdle”. Then any other cloud services you add in the Cloud section are not local are only in the cloud.

The best way to transfer a large amount of files is to zip them up into a single zip file, then upload to the cloud. Then download on the other iPad and unzip. Documents is super fast at zipping and unzipping files — way faster than I’ve ever experienced on a PC or Mac.

In fact, this is how I back up my files. I keep all my work/business files in iCloud, and then once per month I take the entire Documents by Readdle folder from iCloud Drive and zip it into a single zip file, name it with the date, and then I upload it to an Archive folder I keep on Microsoft OneDrive. So I have monthly backups of all my files.

Thank you for the suggestions and I will give them a try. I also like Documents the most out of all my file management apps.

 

[Kal-037]

It’s been a long time now since I started this thread, and I’m a little amazed that it’s still going. I obviously touched a nerve.

It’s not short sighted at all. Incase you missed my original post, I had an iPad mini, and all I ever used it for was surfing and watching Netflix. That’s toy territory in my book, and I needed more than that. Here’s the meat of my reasoning:

Basically what it comes down to is that I was looking for a job, and there’s no way that an iPad could have handled everything I needed to get done.

Still today the iPad can’t satisfy the demands of my job, not even for a single day. Is it really such a stretch then to wonder if the “Pro” label is not really appropriate when that’s your experience?

You didn’t hit a nerve I just found the subject title weird.
Sure iPP can’t do everything for everyone, but just like the iPad can’t do what you need... traditional computers can’t do what I need. The iPad Pro is a marketing term of course, but it is a computer replacement... just not for everyone.



Kallum.

 

[lyngo]

Remember, the iPhone is just as much a "computer" as the iPad.. the only difference being size of screen.

... and pencil on the Pro version.

 

[unobtainium]

Okay I have to revise my earlier opinion.

For me MS Word is essential, but the iOS apps are so broken they’re almost unusable for me. I don’t want autocorrect because I frequently need to write in different languages or in the jargon of my field. Disabling autocorrect at the system level does NOT disable it in Word. The only way to disable autocorrect in Word is to disable all autoformatting (including lists, smart quotes, etc.) and for some reason this also breaks text selection. That’s right, if you disable autoformatting you can no longer select text. What?!

Until MS fixes their iOS apps I won’t really be able to use the iPad for productivity.

 

[dsr2]

Let me preface this by saying that I am retired have no need for a “business” computer. Not a toy for me. I just wiped my MacBook Pro and will hold it for one my kids. There’s very little I can’t do on my iPad and plan on upgrading to the next one as soon as it comes out. It gets nearly 24/7 use.

 

[AFEPPL]

... and pencil on the Pro version.

Yeah, but that pushes it even more into the toy category, Surface pro - iPad is not big enough
Its the same argument over phone vs ipad - Size vs Workflow.

Scraping the barrel bottom with that one..

 

[nviz22]

Although an iPad could feel like a toy compared to the Surface Pro, it depends on the iPad user. Sure, it is very simple to use, offers basic games and apps, and cannot accomplish other productivity stuff a Surface can. However, the iPad can be extremely versatile since it can be used for elderly people, kids, businesses, college students, etc.

You wouldn't give a kid a Surface Pro 4 as a gaming device since Windows would overly complicate the experience, especially since iOS apps are better optimized than the ones in a Microsoft App Store.

 

[AFEPPL]

My bad - Studio, I'm talking about a drawing workflow.
iPad works fine for doodling and playing where investing in a $8Bn dedicated device is prohibitive/crazy when it's not you job, its just a hobby.

 

[lyngo]

Yeah, but that pushes it even more into the toy category, Surface pro - iPad is not big enough
Its the same argument over phone vs ipad - Size vs Workflow.

Scraping the barrel bottom with that one..

Listen, I wasn’t going to get into a flame war, but saying that it makes it more of a toy because it has pencil support deserves the same emoji that you gave to me.

My workflow - BUSINESS workflow is better suited with the iPad Pro with pencil than a traditional laptop or desktop computer. It’s not a “toy” as many have said for ME. The thing is everything on this discussion thread is NOT absolute, but open to subjective interpretation based on so many variables.

Rushing to judgment, however, based on workflows from other people - without asking me personally what my workflow is - how you say is “scraping the barrel bottom with that one.”

 

[AFEPPL]

Listen, I wasn’t going to get into a flame war, but saying that it makes it more of a toy because it has pencil support deserves the same emoji that you gave to me.

My workflow - BUSINESS workflow is better suited with the iPad Pro with pencil than a traditional laptop or desktop computer. It’s not a “toy” as many have said for ME. The thing is everything on this discussion thread is NOT absolute, but open to subjective interpretation based on so many variables.

Rushing to judgment, however, based on workflows from other people - without asking me personally what my workflow is - how you say is “scraping the barrel bottom with that one.”

Flame away...If you are unhappy to receive the emoji back don't you use it then, real simple...!
And i just don't agree with you, i believe your comment did call for it...

But whichever way you cut it, the pencil in the main is a gimmick (yes i have one) and if you are into drawing for productivity, the surface "studio" IS unquestionably the best option possible right now. iPad users claim size is everything - when its' in their favour (the iPhone counter), iPad owners claim portability, but an iPad 12.9 is no more or less portable than a rMB or rMBP in real terms, iPad owners claim security even after the last few months of gaff upon gaff upon patch, they are just excuses for a preference.

iPad is a compromise, you have to find work arounds for no filesystem and file management, reduced functionality in all major business apps, poor selecting/cut and paste, lack of true multitasking support, lack of a real ability to drag apps around the screen and use more than one, limited amount of RAM, additional cost for keyboard because typing on glass is just not rewarding or fun to do and the list goes on and on... but all that doesn't matter, if it works for you.
Is it any different to a BMW vs Skoda debate, or a left vs right debate in politics?
It's a free internet, people are allowed opinions and the freedom to express them within reason. I have every single iPad, you don't have any hope of convincing me or millions of other people that they can replace a traditional device with a full OS - but it matters not, I'm sure i wont convince millions of iPad users they need a traditional computer.

I'm sure Microsoft will be real proud of just how far the tablet has come since they debut it, even if it was apple who made it a success.

 

[subjonas]

You haven’t been doing it for “free” unless you are getting your devices for free. Probably not. Instead of paying for cloud services, you are paying for devices with more storage and probably also paying for external storage devices as well so you can back up your locally stored data.

Obviously that is your right. But don’t act like the decision is free vs. not free. They both have costs, and often times the cloud storage cost is actually less expensive. For me, I pay $6/month for cloud storage. That includes 1TB of storage on Microsoft OneDrive ($5/month, including the use of MS Office Suite), and 50GB on iCloud ($1/month) — hardly what anyone would consider expensive.

True, if starting from scratch there are usually costs to local storage that need to be factored in. In my case, it would cost much much more for cloud storage.

 

[bensisko]

I'm sure Microsoft will be real proud of just how far the tablet has come since they debut it, even if it was apple who made it a success.

I find your lack of computing history knowledge disturbing...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tablet_computers

 

[AFEPPL]

Bad link - pdas!
It's the first tablet in the sense of the word and you are playing word games.
http://www.businessinsider.com/here...ly-microsoft-blew-it-with-tablets-2013-5?IR=T