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Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

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Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#361

Post by deergomoo »

tammer wrote: post #92

These types of articles come out periodically and annoy me quite a bit. iPadOS has been my interface to the digital world for going on 6 years. Here are the things I do exclusively via an iPad Pro: * administer a dozen HPC clusters * perform all the digital tasks required of a non-profit board member * learn/read, communicate, consume media, photo edit and all the other normal life things one does on a computer nowad…

But isn’t that the point of the article? The iPad works great for the things you want to do on it because Apple has decided to support those workflows (or you have been able to adjust your own practices to suit the device). But on a Mac (or Windows, or Linux), no-one needs to think ahead for your use case. Someone can just build software that enables it.

Software development is a much less niche area than podcast recording but one that is equally unsupported on the iPad. I doubt many are itching to swap their dev machines for an iPad, but given the hardware it sure would be nice if I could tinker with stuff on the sofa. But no amount of workarounds or developer ingenuity would enable that because Apple has decreed that I cannot run arbitrary code, or run a local server.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#362

Post by TheHappyOddish »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #356

Missing from this article: why is he traveling with his iPad at all? He loudly asserts "I’m not leaving my iPad at home" but does not explain why. From where I'm standing, the iPad is a crappy platform that has no reason to exist. It's a worse Mac. I can maybe see artists using an iPad for the touch screen, but that use case only exists because Apple refuses to give the Mac a touch screen.

I can't speak for him, but I find m iPad incredibly useful. I sign and review documents quickly, tap out emails on the go, watch movies or TV shows, use it as a reference screen if I'm in a rack and need diagrams, manuals etc.

Like most modern computing devices (laptops, phones, smart watches, etc) it has crossover functionality with some devices but not in all cases, and in some it is the superior device for varying reasons.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#363

Post by oflannabhra »

makeitdouble wrote: post #177
oflannabhra wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple’s big philosophy is that the interaction paradigm should be distinct, from the hardware to the software, and that mixing the two is confusing and a bad experience. I happen to agree with them, but I would love to be able to switch between the two. macOS is powerful, but adding touch to it would actually be terrible. Switching between those modes and input paradigms, while maintaining some level of context would…

> Apple’s big philosophy is that the interaction paradigm should be distinct They're allowing iPad and iOS apps on the macs, so it doesn't seem so clear cut. Feels more like they don't have a clear incentive to push further when people keep buying both products.

Yes, but not touch.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#364

Post by TheHappyOddish »

Shawnj2 wrote: post #328
ycombinete wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel with just an iPad and a Phone. The iPad is great for media consumption while traveling. e.g. playing some games or watching shows, and it's good enough to do some cramped work in a pinch (sales and business management). Also take notes/sketch with the pencil, read a book/article. Most of the things I would use the iPad for can be done better with a more dedicated, or more versatile, channel. Like a laptop, o…

I still don’t understand why a laptop wouldn’t work for most of those use cases if you already are carrying one. Sure it’s a bit tedious to use a huge laptop on a plane but a 13” laptop will fit on your lap and in your bag nearly as easily as a 10” tablet.

For me I have a 17" laptop and the tablet is convenent in various cases (planes, media consumption, whipping out much quicker than my laptop as it's lighter, smaller and simpler).

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#365

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

noduerme wrote: post #254
shreyshnaccount wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that's my problem with it- if I buy a device and what to do whatever with it, who is the company to specifically stop me from doing that? I'm not asking them to design anything special for me, just allow open access to the device so that the community can build whatever we want

I'm not defending Apple here (I'm not an iPad or iPhone user) but why would you expect a tablet to substitute for a general computing platform? My "tablet" is a Boox Nova Air C that runs full Android on an e-ink screen, but I only use it to read books, sketch, and to hand-write notes. I don't let it connect to any website I have to login to, because I don't trust the software. I don't even have a keyboard for it. Onc…

> why would you expect a tablet to substitute for a general computing platform?

it already is one, just with an OS that locks down its ability to function as one

why would you expect the OS to do that when it could also give the user the option to use the general computing platform as a general computing platform?

