I'm not asking for a mouse, and probably not USB ports either. Apple has failed to make some things easy for iPad users. The iPad can do most productivity based functions, however the iPad doesn't make them any more simple. The point of the iPad over desktop computers in many consumption based activities, is that it simplifies things through offering a different way to do things - in this case the different way to do things is better than the desktop version. However, different is not always equal to better or easier, in some case it is just different and more complex. I'd like to see Apple make the iPad better for productivity by doing things differently, but having said that, in some areas adopting the desktop version is probably the best way to go. Making iCloud Drive into something that is better for handling files, communicating with external devices etc can only make the iPad easier to use.
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iPad The Future of the iPad Does Not Include A Traditional Filesystem
- Thread starter jeremiah256
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I'm not asking for a mouse, and probably not USB ports either. Apple has failed to make some things easy for iPad users. The iPad can do most productivity based functions, however the iPad doesn't make them any more simple. The point of the iPad over desktop computers in many consumption based activities, is that it simplifies things through offering a different way to do things - in this case the different way to do things is better than the desktop version. However, different is not always equal to better or easier, in some case it is just different and more complex. I'd like to see Apple make the iPad better for productivity by doing things differently, but having said that, in some areas adopting the desktop version is probably the best way to go. Making iCloud Drive into something that is better for handling files, communicating with external devices etc can only make the iPad easier to use.
If that's what you want, you have plenty of options:
- Windows 10 (Surface or others)
- Android Tablets
- OS X tablet (ModBook)
Enjoy!
or Apple could continue working towards making the iPad a great tool for productivity.
Lol if people had taken this attitude with the iPhone. "Want Multitasking and wallpaper? then buy an Android"
Problem is, that will ALWAYS be a matter of opinion. Believe it or not, there are people that don't think Macs are capable of being a great productivity tool.
Again, the question I ask is: why make the iPad into yet another computer when we already HAVE computers.
They did take this attitude. And lots of people use Android phones now
Frankly I don't really see a problem - if it's something Apple should do, they'll either do it or lose market share.
Either way the consumer doesn't lose.
Two points. (1), I believe you are underestimating the conservatism and financial issues that continues to make PCs the computer of choice for businesses and government organizations (major purchasers of traditional computers). Most employees could do quite well with a ChromeBook, which has many, if not more, of the limitations of an iPad. (2), We are in the middle of a shift. Laptops didn't become the go-to device overnight. I'm old enough to remember when you bought a laptop for travel but needed a "real computer" or desktop for work.
How does adding a sensible file management solution make it into a computer? And by computer I assume you mean desktop OS.
They could easily do it so like now, any sort of file management is hidden unless turned on. Apple have already gone half the way with the iCloud Drive App, so they may as well complete that by making it into a functional management system.
It doesn't have to be a 'traditional file management system', but something that offers far more flexabltily today.
Not sure how exactly that will diminish your iPad experience but anyway...
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Businesses aren't the only area. Watch at universities, people are still buying laptops in droves. Most of my friends ditched/sold their iPads when we finished high school and bought a laptop. Most people I see in lectures are using MacBooks, (probably 70 percent), while around 30 percent are on tablets, and of those tablets, the Surface is taking over. The iPad would be an ideal device for uni students, given its cheaper than a Macbook, but there are still too many limitations. For myself, the simple act (for example) of downloading a lecture to watch later is stupidly complex as Safari doesn't have a good way to download files to a location. The ability to simply store files on the device in the same place, with a standard save and open API, in a my documents section managed though the iCloud drive App, would make life a lot easier.
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They loose out if they want to stay in the iOS ecosystem.
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But again, your example is an organization thinking in a desktop vice mobile first mode. Look at the iTunes U, Coursera, and Udacity apps. All of them are education apps that allow you to download educational video lectures, the course work, syllabus, student forum, etc. Why don't you have a self-contained app per class or an app for the school that does the same? Because we are still shifting our paradigm. The tech world is preaching mobile first. The real world will catch up in a few years.
Um, by it's very nature it would be useless to you if it didn't diminish my experience.
You can't "turn on" a file system. At best you can say 'ignore it if you don't want it' but even that's not true. Don't even try telling me that, should that become available developers aren't;t going to take advantage of it. If they don't, it's useless to you, if they do, then I'm back to sorting and organizing my files - which I don;t want to do.
