This isn't entirely true. Steve Jobs said that computers were "truck" and tablets were "cars" and yeah this is kinda a vague statement that he made, but I think you can assume he is saying that computers are big and bulky devices that are not going to get any smaller; So therefore they are on their way out and tablets are going to replace them. There is actually a lot of reasons to assume that Jobs had every intention of phasing out computers someday.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
"You're selling it wrong"
- Thread starter nStyle
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This isn't entirely true. Steve Jobs said that computers were "truck" and tablets were "cars" and yeah this is kinda a vague statement that he made, but I think you can assume he is saying that computers are big and bulky devices that are not going to get any smaller; So therefore they are on their way out and tablets are going to replace them. There is actually a lot of reasons to assume that Jobs had every intention of phasing out computers someday.
Well as I've said previously an iPad can replace a computer for some people. It depends on what you do with your computer. If you web browse, read and reply to emails, check Facebook, play games, read books, shop, online banking, listen to music, watch YouTube etc. Then an iPad is a perfect computer replacement. You could even do more intensive work on there such as occasional typing and light video/photo editing e.g holiday pictures/videos. For people with these needs an iPad is perfectly fine. These are tasks that would have been done on a computer in the past but now there are other devices that can do them just as well or better.
I know people who don't have a laptop/computer and only have an iPad. They get on just fine. Even people that still have a computer have remarked that they are using their computers less and less and their tablets more.
If you need to do anything more intensive then an iPad alone will not suffice and you still need to get/keep your computer. People really need to sit down and think about what their needs are before they get caught up in marketing hype.
I understand that the pros being pushed as laptop replacements is just that 'marketing hype'. However I don't think that there is anything about the pro models that make them any more suitable as a laptop replacement than previous generation iPads. There is the pencil. However that really has nothing to do with a computer and is only really useful to artists. Additionally, there have been high quality styluses and pencils around for some time now (Wacom, paper 53, Adjont). Maybe they are not as good as the Apple Pencil but they are high quality and do the same thing. Likewise there have been high quality external keyboards available for years designed specifically for the iPad.
I think the only think the 12.9 iPad has going for it over non pro iPads in terms of productivity is it's size.
[doublepost=1459495190][/doublepost]
I know people who don't have a laptop/computer and only have an iPad. They get on just fine. Even people that still have a computer have remarked that they are using their computers less and less and their tablets more.
If you need to do anything more intensive then an iPad alone will not suffice and you still need to get/keep your computer. People really need to sit down and think about what their needs are before they get caught up in marketing hype.
I understand that the pros being pushed as laptop replacements is just that 'marketing hype'. However I don't think that there is anything about the pro models that make them any more suitable as a laptop replacement than previous generation iPads. There is the pencil. However that really has nothing to do with a computer and is only really useful to artists. Additionally, there have been high quality styluses and pencils around for some time now (Wacom, paper 53, Adjont). Maybe they are not as good as the Apple Pencil but they are high quality and do the same thing. Likewise there have been high quality external keyboards available for years designed specifically for the iPad.
I think the only think the 12.9 iPad has going for it over non pro iPads in terms of productivity is it's size.
[doublepost=1459495190][/doublepost]
Yes but not now when 98% of the devices they sell are using 2GB of ram or less. They won't do that until the majority of their product line is using 4GB ram as a minimum.
The iPad 2 received the latest update, 9.3.1. Many MBPs from 2011 are running on El Capitan. And the Apple TV 2 from 2010 still works last I che
Damn, you're right. I thought it was a few mms thicker and a few grams heavier.
https://imgur.com/a/6ciBj
You should watch the interview again. He said "PC's will always be around. They will just be used far less by X amount of people"
Last edited:
Agreed.
iPads are far more capable than that even. Add a physical keyboard and you can do heavy typing and write long documents. Photo editing isn't limited to "holiday pictures" - you can do professional level editing. Video editing is still limited, but that's a function of the app, not the device.
I don't think iPad as a laptop replacement is "marketing hype" - I think it's a real, viable option. I'm sure there are millions of office workers who could have their laptops replaced by an iPad with no loss in functionality.
Nope. No, no, no no. Having owned a large number of iPad Stylii previous to the Apple Pencil, I will say this statement is wrong. "Not as good" doesn't even begin to cover it - we're talking "Not even the same ballpark". It's like comparing a plastic Wiffle bat to a major league aluminum bat. It's like Basic to C#.
Also will disagree that the Pencil is "only useful to artists". It's amazingly useful to people who want to take handwritten notes - and that is a HUGE market. Look at the stylii out there now and how much focus is on handwriting. One of the BIG arguments for handwriting recognition in iOS is for people with RSI. It's also useful to people who want a pointer.
Instead, they called it a "Pro" and are getting laughed at for giving it 1/2 the RAM of the six month old, original "Pro"
At best, this is the Semi-Pro. Perhaps they should have gotten Will Ferrell to make the official iPad Semi-Pro commercial.
Unless I'm mistaken, one of the most recent iterations of iOS 9. I still have an iPad 2, it's on 9.something but it's behind the more recent devices, and it says it's up to date.
