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The iPad - I finally get it.

thelookingglass said:
The typing issue is not an issue because of the ability to add an external keyboard. I'm not sure why you're making a distinction between "computers" and "tablets." Tablets ARE computers, just in a different form factor. The convenience of the form factor simply means that you don't have to lug around a keyboard (as you would with a laptop) when you don't need it most of the time.

Navigation, again, is a function of software. There is no reason a UI cannot be designed to make manipulation of objects as fast or faster with fingers as it is with a mouse. We're not there yet with many apps, but again, you'd have to be pretty short-sighted to think this will not all changes with time. Now, granted, for certain apps it might be the case that a mouse will always be easier but that's not true across all apps.
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As you said, tablets are computers. What makes something a tablet and not a computer? The fact that its ultra-portable and has touch interface. If you're going to forgo the touch interface, and carry an accessory to make it productive, it means that its not really being used as a tablet anymore, you've essentially converted it to a laptop. And a laptop with inferior hardware and OS which makes it a less capable laptop to do productive work.

And navigation isn't purely just software. You interface with tablets and laptops in totally different ways. With tablets, you're using your arm to touch and move around on the screen. You can use whatever software you want, but you're going to be moving your arms around to touch the screen itself. Clearly, it's more tiring despite whatever software you end up using. And it will never be as efficient as using a dedicated mouse.

Tablets have their uses. It would be terrible to try and make tablets an all in one device that doesn't work so well as a tablet only to also not work as well as a computer also. Let tablets be tablets and computers be computers.
 
Certain Tablets can be productive, but some aren't. 7 inch tablets come to mind.
If the iPad isn't productive, why is the iWork suite available for it? Or even the built in Notes app.
Taking notes when in lectures will definitely be productive, and as i use Evernote, it'll be synced to all my devices, so i can carry on at home with my Macbook or if i don't feel like waiting for it to turn on after 5 mins, i'll go back to the iPad.
 
Mirai 11 said:
Certain Tablets can be productive, but some aren't. 7 inch tablets come to mind.
If the iPad isn't productive, why is the iWork suite available for it? Or even the built in Notes app.
Taking notes when in lectures will definitely be productive, and as i use Evernote, it'll be synced to all my devices, so i can carry on at home with my Macbook or if i don't feel like waiting for it to turn on after 5 mins, i'll go back to the iPad.
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Exactly. Evernote, Dropbox, Goodreader, iAnnotate, DocsToGo are all integral parts of my work flow everyday. I don't understand the notion that tablets can't be well-suited for productivity. They're EXCELLENT for productivity in many cases because of their form factor, battery life, instant-/always-on capabilities.
 
I thought that too... For a while I thought the iPad (and all tablets really) were just useless overpriced gimmicks and novelties that were unpratical. But now I'm starting to see the use in them, and I actually sorta want one now :eek:
 
Judas1 said:
I don't mean to stink up this thread with a rant but here goes. I think that the ipad is a great, well made, and fun gadget, but it is by no means a productivity machine. We will never be able to replace computers with it, it will just be a companion to computers.
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I completely disagree here. An iPad will struggle to replace a computer for many jobs that computers are currently used for because those are jobs that computers are good at. There are, however, lots of jobs that computers are currently not used for, because they are too large, cumbersome, heavy, have too short a battery life, or the ergonomics of the interface makes them difficult to use in the environment in question. It may be that you have never done such a job, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. Two such jobs that have featured heavily in Apple's advertising have been the use by doctors in hospitals, where the patient isn't really able to interact with a computer due to being stuck in a hospital bed, but can interact with an iPad without trouble. The other is pilots using iPads to replace paper documentation, where the working environment (a cockpit) is not somewhere you could actually use a computer, even a laptop, as there is nowhere to put it. I can think of all kinds of factory job tasks (one of which I did one summer while a student) where I had to walk around a goods storage area, collecting information from the various items. I couldn't sit down and there was no surface to place a computer, so I wrote the information on a bit of paper, and went back to the office periodically to enter it onto the computer. An iPad would be perfect for that job.

Judas1 said:
With that said, I don't really see why it only comes at 10 inches. It should really come in a variety of sizes so people can have the screen real estate they want, similar to computers. Also, there really needs to be a 7 incher. For those of us who can use the 11" mba as a primary productivity machine, we want a toy that bridges the gap between the mba and the 3.5" iphone (11" mba and 10" ipad overlap too much.) For those of us who use a macbook pro 13" or higher, that bridge is already provided by the 10" ipad. End rant.
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The problem is that the entire user interface philosophy of the touch screen app can not be readily scaled for screen size. If you made a 7" tablet, you would be able to either run apps written for a 3.5" screen (but what benefit do you get over a 3.5" device?) or get app writers to redesign their interface for a new format (but developers are still working on 10" versions). Keyboard/mouse interfaces are easily scalable because control elements can be interacted with at pixel level accuracy with a mouse pointer. Touch screen interfaces need finger-sized control elements. This makes it massively easier to make a scalable keyboard/mouse screen environment than a touch one.
 