Why would the university invest in an app when that would be expensive and not compatible with their existing services? There are Windows, Android and iOS tablets, alongside Macs and PCs - pretty much every other platform besides iOS can handle the existing system with absolute ease - its just the iPad that can't easily handle it.
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How the heck will it diminish your experience?
Have by default the current system of all files being saved in their current apps. If you turn on iCloud Drive, then you can then use the proper file management system, and choose where you keep your files, but maintaining the existing application folders.
I'm not asking for a lot here...
- A for all iCloud Drive files to download automatically and be kept on the device in the app, like on OSX.
- B to be able to universally search all stored files, or at least all files in iCloud Drive
- C a standard save api integrated into Apple's apps. Make it a share menu item that doesn't have to be on by default.
- C the ability to set what you want your standard file management to be.
All of that could be turned on or off, leaving you with the ability to keep using the standard iOS way. Does having the iCloud Drive App force you to manage your files? No it does not.
But anyways, nice debating with you guys, better leave now before I get caught up debating, got my final exams this coming week so I need to keep away from these type of debates
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No - if I press 'save image' in safari I don't, or if I try and save a pages document that is online, I can't just save it to iCloud Drive. Have to open it in an app.
The problem with these apps is you still have to put your files into it manually. I simply can't click save as, choose FileManager and be done with it. No, I have to Share the file, which creates a copy and doesn't send the original file, so my system is still poluted with copies of copies.These fikemangers are fine for accessing all of you cloud services in single location but not much else. iOS needs one on a system level in which every app installed has direct access to.
FileBrowser has a "shared with other apps" folder, from where you can actually open files in another app without creating a copy.
Ouch, that hurts. Actually Dumbo at its new location has an interesting queue. We use FastPass Plus which is free and rarely wait in lines. But we send all of our pictures to the cloud and deal with them later. Both my DD13 and I will have our MacBooks in the resort.
Yes, but you have to be in the other app. You cannot do this from FileBrowser. See:
http://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowserforbusiness/support/
I agree with you.
Then again Apple could make something like FB the default on device point option and let it run from there instead of iCloud.
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That though, is the problem. I (engineer and consultant) would love to be able to adopt the tablet route. I have tried. Android Transformer, Surface Pro, iPad, etc...
The challenge is the OS limitations and the software availability / compatibility. Then add device connectivity (other devices and systems - think labs, medical, engineering shops) and the fact that every time you turn around Apple is disruptingly upgrading the OS. It makes for a no-win situation.
Until all these things come together, items like the iPad Pro are just big shots in the dark.
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You know, I asked my IT folks a year back why we don't allow use of the Mac. Great hardware (usually), light version available, etc...
There were two reasons why the answer was no: Single source supply option and Cost of upkeep. It was never a question of "could it do it".
On another side, define computer. I look at my desktop and I see several "computers". A Windows laptop, an OS X laptop, two smartphones, a tablet, a smart tv on the sideboard...
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You are so right and so wrong. The current iOS model is very very rigid and has minimal adaptive flexibility (got that term from a education hardware presentation
). You have to do it "the iOS way" if it even allows it or you are SOL. Chromebook's are less rigid and Windows/Android is wide open. Is it any wonder why basic design for student infrastructure takes the cheapest most flexible way? You can either design for iOS or design for everyone else and let iOS users try to find an alternative work-around.
Wha?! Are you joking? ChromeOS is a browser window. If it isn't online, you can't do it. And the hardware itself has to handshake with Google or you don't get access to Google services, which is why installing Chromium on a junker pc is a waste of time.
So tell me again how Chromebooks are 'less rigid'.
Yes, they really are 'wide open', which is why they're the #1 and #2 most unsecured operating systems out there.
I'm not going to get into a discussion on whether Google's or Apple's model is better. I use both. As for Apple's my way or the high way, that was a necessity. Give developers an inch and they'll take a foot. Apple learned this early on with the 1000's of fart apps that dominated the early App Store. Good or bad, Apple is a gated community. You don't mind if your neighbor paints his house pink, Apple says go elsewhere. The Apple brand means something to them and they'll protect it. And their customers are willing to pay for this mediation.You are so right and so wrong. The current iOS model is very very rigid and has minimal adaptive flexibility (got that term from a education hardware presentation
As much as a file system sounds appealing I really don't think they should do it. The iPad is an established device and does what it does very well. Once you start trying to make a device more than it was designed to be it starts to fail at being good at its original task. Or something like that.