I haven't seen anything that says iPad 2 is not compatible with iOS 9.3.
Night Shift isn't compatible with iPad 2, so there's that...
[doublepost=1459548033][/doublepost]Also... There was an issue with iPad 2 so they pulled the update, but it's back now.
I was corrected on it being slightly heavier and thicker, but the ability to use the Apple Pencil, the Smart Connector pins (which I'm curious if it's capable I remember when they came out with the original name of "iPad".
Agree to disagree. I believe with the Apple Pencil and the docking potential of the Smart Connector, the 'Pro' moniker is appropriate.
I think the decline in iPad growth shows Steve Jobs was wrong in his initial marketing pitch (though perhaps right for that point in time). With bigger phones people don't need a 'tweener consumption device. I think we will steadily see changes to iOS that are iPad specific, maybe we even get an iPad specific OS. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the surprises at WWDC is Xcode for iPad. If Craig Federighi announced that it would get as big of cheers as saying Swift was going open source did.
As far as the Pro moniker, what exactly does Pro mean? Running x86 apps with keyboard/mouse and file system support and USB ports? Um, I just described a laptop. But this is why I said iPad marketing stinks right now. By Apple focusing on the PC it just emphasizes everything a traditional laptop/desktop has that an iPad doesn't. People focus on the way they've always done things and if iPad doesn't support that workflow then they say iPad won't work for them. Rather then just saying iPad is the PC replacement Apple should be showing us and they could do it without even mentioning the PC by name (but it would be implied and people would get it). Instead we get Schiller making a stupid joke about PC users being sad.
As far as the Pro moniker, what exactly does Pro mean? Running x86 apps with keyboard/mouse and file system support and USB ports? Um, I just described a laptop. But this is why I said iPad marketing stinks right now. By Apple focusing on the PC it just emphasizes everything a traditional laptop/desktop has that an iPad doesn't. People focus on the way they've always done things and if iPad doesn't support that workflow then they say iPad won't work for them. Rather then just saying iPad is the PC replacement Apple should be showing us and they could do it without even mentioning the PC by name (but it would be implied and people would get it). Instead we get Schiller making a stupid joke about PC users being sad.
pro as in main flagship, best ipad on the market today...people are just overthinking the name PRO
More RAM? The iPad now with the ram that it has doesn't run out. It's not memory deficient
Actually, I disagree. I don't think he meant computers would be fully phased out then, and I still don't think they will for quite some time. IPads have the *potential* to take up a large portion of the jobs that full-blown computers do today, but they won't fully go away.
The truck vs car paradigm works because cars, while they serve a purpose for a lot of users, don't fully replace trucks. Trucks do heavy lifting, carry cargo, go places cars can't.
Likewise, while it's possible must computer users would do all their computing needs just fine on an iPad, there are some users who do tasks that require a full blown desktop or laptop computer for certain tasks, and that will always be the case. They won't ever fully go away, though yes, there's a broader segment of people who could do what they need to do on a tablet.
I, for one, have an iMac, a MacBook Pro, and an iPad Pro. I use all of them, quite a bit, for different things. Just like some people have compact cars AND a truck in their garage, for different tasks.
One other thing: As long as an OS X system is required to make iOS apps, an iPad can never fully replace a computer.
I don't think anyone is making that argument (that iPads will fully replace desktop/laptop computers for everyone). Even Apple focuses on the low end market for talking about the iPad as a replacement device.
I'm not sure that's true. I'll admit, bigger phones seem to play a bigger role than I thought, but it remains to be seen if this is a long-term trend, or if people are momentarily enthralled with their big phones. We're only looking at the solution and not the original problem - what are the computing needs/wants of people?
Remember the Palm Pilot? For a time everyone had to have one. Around the time of the Palm 3/V, sales were through the roof. Then... They started declining. What happened? Some people say phoned provided what they needed... Nope, at least not for the general populace. Did the need go away? Maybe.
I don't think Apple ever intended the iPad as "a tweener consumption device" - the iPad has always been viewed as the next big platform. Apple's vision of computing has always been, at the heart, to make computers more friendly and a natural extension of our everyday lives. That's iPad (or, at least, the direction for iPad).
Ehhhhh..... Cheers from who? Not developers - especially if it means having to develop yet another version of their same app. Users? Some, maybe. If you loose the ability to run the same apps on the iPad as you can on the phone... Nope - that'll go over like a ton of bricks.
People freaking out and fretting over "Pro" is our fault, not Apple's. I'll agree that iPad marketing sucks. I think some of the recent campaigns have been amazing - I loved the "your verse" ads! I thought they did an excellent job showcasing the use of the iPad in everyday life. Maybe Apple should do a similar ad that focuses on the corporate world. Instead of telling us it's a PC replacement, tell us what the iPad can do and let us draw the conclusion. Show people using it for tasks that would traditionally be done on a PC.
Oddly enough, maybe Apple needs to appeal to the more mundane. Has Apple positioning the iPad as a creative device actually hurt Apple? Maybe the image is that the iPad is focused on creatives and not on everyday mundane.