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Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

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Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#421

Post by ryukoposting »

jll29 wrote: post #149

The key sentence here is: > This is the fundamental difference between the Mac (a platform that basically lets developers and users do anything they want) and the iPad (where if Apple doesn’t specifically allow it, it can’t be done). Apple (since Lisa/Mac, after Apple II, which had an open architecture) likes appliances and to control the user experience, so the iPad is "more Apple" than Macs are. Whenever I am waiti…

I don't bring my laptop with me on non-business trips. It's a matter of principle.

I have a cheap Android tablet but it never leaves my living room. I don't know what people do with tablets while traveling that they couldn't do with their phone just as easily (at least in a non-professional context). The OP certainly didn't get me any closer to an answer!

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#422

Post by skydhash »

j7ake wrote: post #289
jll29 wrote: post #149

The key sentence here is: > This is the fundamental difference between the Mac (a platform that basically lets developers and users do anything they want) and the iPad (where if Apple doesn’t specifically allow it, it can’t be done). Apple (since Lisa/Mac, after Apple II, which had an open architecture) likes appliances and to control the user experience, so the iPad is "more Apple" than Macs are. Whenever I am waiti…

3 devices sounds a lot, but what do people normally travel with? Probably 2, laptop and phone? Considering how light the iPad is it’s not a big addition to slip in an ipad in your bag. Sounds great you just use your thinkpad ubuntu, but what’s the battery life on that compared to iPad? My experience has been that installing Ubuntu on laptops dramatically reduced its battery life.

All of them (MBA, iPad Air, iPhone, e-reader). And they’re still lighter than my old inspiron).

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#423

Post by TeMPOraL »

mvdtnz wrote: post #264
pavel_lishin wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'd think depending on the person, they'd travel with EITHER their phone OR their iPad OR their laptop, depending on whether they are private people, non-technical "creatives" or IT/technical/dev folks, but instead, everybody appears to be travelling with ALL THREE devices instead I can't answer a call or text my family with my laptop while I'm on the go. I can't plug my macbook into a car to use maps or play mus…

Maybe it's an American thing but I don't think I know a single person who owns or uses an ipad, with the exception of rich parents who use them exclusively to distract children. I certainly don't notice a lot of ipad users in airports or trains.

In US, I hear it's a common "computer for non-tech-savvy people, who you want to set up with once, and have them not bother you for the next couple years" choice.

As for the form factor, I do travel with a tablet. More specifically, a 2-in-1 device, with a stylus. An x86 one, though (specifically, Dell Latitude 5290, which has specs like MS Surface, but was 3x cheaper) - because I've learned from experience that iPads and Android tablets are just large phones without the phone call function, and not suitable for any productive use. Meanwhile, my Dell hosts a touchscreen-optimized Windows 10, which hosts a Linux distro, which hosts the actual OS - Emacs.

(I also learned to love the Ribbon. On a 2-in-1, it's very obvious what Microsoft was going for, and why it's a good design - for touchscreens.)

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#424

Post by makeitdouble »

rtpg wrote: post #319
makeitdouble wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest issue with the iPad Pro is macos. It should either run macos, or get a compatibility layer that runs macos programs, but Apple's sitting on this fence for a decade neither pushing the mac to get touch, nor letting the iPad become desktop class. > Too bad Qualcom/Samsung/Mediatek can't figure out how to compete with Apple I'd argue Microsoft did, and they're at their 9th iteration of a decently good produc…

I've said this in other places, but the biggest issue with the Surface lineup is that the Go line is ... just garbage performance wise, absolutely unusable in my experience (despite really really wanting to use it, and basically just using it for PDF annotations!). And the Pro line is good! But it has no 11-inch line and (importantly) it costs so much compared to iPads. If you are looking for a high-end tablet with s…

I see the Surface Go line in the same position as the iPad mini. Some people love it but I think it's heavily polirazing.

On the price, tbh I was only looking at the 13 inch line as that's the standard A4 size, but I get it's not ideal if portability is a priority. At 13 inch a 1000+ price is competitive with the iPad Pro, but for smaller size/prices the Huawei or Dell tablets could be a better value.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#425

Post by ellis0n »

rcarmo wrote: post #336
ellis0n wrote: post #220

I've been trying to use iPad as a developer tool for over 10 years now and it seems I'm starting to get it right. I have tried a lot of software since the creation of the iPhone 2G, connected hardware, joysticks, keyboards, mice, connected an iPad to a computer back in 2015. I think the iPad is the most successful device for smart people, but the problem is marketing. Apple had the ability to make a single system for…

I travel with an iPad mini and worked off it regularly using SSH and RDP. The only thing I really miss is a normal CLI environment (I use iSH and a-Shell with great success, but I would love a sandboxed ARM Linux environment).