Jack of all trades type of thing. To me there is a clear delineation between what a tablet should do and what a laptop should do. Maybe I'm old school or something but I prefer the devices to remain separate and do their thing without trying to venture into the others territory. It just won't end up going well. IMO.
Jack of all trades type of thing. To me there is a clear delineation between what a tablet should do and what a laptop should do. Maybe I'm old school or something but I prefer the devices to remain separate and do their thing without trying to venture into the others territory. It just won't end up going well. IMO.
Wait just a minute...if you've tried the Surface Pro and it doesn't work for you, then what makes you think there's anything Apple can do to the iPad that would make it work for you? I would posit that, if you need everything that you mentioned, and the Surface Pro doesn't work for you, then a tablet just isn't for you - and there's nothing Apple can do to the iPad and iOS that would satisfy.
I find that, far more often it's a simple prejudice - even if they have actually tried a Mac, they find some excuse as to why it wouldn't work. It sounds like that's what happens with your IT department too - "cost of upkeep" on a Mac sounds like such a BS excuse.
Yes, if you want to get into semantics, even my watch is a computer, but I think you know what I mean. If not, I mean why turn the iPad into the same kind of computer as one with a desktop OS?
You are so right and so wrong. The current iOS model is very very rigid and has minimal adaptive flexibility (got that term from a education hardware presentation
So what? I like iOS "rigid and minimally adaptive flexibility". As I point out, there are other OSes/Devices out there that aren't like this. If you don't like it, there are plenty of places to go.
Same and for the most part agree. Both models have their Pros/Cons. Though I use both, it is the OS flexibility that allows me to adapt to a situation, not specifically the apps themselves.
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Let me number these to keep them straight...
1. Surface Pro - the issue was the Windows 10, not the device itself. Hybrids actually worked much better. Decent tablet apps are noticeably lacking.
2. "Cost of upkeep" was primarily driven by the finance group and global availability. Most big companies will do all they can not to get locked into a silo'd supply chain.
3. Not turn into. I get your point. Not saying we should turn the iPad into a desktop OS rather that common functionality needs to exist. To allow seamless integration and movement of task from device to device. I really think this was the original intent of the iCloud until Apple managed to bork that up. Excluding unique or niche tasks, activities for laptops should not be device / OS dependent these days.
4. That is a "take my ball and go home" response. I like iOS. It would not hurt it at all and make it a more realistic option for many to have a file management system.
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I suppose you could view it that way - or a "I like it the way it is and I don't want it to change."
You and others keep saying "it's won't hurt..." But you're only thinking of it from your perspective. It would hurt me - I would loose all enthusiasm for the platform with the added complication - it would be just another computer on the pile instead of a unique OS.
Yes, it would hurt me.
One announcement that caught my eye: iCloud Drive.
"Your Desktop and Documents folder. Accessible on all your devices. Now your Desktop and Documents folder - where most files are saved - can be automatically stored and updated in iCloud Drive. So you can always access them, including on a second Mac. No more wondering, "Where did I save that?" The answer is everywhere."
Don't know if this is the solution most would want, but without having access yet, it seems like an interesting way around third party apps not adding iCloud storage as an option. The big question will be, do you need a Mac to take advantage of it, or is there an iCloud - iOS device only solution.
"Your Desktop and Documents folder. Accessible on all your devices. Now your Desktop and Documents folder - where most files are saved - can be automatically stored and updated in iCloud Drive. So you can always access them, including on a second Mac. No more wondering, "Where did I save that?" The answer is everywhere."
Don't know if this is the solution most would want, but without having access yet, it seems like an interesting way around third party apps not adding iCloud storage as an option. The big question will be, do you need a Mac to take advantage of it, or is there an iCloud - iOS device only solution.
You must not know much about chromeOS, there are many apps that can work offline on chrome os now unlike the past. Furthermore android apps are on their way which will drastically change the experience plus chrome os has a native file manager, external hard drive support, external drive, and mouse support which is a definite advantage over iOS. It's no longer just a browser. It can replace a desktop and soon will be able to replace a tablet.