Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

macstories.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–28 of 28 posts

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#21

Post by walterbell »

hagbard_c wrote: post #19
walterbell wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they get to sell more hardware that way This claim is frequently repeated, but does not reflect reality for those who buy Apple devices. When iPads actually meet user needs, the result is iPad proliferation, not replacement of MacBooks. An iPad with macOS/Linux VM is needed for adhoc time-sensitive tasks which require non-iOS software, like a quick doc edit or Unix toolchain. For scheduled work sessions, Macbook is…

> This claim is frequently repeated, but does not reflect reality for those who buy Apple devices. When iPads actually meet user needs, the result is iPad proliferation, not replacement of MacBooks Of course more versatile tablets will replace laptops/notebooks, the only reason the latter are preferred over the former is because they offer features which the former do not yet have. Add those features - which mostly c…

What's an example shipping device for "uncrippled modern tablet"?

> Of course more versatile tablets will replace laptops/notebooks

Maybe the distinction is irrational, but as we spend more time on screens, there is some aesthetic difference in a device used mostly for work/creation and a device used mostly for leisure/consumption. Even if the underlying electronics are near-identical.

Thanks to eBay and the end of Moore's Law, multiple older devices are affordable and quite functional, e.g. enterprise $2000 Thinkpad 2-in-1 Yoga tablets for a few hundred. But nothing yet compares to the usability of iPadOS, despite no shortage of attempted competitors.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#22

Post by incrudible »

The amount of hoops you have to jump through to develop for Apple platforms stand in stark contrast to the increase in revenue you can expect from it. Mac used to be a platform for connoisseurs, but the iOS platforms are just mass market race-to-the-bottom shovelware dumps. Users do not appreciate its applications and developers in turn do not appreciate its users. Everyone gets what they deserve.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#23

Post by PaulHoule »

tmpz22 wrote: post #20
PaulHoule wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The values and viewpoints of the developer certainly matters. One of the "eternal September" moments of web app development was in the late 1990s when Microsoft went "all-in" and Microsoft-oriented developers flooded forums with tearful laments about how "MY BOSS NEEDS TO ME TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS LOCAL FILES IN A WEB APPLICATION!" From the viewpoint of a web-native developer though, you need local files about as much…

My argument is more that the filesystem is a very very very good abstraction to build on and the addition of a network layer exponentially increases complexity and as a result decreases quality. You can certainly do it, and sometimes it works out just fine, but generalizing all popular software client/server architectures contribute to modern software woes in my opinion (not to mention it discourages privacy! your ta…

A few years back I did an eval of cross-platform frameworks to target (in order) Windows, MacOS, Linux, maybe Android. This was around the time of peak complaining about Electron bloating out the installer for every crapplet to 35MB -- so I was prejudiced against Electron going in.

I came to the conclusion that they were all atrociously awful for both DX and UX except for Electron and JavaFX (maybe that's because I'm a Java fanatic.)

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#24

Post by pjmlp »

wildrhythms wrote: post #17
pjmlp wrote: post #9

We are already experiencing this for years on Windows, that is why its current development experience turned into a mess. New generation of employees, without any Windows development culture, or even experience, as from the blank stares when asked about stuff that has been on Windows for decades during community calls, and Webview2 being pushed all over the place on the OS.

Related: https://www.theverge.com/22684730/students-file-folder-direc...

Yeah very much related.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#25

Post by rchaud »

RickS wrote: post #11

It continues to astound me that Apple seems not only reluctant – but actively disinterested – in bringing general purpose computing to touchscreen devices. I want whole-ass macOS on the iPad, and not only are they not doing it, they're doing the reverse: massive adoption beyond early apple's technical/creative userbase is leading to the iOS-ification of macOS. Lower level controls are increasingly locked behind padde…

The more "computer-like" an iDevice is, the less likely its users are to stay within the confines of its walled garden.

Apple didn't even deign to give their lowly iPad users a file manager until 2017. Post-iOS Apple's aspirations are to be AOL.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#26

Post by rchaud »

walterbell wrote: post #15
yourboirusty wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making an open ecosystem will never be in the best interest of their shareholders. They didn't make it to the top of Wall Street by accident. Why would they make profit on their hardware alone if they can have an almost passive income in the form of an app store. They'll put as many scary pop-ups as they can to prevent a regular user from installing third party software as they can. They'll block third party develope…

> Why would they make profit on their hardware alone if they can have an almost passive income in the form of an app store. Why not both? Google is offering Android app store _and_ Debian Linux packages. Each distribution mechanism meets different needs.

Google's ads business dwarfs everything else, so as long as ads can be integrated into apps deployed through Google Play Services, they're happy.

Third party app stores mostly provide unprofitable utility apps Google aren't interested in stopping. And thank goodness for that, because it allows any Android phone to be used as a relatively open computing device without having to register with Play Services.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#27

Post by neal_jones »

gedy wrote: post #10
walterbell wrote: post #4

> the evolution of iPadOS has stagnated over the years.. truly native, modern iPad apps by the most popular web services essentially don’t exist anymore.. If not even Apple is putting in the time, care, and resources to make exceptional iPad apps, why should a third party do it.. Web apps may be common everywhere these days, but the Mac has a vibrant ecosystem of indie apps going for it, and the Vision Pro has better…

I wish they'd just use macOS and make that the "MacBook Touch" with a detachable keyboard. I have no use for iPadOS

Years ago i ended up in a Microsoft store and they had the Surface Studio (https://www.engadget.com/2016-11-17-microsoft-surface-studio...) and the Surface Book (https://www.engadget.com/2015-10-21-surface-book-review.html) and it occurred to me that a decade prior I would have guessed this to be Apple’s future hardware.

Re: The iPad's "Sweet Solution"

#28

Post by walterbell »

neal_jones wrote: post #27
gedy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish they'd just use macOS and make that the "MacBook Touch" with a detachable keyboard. I have no use for iPadOS

Years ago i ended up in a Microsoft store and they had the Surface Studio ( https://www.engadget.com/2016-11-17-microsoft-surface-studio... ) and the Surface Book ( https://www.engadget.com/2015-10-21-surface-book-review.html ) and it occurred to me that a decade prior I would have guessed this to be Apple’s future hardware.

Rumored 18.8" foldable touch device with macOS, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43409284
Post reply on HN