Saying 'the iPad will never replace a computer' is boring and meaningless.

The fact that an iPad can't replace a computer under every conceivable scenario is irrelevant. The point for most people isn't to replace computers, it's to do without them. Why? Those very things which differentiate computers from the iPad are simply unnecessary for a large number of people. It's like going up to someone and saying 'your yacht will never replace a battleship, heh' (or vice-versa) and acting like you've said anything of consequence.
 
Adam2001 said:
Haha Classic quote!
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It's teh funsie cuz it's true. :D

I agree that an iPad at least for a long while would never truly replace a computer but it's not designed to do that, it's more about filling the void that existed between using an iPhone/iPod and using a laptop/PC.
 
I can see that you all love your ipads. What I have been saying, though it may not be clear, is that the ipad will not replace the computer to do many types of work. Thats why I said that they are companions to computers. And when I talk of a productivity machine, I don't mean that the ipad has no uses. Clearly they do, thats why the'yre so popular. What I mean by not being a productivity machine is they cannot be used efficiently to produce things that are useful in a lot of fields. Documents, programs, videos, and a lot of other things. There is no "post pc" era only "pc and tablets" era.

rcp27 said:
The problem is that the entire user interface philosophy of the touch screen app can not be readily scaled for screen size. If you made a 7" tablet, you would be able to either run apps written for a 3.5" screen (but what benefit do you get over a 3.5" device?) or get app writers to redesign their interface for a new format (but developers are still working on 10" versions). Keyboard/mouse interfaces are easily scalable because control elements can be interacted with at pixel level accuracy with a mouse pointer. Touch screen interfaces need finger-sized control elements. This makes it massively easier to make a scalable keyboard/mouse screen environment than a touch one.
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From 3.5 inch to 7 inch is a 100% increase in screen size. Thats twice the screen while still being pocketable. You can do a lot on a screen of that size, most of what you can do on the 10 inch. Look at laptops. Why have both a 15" and a 17"? Thats only an 13% increase but for some it makes a big difference. And don't the ipad use a scaled up version of the same programs as on the iphone? Or at least did when it was first released. Why wouldn't you just be able to scale it up for a 7"?
 
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A tablet is not going to replace my macbook, i know this.
But as my OP says, what it can do, it can do best, such as being a hub for my study aids, newspapers, magazines i'm subscribed to, while also being useful to times when a Macbook would be OTT to use.
 
Those are all great things to do on the 10" ipad. What I want is something very similar in function to the 10" ipad, but can be held in one hand for a prolonged period of time, for web surfing, email, handheld gaming, and reading. Different needs for different people.
edit: The setup you have sounds great without a lot of overlap. I personally want both a tablet and the 11" mba, so the 10" size is not much more portable than the mba, hence why I want a smaller size ipad.
 
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Judas1 said:
I can see that you all love your ipads. What I have been saying, though it may not be clear, is that the ipad will not replace the computer to do many types of work. Thats why I said that they are companions to computers. And when I talk of a productivity machine, I don't mean that the ipad has no uses. Clearly they do, thats why the'yre so popular. What I mean by not being a productivity machine is they cannot be used efficiently to produce things that are useful in a lot of fields. Documents, programs, videos, and a lot of other things. There is no "post pc" era only "pc and tablets" era.
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I still don't see what the consequence is. The iPad can't replace something it's not intended to replace - so? There are also situations where a computer can't replace an iPad. An iPad also can't replace a supercomputer, which can't replace a laptop, none of which can replace a smartphone or a car or a power drill or anything else.

If Thing One could replace Thing Two in all respects, then those things would be identical and thus the observation that one 'replaces' the other would be moot.

Saying "X can't replace Y under conditions where Y is obviously the appropriate and only tool" says nothing at all unless you already presume some kind of hierarchy or think you have to defend one against the other displacing it.

I picture one day the number of people needing a desktop being miniscule, and someone still saying 'yup, but you can't replace it with an iPad'. So?
 
