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Opinion: Can an iPad replace a laptop?
- Thread starter markrox7
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Arguably, you don't even need iOS 6.
My girlfriend has been routinely leaving her computer at work for months now, using only her iPad at home for weeks at a time, only bringing her computer home when she knows she'll need it for something specific and specialized. My grandmother has scarcely used her computer at all since she got her iPad, especially with the keyboard dock. Same for my mother.
In other words, for a lot of people (just not the sorts who'd show up on this board, or even on this web site), this has already happened.
My girlfriend has been routinely leaving her computer at work for months now, using only her iPad at home for weeks at a time, only bringing her computer home when she knows she'll need it for something specific and specialized. My grandmother has scarcely used her computer at all since she got her iPad, especially with the keyboard dock. Same for my mother.
In other words, for a lot of people (just not the sorts who'd show up on this board, or even on this web site), this has already happened.
Since I own an iPad (2010 but getting the new one every year at launch), I never have used my laptop. I gave it to my girlfriend because her old computer died so she is using mine until she can afford a MacBook Air. My iPad is doing everything I need it to do.
Well yes, but if the iPad covers everything you need in a portable then why trade off power on the machine you use for serious work to get portability anymore. Low end just iPad, high end iPad plus Serious desktop with a good chair and lighting. Laptops still in the middle.
once the ipad gets traktor pro with support for hardware ill never buy another laptop again.
but im sure thats a few years off!
but for a casual user, absolutely.
all most people do on computers is email, surf, listen to music, pay bills, etc.
but im sure thats a few years off!
but for a casual user, absolutely.
all most people do on computers is email, surf, listen to music, pay bills, etc.
I'd say no.
1) iPad can't multitask (I don't count the little App-switchy bar as mutlitasking)
2) iPad doesn't support all that many programs - like MS Office
3) iPad doesn't have a file system like Explorer or Finder
4) iPad will become useless twice as fast. Laptops just tend to have a longer usability period, than iPads which demand to be upgraded more often.
Bottom line - laptop can do everything iPad can do. iPad can not do half the things a laptop can do.
1) iPad can't multitask (I don't count the little App-switchy bar as mutlitasking)
2) iPad doesn't support all that many programs - like MS Office
3) iPad doesn't have a file system like Explorer or Finder
4) iPad will become useless twice as fast. Laptops just tend to have a longer usability period, than iPads which demand to be upgraded more often.
Bottom line - laptop can do everything iPad can do. iPad can not do half the things a laptop can do.
Like I said, for many people, but not the sorts who would visit a web site like this, it's already happened.
Sites like this, though, tend to attract people who know a lot about this stuff, but who also have an unfortunate tendency to confuse "stuff I need" with "stuff I could conceivably use one day."
Sites like this, though, tend to attract people who know a lot about this stuff, but who also have an unfortunate tendency to confuse "stuff I need" with "stuff I could conceivably use one day."
Ipad
I pretty much abandoned my 1 year old iMac. I use my iPad for almost every tack. only time i use the iMac is when i site requires flash.
by the way my sig is outdated
I pretty much abandoned my 1 year old iMac. I use my iPad for almost every tack. only time i use the iMac is when i site requires flash.
by the way my sig is outdated
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I pretty much abandoned my 1 year old iMac. I use my iPad for almost every tack. only time i use the iMac is when i site requires flash.
by the way my sig is outdated
And you could just use Puffin on your iPad for the Flash sites.
Not likely. But that would make my freaking year.
They would need a down right overhaul to replace the laptop with the iDevices though. Of cource, the iPad would really be the one doing the replacing. For one thing, they would need to put a full enough XCode on iOS. And that is just not a good idea considering the size of XCode. It would be unusable. They would have to make another iPad that had a memory, ram, and prossessing capacity comprable to the Mac Book Air at least. 250GB Hard Drive, 2.0 GHz on some kind of quad or more processor, 2 GB ram...
They would need a down right overhaul to replace the laptop with the iDevices though. Of cource, the iPad would really be the one doing the replacing. For one thing, they would need to put a full enough XCode on iOS. And that is just not a good idea considering the size of XCode. It would be unusable. They would have to make another iPad that had a memory, ram, and prossessing capacity comprable to the Mac Book Air at least. 250GB Hard Drive, 2.0 GHz on some kind of quad or more processor, 2 GB ram...
Okay, I just past my 3 weeks long London vacation and the only electronic "Pc like" device was my iPad 3, my dumb bro carried his huge laptop with and it was so annoying cause we only had one US to UK plug to charge our devices daily, my bro always sat wired on the couch (less battery capacity), me always lazy in bed and I have done so much more than he did, cause i took my iPad t the city so we can see whats nearby and what we can do next.
The only worse thing on own an iPad is that it is a mobile device and you can't really see music videos from youtube on it, fu**in annoying!
I never would carry my MacBook Pro with me cause I would have been scared to lose it...
Edit: The reason the videos are blocked is cause YouTube says that I am on a mobile device and I have to be on a computer to watch that video.
Not only music videos (but there it's happening most) even some videos you wouldn't think they are blocked like cnet videos a couple of months ago, I think they have enabled it now
The only worse thing on own an iPad is that it is a mobile device and you can't really see music videos from youtube on it, fu**in annoying!
I never would carry my MacBook Pro with me cause I would have been scared to lose it...
Edit: The reason the videos are blocked is cause YouTube says that I am on a mobile device and I have to be on a computer to watch that video.
Not only music videos (but there it's happening most) even some videos you wouldn't think they are blocked like cnet videos a couple of months ago, I think they have enabled it now
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Okay, I just past my 3 weeks long London vacation and the only electronic "Pc like" device was my iPad 3, my dumb bro carried his huge laptop with and it was so annoying cause we only had one US to UK plug to charge our devices daily, my bro always sat wired on the couch, me always lazy in bed and I have done so much more than he did, cause i took my iPad t the city so we can see whats nearby and what we can do next.
