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New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

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Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#531
post #484
post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but a decent share of Apple's success was due to making OS X a very nice development platform. This attracted developers who created great desktop and mobile software. So I'd argue it's in Apple's best interest to keep developers happy. Also, is it that hard for a giant of Apple's size to put a fully fledged terminal in iPadOS?

> is it that hard for a giant of Apple’s size to put a fully fledged terminal in iPadOS? Of course it isn’t. And that tells you that it’s a deliberate decision not to, because it’s miles from the platform’s intended use by the intended users. Besides, it would be very confusing for users to have a terminal that can only connect to remote systems (which most people likely don’t have access to), because it’s rather imp…

OS X, now macOS, includes lots of applications that are "miles from the platform’s intended use by the intended users". A huge userbase will always have tons of different clusters, and it's good to serve them all.

Furthermore, the terminal could be simply running in a little Unix sandbox, like Termux, and that could be a great entry point for kids to lots of different interpreters to learn programming. Not exclusive to remote into other systems.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So it’s not completely locked down either. iOS and iPadOS pretty much are.

The parent comment very clearly and explicitly described how one can work around that lockdown on iOS and iPadOS with MDM and Xcode or something like TestFlight functionality. They weren't talking about macOS, because you can run whatever you want on it after disabling a couple of toggles in the security settings once (just like on Windows10).

For most people, your argument is akin to saying "you too can go into space if you just start your own commercial space company".

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#533
post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[citation needed] — meaning that merely because developers perceive themselves as being directly influential doesn’t mean that they are necessarily . Sure, developers ultimately dictate the success or failure of a platform by choosing to populate its ecosystem of applications or give it a pass, but I assure you that if the only way to develop for iOS/iPadOS were a clunky UNIVAC fed with punched cards, developers woul…

You're missing the point. We're not influential because we can make or break a platform. We're influential because we're early adopters and thus we can see where the future is going. And as early adopters we interface between a given technology and the general public. We're not just individuals working out of a dungeon. We have friends and family and a social cycle who turn to us for advice for their technology needs…

If there are any products in computing history that do not owe their success to the model you're describing, it's iPod/iPhone/iPad.

We got disintermediated with the very first iPod. Remember "less space than a Nomad. Lame!"? That was very much the attitude of the crowd you are describing.

I distinctly remember a pry-my-keyboard-from-my-dead-hands attitude when the iPhone came out. It's only benevolence that stops me from constantly reminding the "power user" among my friends that his first reaction was "Not even a stylus?"

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes a ton of sense if the iPad is cheaper than the Surface. It stops making sense because of Apple's pricing model. The original argument for tablet computers in the first place was that sometimes you don't need a full-fledged computer, so you pocket $400-500 and get something cheap instead that's a limited but still quality device. And I think that would still be true with the iPad Pro. You want something that'…

That may have been the original argument for tablets, and if you want to save money by skipping the keyboard, pointing device, and overpowered processor, you can buy a new iPad for about $300. The iPad Pro is expensive, but “Pro” implies you want a device that can do things which are useful to professionals. As a developer, I am better served by an actual MBP for work and a cheap iPad for less-productive tasks, but n…

I'm a developer and now that there's UTM for iOS I am going to be exploring the new ipad as a development machine, AWS Cloud9 already makes a great case for portability

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#535
post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The front facing camera is also massively neglected for the MacBook Pro, which I use all the time (!) for video conferencing.

This frustrated me to no end. I'm pretty sure the newest MacBook Pros have the exact same camera on my previous 2011 MacBook Pro (and likely earlier). I don't care all that much about resolution...just make the image quality better and work better in low light.

I believe the older MacBook Pro has an iSight camera, while the newer one has a FaceTime HD one.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#536
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VS Code has incredibly good "remote" debugging setups. [0] You can install a VS Code "server" on e.g. your Linux developer machine, then connect to it via your VS Code "client" on your iPad. You get local intellisense and the like, but actual execution of code is done on your Linux server. You can replace Linux server with Windows, or even containers (so you can have your "server" be a local Linux docker image if you…

I am currently attempting to use an iPad Pro in this fashion (code server running on a DO droplet)... it is quite difficult and developer-hostile. For instance, until I upgraded the OS to iPadOS (it was on iOS 13.3), the cursor keys on my bluetooth keyboard did not move the cursor inside the code editor pane! Also, if you have anything at all copied to the iPad's clipboard, pressing the Escape key (say I'm using Vim…

> the cursor keys on my bluetooth keyboard did not move the cursor inside the code editor pane

This is a bug with Monaco, Visual Studio Code’s editor component, which does not support mobile browsers.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yah.. USB-C, so I carry a dongle with the iPad Pro that I don't have to carry with my Surface Pro. I wouldn't have to buy the dongle cause I already have a great collection of them because I have a USB-C-only MacBook Pro. But I still have bought 0 actual devices that have USB-C. And it's not just external storage devices. It was always such a mess. E.x. with the Camera connection kit on the iPad Pro: - My Canon 5D wo…

I haven't tried since I don't have a USB-C iPad yet, but I would expect that if they mount as a standard FAT filesystem that you should be able to just plug it in and copy the files. You wouldn't need a new camera, just an $8 cable like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UUBS0SS Or if you want to use a card reader, you get one that plugs into a USB-C port and toss it in the bag with the iPad, just like you would…

> I haven't tried since I don't have a USB-C iPad yet, but I would expect that if they mount as a standard FAT filesystem that you should be able to just plug it in and copy the files.

Does the iPad not support HFS+ and Apple File System?

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#538
post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know if someone uses a mechanical keyboard? Don't worry, they'll tell you. (I hailstormed this message on Cherry MX Blues.)

Hey, HHKB uses Topre so technically it’s not quite mechanical either! ;-)

Still envious. :) I have a HHKB Lite PS2 sitting around somewhere. Every now and then I think about digging it out.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#539

Apple, please make the ipadOS eco system developer friendly. I'd buy it instantly. If Visual Studio Code was available there, that'd be amazing. There is some projects[1] going on but using some non-viable workaround [1] https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/70764

I had to do a double take when I saw you’d written ‘VSCode’. Are you serious? We should be starting with XCode, I mean, given all the rules and restrictions on the platform, it’ll be shocking enough when Apple finally gets XCode into action. As for VSCode, I’m not even sure what you’d be compiling onto the device, as Swift or Obj-C in XCode is the only way to end up with a .ipa you can run...

> Swift or Obj-C in XCode is the only way to end up with a .ipa you can run...

No.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not being a barrister on his iPad though, he's just taking notes. And I question whether an iPad pro gives you anything over the cheaper options for that.

> he's just taking notes That's how a barrister does part of their work. When I develop software I'm 'just writing a program'. But I'm not - I'm forming a mental model of what I want to do and working out how to express it. You can make any job sound silly by reducing it to its constitutive actions.

My point is the barrister does most of their work outside of the software - taking notes is not unique to being a barrister. A software engineer, or artist, or architect, or CAD modeller, or audio engineer, or accountant (just some examples of the kind of work I'm thinking of) do the majority of their work in software. Some of these workflows are doable on an iPad, some of them are not. All of them are doable to a professional level on a regular PC or Mac though.
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