iPad Pro as Development Machine • Hacker News Board

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#121

Post by macspoofing » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

farslan wrote: post #29

vlunkr wrote: post #23

Everyone is so defensive about laptops here that you’d think they feel threatened by this post. Isn’t it in the spirit of the hacker community to be open to new modes of using computers? This is an experiment, that’s why they documented it and stated clearly that it’s an experiment. It’s something to think about and discuss, not a statement that you should throw your laptop out.

OP here: Thanks for the comment. I thought I was clear that this was an experiment and that I wanted to try out things. Now that I'm using it for couple of months, I have even more things to share that are not covered by my blog post.

To be fair, this experiment has been run many many times since the the introduction of the iPad. I even tried it a few years ago because I liked the long battery life and the form factor (and after an HN article about iPad/Linode Dev setup[1]). Turns out lack of proper multitasking and multi-window management, and even lack of mouse support made everything cumbersome. Always needing a remote machine got old really fast too.

No real benefit over a decent laptop.

[1]http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-...

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#122

Post by macspoofing » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 4:26 AM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #85

vlunkr wrote: post #23

Everyone is so defensive about laptops here that you’d think they feel threatened by this post. Isn’t it in the spirit of the hacker community to be open to new modes of using computers? This is an experiment, that’s why they documented it and stated clearly that it’s an experiment. It’s something to think about and discuss, not a statement that you should throw your laptop out.

People who work in tech can be surprisingly resistant to change. Anything that threatens to alter someone's workflow will see a huge backlash from people who will always equate "different" with "worse". It's what happens when a cargo cult forms around Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I disagree. Programmers tend to go overboard when it comes to their dev machines. But if an iPad could really improve development, you can bet programmers would dump their $3k laptop workstations in a heartbeat.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#123

Post by _bxg1 » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 4:30 AM UTC

laurentdc wrote: post #8

This topic comes up every month or so, and there's always this catch: > we need to first create a remote workstation which we can start using as our main development machine. A dumb terminal isn't a development machine. That's like saying "Using my DEC VT100 terminal to develop in Go", let me just hook it up to an actual computer

And if I wanted a dumb terminal I'd much prefer a MacBook Air, with its sturdier keyboard and at least the option of having it not be a dumb terminal sometimes

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#124

Post by nbanks » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 5:04 AM UTC

I have a Gemini PDA phone that I've used to recompile the Linux kernel. It takes 4-5 times as long as compiling on my laptop, but sometimes it's easier than cross-compiling.

I rarely use my phone as a development machine, but when I do, it feels more authentic than using a remote workstation. It heats up because the local CPU is really working. Occasionally I find myself shelling into the phone from my laptop....

[edit, typo]

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#125

Post by bibyte » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 5:33 AM UTC

I can understand why some people might think this kind of setup is crazy but I actually do this with my Android tablet. With the Termux I can have Rust, Python, Neovim etc installed locally. I only ssh to my desktop if I need to do something CPU intensive. I am regularly surprised just how well this works.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#126

Post by radicaldreamer » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 5:54 AM UTC

_bxg1 wrote: post #123

laurentdc wrote: post #8

This topic comes up every month or so, and there's always this catch: > we need to first create a remote workstation which we can start using as our main development machine. A dumb terminal isn't a development machine. That's like saying "Using my DEC VT100 terminal to develop in Go", let me just hook it up to an actual computer

And if I wanted a dumb terminal I'd much prefer a MacBook Air, with its sturdier keyboard and at least the option of having it not be a dumb terminal sometimes

12” MacBook is a near perfect portable machine when upgraded to Mac specs and paired with a new Anker GaN 30w charger.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#127

Post by vonseel » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 6:39 AM UTC

nightfly wrote: post #18

blinkingled wrote: post #7

This falls under fetish category. Steve Jobs' Post PC world analogy was off in that PCs are the cars, trucks, convertibles etc. and tablets are the scooter. Yes you can do all your grocery shopping on the scooter given the groceries fit, the shop isn't too far away, it's not raining, the mileage will be good etc - you making that one successful grocery trip doesn't mean scooter is a car replacement.

That analogy works pretty good: For many people a scooter is all they need for day-to-day life, and when they need car they borrow/rent one.

Your comment reminds me that (AFAIK) there aren’t really great rental sources for many pieces of gear. I have often wished something like this existed, and not even for computers (considering I am a dev and have a MBP). But, it would be nice to be able to rent a high end tool that you may only need for one small project, or a high end piece of music gear - like a $2,000 microphone, or guitar amp, etc. - from a well-known and trusted supplier with simple shipping techniques and easy return process (ship back in original packaging with included label, etc).

I suppose enough people use Amazon like this, but they will eventually ban you for abusing their return process.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#128

Post by fanpuns » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 7:00 AM UTC

laurentdc wrote: post #8

This topic comes up every month or so, and there's always this catch: > we need to first create a remote workstation which we can start using as our main development machine. A dumb terminal isn't a development machine. That's like saying "Using my DEC VT100 terminal to develop in Go", let me just hook it up to an actual computer

Ad soon as I saw the stand and keyboard I had exactly the same thought.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#129

Post by ahartmetz » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 9:18 AM UTC

Macha wrote: post #43

vlunkr wrote: post #23

Everyone is so defensive about laptops here that you’d think they feel threatened by this post. Isn’t it in the spirit of the hacker community to be open to new modes of using computers? This is an experiment, that’s why they documented it and stated clearly that it’s an experiment. It’s something to think about and discuss, not a statement that you should throw your laptop out.

People are worried of a "war on general purpose computing" scenario if even development work can be moved to locked down devices, I think

Indeed. There will probably "always" be something like personal computers that give you full freedom, but the choices and prices are going to suck compared to now in case we enter a real post-PC world for the masses.

Re: iPad Pro as Development Machine

#130

Post by sridca » Sun, Mar 17, 2019, 10:02 AM UTC

I purchased a Pixel Slate (running ChromeOS) and couldn't be much happier. It replaced both my portable laptop and iPad. I'm surprised people here don't talk much about this tablet that runs full fledged Linux!