The only worse thing on own an iPad is that it is a mobile device and you can't really see music videos on youtube on it, fu**in annoying!
I never would carry my MacBook Pro with me cause I would have beed scared to lose it...
I've never owned an iPad so excuse my ignorance...
I was with you until you said you can't really see music videos on youtube on it? Any particular reason why? Are they blocked for some reason? I don't really watch music videos anyway, but this caught my eye as strange.
Most people don't need that, though.
It does support a huge number of software programs, some of which aren't found on the Mac. Most people will be able to find anything they need on the iOS App Store.
No one truly needs this. Granted, there needs to be a better replacement for it, but again, most people will get along fine without having a file browser.
Not necessarily true, plus it hasn't been long enough to make this statement definitively. At the lower price range of the iPad, it's also more reasonable to upgrade more often, if you feel the need.
I dunno about half. It depends a lot of the way you measure what it can do. For at least 50% of the population, the iPad can do everything they would ever need it to do. Does that meet your criteria? I'm guessing not, but it means that for a lot of people, using an iPad, and only an iPad, is a very reasonable plan.
jW
My iPad first gen replaced my Acer 15" laptop. The iPad does everything the laptop did, but a lot faster and in a more portable way.
It would for me if my company didn't tie so many of our operational items to Lotus Notes...but that's changing.
There is always something on the iPad that will mimic a feature on a laptop. It just depends if you are willing to accept those as options and move forward with a different format.
"Waa waa waa...I need a USB port for my thumb drive so I can transfer/back-up files..." That's what iCloud/cloud computing is for.
"Waaa...waaa....waaa...I need folders so I can organize my files.." Just because you are used to doing something a certain way because Windows (and even Apple) did it that way for 30 years doesn't mean that it is still needed. There's an app for that...Dropbox type apps give you all the folders you need and store everything in the cloud...voila.
"Waa waa waa...iPad can't play my DVD's" Move on...practically every movie or tv show you want is available digitally somehow.
Certain high memory/processor speed things like gaming or 3D work/drafting may need a laptop now, but I bet an iPad will have all of that capability within 5 years. Look at the games you probably spent $4,000 on a computer to play less than 10 years ago that are available on the iPad today.
Is it perfect? No. Can it do EVERYTHING a laptop can? No....but I personally see the end of laptops and tower computers in my lifetime (and I'm old...)
There is always something on the iPad that will mimic a feature on a laptop. It just depends if you are willing to accept those as options and move forward with a different format.
"Waa waa waa...I need a USB port for my thumb drive so I can transfer/back-up files..." That's what iCloud/cloud computing is for.
"Waaa...waaa....waaa...I need folders so I can organize my files.." Just because you are used to doing something a certain way because Windows (and even Apple) did it that way for 30 years doesn't mean that it is still needed. There's an app for that...Dropbox type apps give you all the folders you need and store everything in the cloud...voila.
"Waa waa waa...iPad can't play my DVD's" Move on...practically every movie or tv show you want is available digitally somehow.
Certain high memory/processor speed things like gaming or 3D work/drafting may need a laptop now, but I bet an iPad will have all of that capability within 5 years. Look at the games you probably spent $4,000 on a computer to play less than 10 years ago that are available on the iPad today.
Is it perfect? No. Can it do EVERYTHING a laptop can? No....but I personally see the end of laptops and tower computers in my lifetime (and I'm old...)
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
Is this question "Can an iPad be a persons ONLY computer?" or "Can an iPad replace all portable needs and still have a desktop (or permanently placed laptop) for occasional tasks?"? Those are very different things.
I think the answer to the second question is a very strong yes.
I think the iPad could be some people's only computer, but most people would need (or at least very much like to have) an actual laptop/desktop for some functions.
I have to say that I disagree with almost this entire post.
Nobody is waiting for the next better/faster laptop to incorporate new features because today's laptops are more than up to the task.
There are more than a few instances where people (not just power users or whatever) might want this. For example lets say you are writing down notes in reference to a webpage or some other app, or a research paper. Being able to either quickly switch between, or have both displayed at once is a huge benefit.
It supports a huge number of gimped applications, it isn't really a good comparison. There are no full featured creation apps on the App Store. As clase as it gets really are the Pages/Numbers/Keynote apps from Apple and they still aren't that great. They all also suffer from the above limitation.
Again, simply document management says you are wrong. I have more than a few documents where I would want them available to multiple apps and currently there are nothing more than piss-poor workarounds for this. A document repository would be the best solution.
Right now laptops are incredibly overpowered for the tasks that they are performing, that isn't the case yet with the iPad. Laptops last a long time because they are so powerful and the tasks that people use them for don't really grow in regards to requirements. The same can not be said for the iPad. Many apps right now take full advantage of the iPad. That is great until the next iPad comes out and then those developers can finally add in this new feature and that new feature.
Nobody is waiting for the next better/faster laptop to incorporate new features because today's laptops are more than up to the task.
Depends on what you use your laptop for.
I'm a writer, and a programmer, so for me the answer would be a very strong no.
My mother is a teacher, and only uses the web for videos, music, and browsing web pages, and so far for her the answer has been a very consistent yes.
Either way, this is not iOS6 - specific. Nothing about iOS6 will change your answer either way.
I'm a writer, and a programmer, so for me the answer would be a very strong no.
My mother is a teacher, and only uses the web for videos, music, and browsing web pages, and so far for her the answer has been a very consistent yes.
Either way, this is not iOS6 - specific. Nothing about iOS6 will change your answer either way.
