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Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

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Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#31

Post by jjindev »

phaus wrote: post #14
ctdonath wrote: post #11

Well, considering it isn't designed as a primary content creation device, not a surprising result (which so many of us have tried despite knowing this). Next experiment: To consume content primarily on a non-tablet non-phone for a week. (It will fail a comparable way.) No matter how much you squeeze an apple, no matter how tasty the results, you won't get orange juice.

The convergence of the PC and the tablet is inevitable. The awkward solutions that have been presented thus far are simply prototypes. We will eventually get it right, and when we do, the resulting experience will seem like it should have been the obvious choice from the start. We already see the value in responsive web design, which is also in it's infancy. Eventually, we will have responsive operating systems, appl…

Apple illustrates a segmentation rather than a convergence. Tablet, notebook, and workstation are breaking into distinct bands of performance. In their world a tablet is for a guy who wants a couple cores (with long battery life), notebooks are for people want a few cores (with moderate battery life) and workstations are for people want lots of cores (the electric bill be damned).

In the PC market there is more overlap, with pretty solid $700 minitowers, but again the minitowers imply you will pay for the electricity and performance with a cost in size and portability.

Long term ... sure maybe a 12 core tablet is possible, but that is really long term IMO.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#32

Post by jiggy2011 »

phaus wrote: post #14
ctdonath wrote: post #11

Well, considering it isn't designed as a primary content creation device, not a surprising result (which so many of us have tried despite knowing this). Next experiment: To consume content primarily on a non-tablet non-phone for a week. (It will fail a comparable way.) No matter how much you squeeze an apple, no matter how tasty the results, you won't get orange juice.

The convergence of the PC and the tablet is inevitable. The awkward solutions that have been presented thus far are simply prototypes. We will eventually get it right, and when we do, the resulting experience will seem like it should have been the obvious choice from the start. We already see the value in responsive web design, which is also in it's infancy. Eventually, we will have responsive operating systems, appl…

Is there really any need to converge?

Rather than One True Device, it may make more sense to have different devices for different jobs. For example games consoles and e-book readers are devices that sell very well despite limited use cases.

I can see advantages to perhaps having many cross platform libraries to allow developers to reuse application logic across devices.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#33

Post by bryanlarsen »

ctdonath wrote: post #21
phaus wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The convergence of the PC and the tablet is inevitable. The awkward solutions that have been presented thus far are simply prototypes. We will eventually get it right, and when we do, the resulting experience will seem like it should have been the obvious choice from the start. We already see the value in responsive web design, which is also in it's infancy. Eventually, we will have responsive operating systems, appl…

The convergence of the PC and tablets is inevitable. Far from it. I've been watching major companies try to converge them for 20 years, all to abject failure (tiny niches aside). The iPad succeeded precisely because it avoided "convergence".

I would argue that you're both right. The iPad succeeded because what it did, it did well. One major reason it could do things well because it didn't try to do everything.

But because it's successful, there's a big enough market to develop apps and accessories to make it do all the things it wasn't designed to do.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#34

Post by dfxm12 »

kunle wrote: post #12

I tried this as well 2 weeks ago. The OP has a much more comprehensive breakdown of why it didnt work than I do (and a much more involved workload than i was intending). Personally and in my conversation with folks, I find that as a productivity device, iPad users fall into 2 buckets. Bucket 1: Creators: developers, designers, writers and such - folks who need to create documents and other work product. Broadly speak…

I think the iPad will get there eventually

I don't think we'll get to a point where professional or enterprise level creation happens on an iPad, outside of typing text or filling out forms (if that even counts). Apple's direction with the iPad is purely as a device for buying and/or consuming data, and will maintain as much control as they can.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#35

Post by raganwald »

I tried this with the 1st generation iPad when my workstation failed and was in for service. I mostly SSH'd into my entertainment centre but I was able to do original editing on the iPad using DropBox.

It was awkward, but good enough to GetShitDone.

I later bought both an Air and an iPad Mini, and the Mini is small enough to be a substantial improvement on the Air when doing short trips to conferences. I can edit my presentations, take notes, and do all sorts of other things on the road or in a coffee shop.

Now my Air sits at home.

Disclosure: I started programming on punch cards. It's all amazing to me, so when comparing an iPad Mini to a desktop computer, I can logically tell you I'm way more productive on the desktop, but at the same time I'm emotionally satisfied either way.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#36

Post by mesozoic »

dfxm12 wrote: post #34
kunle wrote: post #12

I tried this as well 2 weeks ago. The OP has a much more comprehensive breakdown of why it didnt work than I do (and a much more involved workload than i was intending). Personally and in my conversation with folks, I find that as a productivity device, iPad users fall into 2 buckets. Bucket 1: Creators: developers, designers, writers and such - folks who need to create documents and other work product. Broadly speak…

I think the iPad will get there eventually I don't think we'll get to a point where professional or enterprise level creation happens on an iPad, outside of typing text or filling out forms (if that even counts). Apple's direction with the iPad is purely as a device for buying and/or consuming data, and will maintain as much control as they can.

Perhaps not the iPad exactly but I think tablet computers will eventually replace other types of computers (laptops, desktops) for most people.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#38

Post by m0nastic »

I guess that the reason I've been able to migrate almost entirely to using my iPad for everything must be the way I used to use my computer previously.

I've pretty much always ran applications "full-screen". The only time I really ever have more than one thing on screen at a time is if I'm splitting a tmux window.

I use my iPad how I imagine people use Chromebooks (with the addition of being able to use more than just the web browser).

That makes me wonder if over time tablets will become used for more and more because they increase in functionality/complexity (mimicking how people use their PC's currently), or if they'll remain the way they are, but people will just adopt their usage paradigms.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#39

Post by dreamfactory »

dfxm12 wrote: post #34
kunle wrote: post #12

I tried this as well 2 weeks ago. The OP has a much more comprehensive breakdown of why it didnt work than I do (and a much more involved workload than i was intending). Personally and in my conversation with folks, I find that as a productivity device, iPad users fall into 2 buckets. Bucket 1: Creators: developers, designers, writers and such - folks who need to create documents and other work product. Broadly speak…

I think the iPad will get there eventually I don't think we'll get to a point where professional or enterprise level creation happens on an iPad, outside of typing text or filling out forms (if that even counts). Apple's direction with the iPad is purely as a device for buying and/or consuming data, and will maintain as much control as they can.

Most enterprise level creation is done with word, excel, and powerpoint. iOS already has a pretty capable office suite.

Re: Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

#40

Post by phaus »

ctdonath wrote: post #21
phaus wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The convergence of the PC and the tablet is inevitable. The awkward solutions that have been presented thus far are simply prototypes. We will eventually get it right, and when we do, the resulting experience will seem like it should have been the obvious choice from the start. We already see the value in responsive web design, which is also in it's infancy. Eventually, we will have responsive operating systems, appl…

The convergence of the PC and tablets is inevitable. Far from it. I've been watching major companies try to converge them for 20 years, all to abject failure (tiny niches aside). The iPad succeeded precisely because it avoided "convergence".

It took over a decade to make a decent touch-screen device, because our technological capabilities hadn't yet caught up to our aspirations. Now that we can, m-commerce is the fastest growing segment of e-commerce, which is the fastest growing segment of commerce in general.

Basically, the iPad succeeded because the technology behind it had finally matured, and Apple paid close attention to all of the mistakes that were made over those 20 years.

I may be wrong, but only time will tell for sure. Right now we are still in the phase where companies creating hybrid devices are making a lot of mistakes. I'm betting that someone is eventually going to get it right.

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