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Secret iPad

thinkfractional.blog

21–30 of 85 posts

Re: Secret iPad

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this is simply because people doing serious coding work always want to have a proper permanently attached keyboard. So they would use a MacBook Air with ARM CPU, but not a tablet.

If that was the case no one would write code on a Surface, a laptop with an external keyboard, or even a desktop tower.

I do consider my desktop towers keyboard "permanent".

I don't swap keyboards, I always use that one.

Re: Secret iPad

#22
post #20
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It turns out you can make more money repeatedly selling $0.99 token packs for simple dot puzzle game powerups than one-time $1.99 or even $2.99 whole-app purchases. There are also more people who play silly puzzle games in waiting rooms around the world than people who play guitar. There is still tons of innovation in the App Store. It’s just on Skinner Box mechanics now.

Yes, I think you've hit on the crux of it. Content streams, accessory apps to larger services, and games with micro-transactions all have one thing in common: they make way more money than you can typically hope to make off of a standalone, novel app that costs $1-$3.

This was the argument of why an Apple controlled app store was so important. But they seem to be actively pushing people towards those high profit, user hostile, apps.

There is a cohort of games that is 10x worse than anything you'd find on the web. Unskippable 30s blocks of ads every few minutes, that just promote more crappy games.

Re: Secret iPad

#23
post #3

If you like this kind of behind the scenes, i highly recommend Ken Kocienda's book "Creative Selection" about the development of some parts of the first iPhone.

It was a great read!

Re: Secret iPad

#24
post #3

If you like this kind of behind the scenes, i highly recommend Ken Kocienda's book "Creative Selection" about the development of some parts of the first iPhone.

Totally agree; it's really fun to hear how things like autocorrect evolved over the development of the iPhone, and really how the designers and engineers thought about their work at the time. It's also nuts to think that so much of the iPhone software and experience was done inside of 18 months.

Re: Secret iPad

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There really is no excuse for the lack of "real" software on the iPad (using "real" as in desktop quality). Only a small amount can be blamed on the system itself, appealing to a very niche audience (like XCode). Arbitrary Javascript code written on the iPad can run, as evidenced by Play.js. Arbitrary Python code written on the iPad can run as evidenced by Pythonista. Arbitrary Swift code can run as evidenced by Swif…

I believe this is simply because people doing serious coding work always want to have a proper permanently attached keyboard. So they would use a MacBook Air with ARM CPU, but not a tablet.

It's definitely not about the hardware, given that the iPad has. mouse/trackpad support now. It's about the software.

Re: Secret iPad

#26
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I think you've hit on the crux of it. Content streams, accessory apps to larger services, and games with micro-transactions all have one thing in common: they make way more money than you can typically hope to make off of a standalone, novel app that costs $1-$3.

This was the argument of why an Apple controlled app store was so important. But they seem to be actively pushing people towards those high profit, user hostile, apps. There is a cohort of games that is 10x worse than anything you'd find on the web. Unskippable 30s blocks of ads every few minutes, that just promote more crappy games.

Apple introduced Apple Arcade because of the horrible state of games on the App Store.

Re: Secret iPad

#27
post #5

Even now, hearing about this app I think "Wow! That's so novel and cool! ( magical , even)". I've said it before, but I dearly miss the creativity people had in the first few years of iOS. We have much better devices now; we should have better apps! I should be so desensitized by how interesting the new apps are that a skeuomorphic guitar tuner sounds banal and obvious! Instead today's apps are boring. They've been r…

There really is no excuse for the lack of "real" software on the iPad (using "real" as in desktop quality). Only a small amount can be blamed on the system itself, appealing to a very niche audience (like XCode). Arbitrary Javascript code written on the iPad can run, as evidenced by Play.js. Arbitrary Python code written on the iPad can run as evidenced by Pythonista. Arbitrary Swift code can run as evidenced by Swif…

So “real software” is just development software?

Re: Secret iPad

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that was the case no one would write code on a Surface, a laptop with an external keyboard, or even a desktop tower.

I do consider my desktop towers keyboard "permanent". I don't swap keyboards, I always use that one.

Of course, by that standard, someone with an iPad with a keyboard attached (the ones that are part of a case/cover) could just as easily consider their keyboard "permanent".

Re: Secret iPad

#29
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do consider my desktop towers keyboard "permanent". I don't swap keyboards, I always use that one.

Of course, by that standard, someone with an iPad with a keyboard attached (the ones that are part of a case/cover) could just as easily consider their keyboard "permanent".

Okay but how many people run iPads with keyboard attachments yet don't have a desktop or laptop that would be better for the purpose anyways? I'd wager few.

If that market were larger it would be catered to.

Re: Secret iPad

#30
post #29
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, by that standard, someone with an iPad with a keyboard attached (the ones that are part of a case/cover) could just as easily consider their keyboard "permanent".

Okay but how many people run iPads with keyboard attachments yet don't have a desktop or laptop that would be better for the purpose anyways? I'd wager few. If that market were larger it would be catered to.

Sounds like a chicken and egg problem. No one does it because the software they need doesn’t exist. The software they need doesn’t exist because no one uses the iPad that way.
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