Which just shows you all the different needs and preferences of different people which leads to my gripe of a drastic jump from a 3.5 inch phone to a 10 inch tablet. Surely something in between can also be useful.
edit:
I don't know whats up and why so many people are misunderstanding me. I am for the proliferation of a lot of different gadgets for different uses and needs. I did not argue for the elimination of a 10" tablet. All I did was argue for the usefulness of computers in this tablet era.
 
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Judas1 said:
Those are all great things to do on the 10" ipad. What I want is something very similar in function to the 10" ipad, but can be held in one hand for a prolonged period of time, for web surfing, email, handheld gaming, and reading. Different needs for different people.
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Many people are indeed holding and using an iPad for many hours a day. I like the ModulR hand strap, which can be configured on the long side or on a diagonal -- depending on your mood. The Pad Strap is a little more minimal (and lighter), but it's a bit of a less flexible strap design.

One thing I recommend is to swap off hands regularly.

Have you tried any of those straps?
 
I currently use a laptop for most of the things I am planning to use a tablet for. Though its pretty light, its always on the bed or on the table. I've played with the ipad 2 but I'm interested in something smaller. I have been looking at the kindle fire, but waiting for a review. But I would be happier with an ios device.
 
Judas1 said:
I can see that you all love your ipads. What I have been saying, though it may not be clear, is that the ipad will not replace the computer to do many types of work. Thats why I said that they are companions to computers. And when I talk of a productivity machine, I don't mean that the ipad has no uses. Clearly they do, thats why the'yre so popular. What I mean by not being a productivity machine is they cannot be used efficiently to produce things that are useful in a lot of fields. Documents, programs, videos, and a lot of other things. There is no "post pc" era only "pc and tablets" era.


From 3.5 inch to 7 inch is a 100% increase in screen size. Thats twice the screen while still being pocketable. You can do a lot on a screen of that size, most of what you can do on the 10 inch. Look at laptops. Why have both a 15" and a 17"? Thats only an 13% increase but for some it makes a big difference. And don't the ipad use a scaled up version of the same programs as on the iphone? Or at least did when it was first released. Why wouldn't you just be able to scale it up for a 7"?
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First, doubling the long side of a triangle more than doubles the screen size, unless the definition of screen size only refers to the diagonal, which is shouldn't.


Second, someone please define "productivity" for me?

I understand the argument that many people need a PC to go with their tablet but not everyone. Many people can use both.

Since when is reading not productive? I know several lawyers who spend half of their day reading briefs on an iPad and 1/4 of their day on the phone and 1/4 of the day on their PC/Mac.

When someone is earning several hundred dollars an hour reading and annotating briefs on their iPad, is that not being productive?
 
The iPad makes me wish I knew how to write software, because I can think of about a half dozen ideas for apps in the legal field that would revolutionize how the law is practiced.
 
Number 41 said:
The iPad makes me wish I knew how to write software, because I can think of about a half dozen ideas for apps in the legal field that would revolutionize how the law is practiced.
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Big nerd ranch, baby! Courses and books.

Sometimes the best programs are made by strongly-motivated non-professionals. Keith Blount was a part-time programmer, but he's the creator of Scrivener, the best writing program available for the Mac. Read this early review of the product; it's a much better program today.
 
I got a tax rebate last week, so definitely treating myself to one and a case, is it worth getting a screen protector?
 
When the iPad was first announced my first impression was giant iPhone without the phone or iPod touch. Being a professional musician it could never replace my MacBook Pro. Boy was I wrong. Not only has my iPad replaced my MBP it's much more functional because of the size. Using it on stage for digital sheet music which I could have used the laptop for but by being able to turn the iPad for a different orientation the iPad wins out. Turning a page of music on the iPad is better than paper it self for me. For any one out there that's not a musician think of reading a Kindle Book on a iPad. Reading and organizing sheet music is that easy now. There are tons of sheet music that I have hand written over the years that I can scan turn into PDF's and put into the iPad.

As far as mobile recording. 10 years ago what I would take with me was a laptop,rack mount keyboard synth, audio monitors,midi keyboard controller, audio interface and cabels for all this stuff. With the iPad it just the iPad and a Apogee Jam audio interface the which is about the size of a pack of gum and my guitar.

The MacBook Pro is now a desktop computer not that the MBP still doesn't have mobile applications but in a few years the more powerful the iPad gets it will replace the laptop for some mobile applications in music.

There are hundreds of non musical documents that I have in the iPad for other business that I'm involved in. It so easy to take anywhere and use for everything.
 
I've ordered the malware case, so i'm going to be getting the iPad 2 on Sat i reckon, i remembered that it'll be Monday that the Steve Jobs biography is out, so i can't think of a better book and tablet to start reading it off from :)
 
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