Yeah, iPad Mini is great. I bought it a year ago and it replaced my iPad Pro 2018 which is too big to take out and hide often. I think iPad Mini is the ideal device for smart people. Only a little bit worse in performance, it can be seen when heated.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#426

Post by kvdveer »

ryukoposting wrote: post #421
jll29 wrote: post #149

The key sentence here is: > This is the fundamental difference between the Mac (a platform that basically lets developers and users do anything they want) and the iPad (where if Apple doesn’t specifically allow it, it can’t be done). Apple (since Lisa/Mac, after Apple II, which had an open architecture) likes appliances and to control the user experience, so the iPad is "more Apple" than Macs are. Whenever I am waiti…

I don't bring my laptop with me on non-business trips. It's a matter of principle. I have a cheap Android tablet but it never leaves my living room. I don't know what people do with tablets while traveling that they couldn't do with their phone just as easily (at least in a non-professional context). The OP certainly didn't get me any closer to an answer!

Watching movies/series is noticeably better on a 10" screen. I suppose the same can be true for some games.

Other than that, I don't see much extra value for tablets either.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#427

Post by hfgjdssaghj »

zuhsetaqi wrote: post #314
hfgjdssaghj wrote: post #313

Despite all the posts in this thread definitively stating that the iPad is “just for entertainment”, an illustrator ex-colleague of mine creates all her work on an iPad Pro. She owns a home, and has 2 kids, and as far as I know has no other sources of income other than her illustrations, which are all made on her iPad.

Thank you for pointing that out. And I think that’s exactly what the article says: > This is the fundamental difference between the Mac (a platform that basically lets developers and users do anything they want) and the iPad (where if Apple doesn’t specifically allow it, it can’t be done). The iPad has some really powerful use cases, but only the ones Apple made (like illustration work).

I admit to a feeling of hopelessness discussing this well-worn topic on HN, but in my case I use my own iPad for reading books, annotating PDFs, taking notes, writing mails, watching videos, drawing, surfing the web, watching sport, listening to music, lightweight coding, using as an extra screen and probably other things I’ve forgotten.

The kids have used it to shoot and edit stop-motion movies, and ‘compose’ music.

As I said, at least one person I know keeps three people (including herself) in a home and fed, in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

But apparently this is only what “Apple allow us to do”.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#428

Post by skydhash »

yznlp wrote: post #408
Shawnj2 wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair Microsoft has their own version of an iPad that converts into a laptop and it doesn’t work that well from what I heard.

It's been about 10 years since I used my surface pro at uni. The main problems that I remember were 1) top heavy, because all the hardware is on the screen portion, so it's difficult to balance and use it on your lap 2) lack of processing power due to the form factor and thermal limitations 3) lack of touch friendly windows apps that can make it truly useful as a tablet 1 probably can't be helped, but 2 and 3 should…

Not really for 2. I have a MBA and it heats up when I do an OCR of a scanned book. And I don’t want touch friendly app on MacOs, I actually like the dense UI found in IDEs and graphic softwares because, they’re very efficient with the mouse. 13-14 inch is the perfect screen size for me (16 if I wanted to work on the go). But it would be unwieldy as a tablet.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#429

Post by Retric »

iraqmtpizza wrote: post #257
Retric wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it? I find creative solutions very rarely occur when I am actually using a computer rather than sitting back and thinking or going for a walk etc. Computers seem to be awesome tools for refining ideas yet really bad at facilitating their creation.

There is no shortage of limitations in real life or on a massively powerful desktop computer. People on desktop are not gods. Nor are they unlimited. I don't know what creative solutions you're talking about but unless we're talking about things making art with limited colors and resolutions which is only necessary because that's what the customer has, there is not much point in limiting oneself artificially unless y…

The limitations removed by a computer is the size of my working memory. Draw a line, type something, or whatever and suddenly it stops competing for space in my head. The idea space I can explore with a computer is so many orders of magnitude larger it’s practically unbound by comparison.

However, by saving those thoughts to a computer suddenly they are more likely to be tweaked than discarded. I’m not bound to include them they just get sticky and slow down my exploration of novel ideas.

A whiteboard lends itself to constantly erasing things rather than meaningless tweaks. Collaborate with a few people and nobody suggests moving a box you just drew on a whiteboard, but on a computer someone will want to move it around. The capacity itself becomes a distraction.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#430

Post by skydhash »

iraqmtpizza wrote: post #323
gizajob wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but it’s not Apple’s fault the general public are lazy and stupid. I’m a creative and don’t do those things so much - I make records and read philosophy and write whatever book takes my fancy on the same device. It’s not Apple’s fault that when given a handheld supercomputer people use it for instagram - a black mirror reflects the good and bad of the human and that’s where we are. Steve Jobs really did want to…

I do remember breaking my ankle on my bicycle as a child; I don't recall having to jailbreak my bike, though. How does BitTorrent work via the app store by the way? Kappa.

I download the torrent file and use a service like put or seedr. There’s no need to have a torrent client on your devices.
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