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The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

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Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#141

Post by scarface74 »

ekianjo wrote: post #31
broodbucket wrote: post #5

iPads have complete market dominance in the world of the kiddies. I can't believe how many there are - big iPads in big cases, young children playing with some game or watching YouTube Kids. I don't think it's the market Apple invisioned, but it's a hugely successful one regardless. I think judging the iPad based on changes they make for power users is near pointless in terms of its success.

> iPads have complete market dominance in the world of the kiddies. Hence it can almost be fitting to categorize them as toys.

Because people are paying money for 12.9 iPad Pros with a keyboard, pencil and cellular as toys.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#142

Post by classified »

> mistakes that need to be scrapped and replaced, not polished and refined.

Jobs' criticisms may have been a bit abrasive at times, but these kinds of problems seem to indicate that nobody is currently filling that important role at Apple.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#143

Post by apexalpha »

This is excellent. My grandma (89) uses an iPad and iPhone. She can use both these devices exactly because of the simplicity mentioned in the article.

1. Open app by tapping it.

2. Close it by tapping the physical button. (rip)

That's it. And that's why my grandma can use it. The first and only device she comfortably uses to this day.

People in our (tech) communities tend to overestimate a users ability with technology.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#144

Post by mark_l_watson »

The solution is simple: ability to set in System Preferences whether to enable split screen and floating second window.

Personally, I really like the split window support but to be honest I had to practice the gestures for opening and closing second windows.

Off topic, but my big complaint about my iPad Pro is that the physical buttons for volume control, etc. are placed differently than my iPhone 11 Pro. This always makes me pause when switching devices because I like to think of my iPhone and iPad to sort-of be the same device as far as apps and most use cases. Apple, place the hardware controls in the same locations. Also, the menu bar on Safari is different on the two devices. I wish Apple would fix that also.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#145

Post by CarlRJ »

cactus2093 wrote: post #126

Good points in the article. I also find the model names weirdly confusing, how did the iPad become the smaller, less powerful variant when the Air still exists? They did this with MacBooks too, though I think the tiny one may be discontinued now. And why is the iPad peripheral system such a mess? The released the pencil 2 which is a significant usability improvement and had every indication of replacing the pencil 1,…

IIRC, the Pencil 2 requires different (and likely more expensive) support in the screen, as well as docking to the side of the iPad and charging magnetically - both of which raise the costs for the iPad. And then the lower cost models wouldn’t be so lower-cost any more. It does feel like they could have thought ahead a little better on that, though. FWIW, the Pencil 1 isn’t a -bad- stylus - it was hugely praised when it was released, the Pencil 2 is just a bit better.

As to the “Air” name... they got to where they had a solid low-priced offering and a “Pro” line with huge prices. And a big hole in the middle. But “iPad Medium” wasn’t appealing, so they resurrected the “Air” name. (FWIW, writing this on an iPad Air 3, and I love it - the only real loss for me, from the Pro, was the “ProMotion” variable rate 120Hz display, and I could live without that, for $$$ less.)

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#146

Post by ibn_khaldun »

The main gripe of this article seems to be focused on a single issue. But it is a valid point. But it is sort of strange to see this article boil down to the author's displeasure with just this one issue. To be honest I never was aware that you could only pull apps from your dock into split screen because I really only use those apps for that function. There is a comment buried toward the bottom that suggests a very nice solution to the problem.

There is also another comment buried toward the bottom questioning why everything has to be "revolutionary", which I agree with. I find that the iPad is a cozy fit for most people's personal and professional workflows and the fact that it's Apple keeps everything cohesive. What revolution is it supposed to spark? It is a companion, a bridge, so to speak, between two pieces of equipment that the author has already acknowledges as "revolutionary" on their own.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#147

Post by dceddia »

tomgp wrote: post #28
jwr wrote: post #20

This is a very good take on the subject. I love the iPad, I use it all the time. It's an unbelievably good piece of hardware with a number of really good software applications. It is a surprisingly good thinking and note-taking tool, it's the best tool (period) for reading datasheets (or any large PDF documents), it is a great music workstation if you connect a MIDI keyboard and/or an external USB audio interface. Bu…

Spot on. I've been using an iPad Pro for 3 years now I use it every day and I love it but I still can't reliably get two apps to sit side-by side on the screen.

I just got an iPad Pro and I agree this gesture is awkward. Plus, some apps seem to not support it at all, so it’ll silently fail when one of those apps is on either side.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#148

Post by Brave-Steak »

akg_67 wrote: post #96
acqq wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The worst thing is that the forced over-simplification of the UI features did not make it easier to use for beginners. I believe Gruber argues completely the opposite: that the recent changes to add features like split screen make it more confusing (e.g. the example of his mother getting stuck in the split screen and calling him). He continues in the very article we comment here (emphasis mine): "if I could go back…

+1 I still haven’t figured out how to get split screen reliably and every time. But I don’t find a need for split screen either. A few times, I tried I had to google how to get split screen then I gave up. Also, sometime I automagically get split screen and can’t figure out how to get rid of it. Usually land up just closing apps in split screen and restarting apps.

I use my iPad Pro in splitscreen almost exclusively. Probably because I mainly use it for notetaking and research, instead of as just an entertainment device. That said, the usability of multitasking has for some reason become far worse on iPads since iOS 11 and I'm still waiting for them to do anything to improve it. I still can't believe it's in the state it is now, years later.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#149

Post by moomin »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #144

The solution is simple: ability to set in System Preferences whether to enable split screen and floating second window. Personally, I really like the split window support but to be honest I had to practice the gestures for opening and closing second windows. Off topic, but my big complaint about my iPad Pro is that the physical buttons for volume control, etc. are placed differently than my iPhone 11 Pro. This always…

The volume thing annoys the heck out of me as well. I'm constantly having to stop and reason out which button does what. Never have to do that on my iPhone.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#150

Post by masklinn »

ibn_khaldun wrote: post #146

The main gripe of this article seems to be focused on a single issue. But it is a valid point. But it is sort of strange to see this article boil down to the author's displeasure with just this one issue. To be honest I never was aware that you could only pull apps from your dock into split screen because I really only use those apps for that function. There is a comment buried toward the bottom that suggests a very…

It seems more a pointed and emblematic example of the overarching point.

There is no cause to spend thousands of words covering dozens of issues when a single one suffices to clarify the thesis.

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