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#366

Post by goosedragons »

nicbou wrote: post #247
makeitdouble wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It comes down what you actually want to do. My time spent on the iPad was defined by what I couldn't do, and it was extremely frustrating, I ended up not doing it instead of go getting the laptop from across the house. Windows is not refined nor optimized for tablet use by any measure, but it actually does the job, instead of showing a cute and extremely refined middle finger half the time. The breaking point for me…

> Adobe suite, ClipStudio etc. are all there, in their actual, professional, full-blown version, and not some compromised "on the go" version This is what made me sell the Surface. I wanted to replace a paper notebook I bring everywhere. What I got was tiny buttons, menus, and a save dialog every time I wanted to close the app. My drawings were not drawings in a sketchbook, but files I had to manually sort and access…

Sketchable literally works on the "my drawings are a sketchbook" idea. Apps like CSP on iOS use the file save dialogs too.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#367

Post by TheHappyOddish »

jeroenhd wrote: post #44
perardi wrote: post #6

When the iPad first came out, people knocked it as "a big iPod touch". But…maybe that wasn't a bad thing? I feel like the iPad, despite alllll the efforts to seemingly make it a pro device, is an iPhone, but bigger. It's great for messages, browsing Facebook, and watching video, and that's just fine. Because that serves a lot of people's needs, and trying to add in a bunch more stuff just overloads the touch interfac…

I think "iPad is a big iPod" worked great, but then they brought out the iPad Pro. That thing was supposed to be for Professionals doing Professional Work Things. After that came the iPad Mini, which is an iPad but smaller (so it's an iPod but bigger but smaller?). Weirdly enough, I don't think the iPad Pro is more than just the iPad but faster and bigger. There are tons of model-based software restrictions between t…

> Meanwhile, Samsung has had Dex for a few years now, and it works great. It's included on any midrange product and up and it feels like what you would expect from "what happens when I plug my phone/tablet into a USB C dock".

It is a lot more convenent to carry an iPad with a magic keyboard than to carry a USB-C dock, keyboard and mouse though.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#368

Post by dkdbejwi383 »

parallaxapps wrote: post #350

We're building a web development environment for iPadOS/iOS that hopes to address some of the shortcomings developing iPad-only (and iPhone, but...) Free to download, developer-tools browser built-in (Inspect Browser), Git and PHP available as an in-app purchase. Glad to answer any questions! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/webforge-ide/id6450872424

Having to buy a FOSS VCS as an add on is kind of proving the point that the iPad’s closed software ecosystem is really holding the fantastic hardware back.

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#369

Post by bemusedthrow75 »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #341
bemusedthrow75 wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in the UK. Yesterday I watched an eighty-plus year old woman settle her similarly elderly, physically-impaired husband into his seat on the train then get out her iPad to write an email. On my journey home in a more crowded train I saw half a dozen iPads just from where I was sitting. They are extremely useful devices for train journeys.

Only Apple iPads or are you using the term generically? I'm guessing you're in London or another major city? Similar to the parent I only ever see iPads in two places, the hands of rich kids in restaurants, and in primary schools.

Only Apple iPads as far as I could see, but by no means only the most expensive or newest. Non-Apple tablet devices really are not often seen in the UK (some convertible PCs, the occasional Samsung tablet).

If you spend a lot of time on public transport, an iPad isn't really that much of a luxury item. It's a really pragmatic choice, and at least in the UK an entry-level or recent secondhand iPad is not much more expensive than the cheapest usable alternative.

Most seats on British trains are not at tables, and while many (by no means all, depends on the operator) have a seatback tray table, it is generally not the right shape for all but the smallest laptop, and the proportions are not such that they work well with convertible PCs that use screen-cover keyboards.

We really get crammed into trains.

An iPad is large enough to read a book or emails even if you are stuck without a seat, the on-screen keyboard is practical enough to write reasonable emails or edit small documents on, watch a film on, etc.

So is a very cost effective way to make use of what might be 2+ hours of every working day.

(Train travel is pretty expensive over any distance, too. An entry level iPad is only about ten times the cost of an ad-hoc journey into London from where I am -- and that's only an hour away.)

Re: Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

#370

Post by wanda »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #356

Missing from this article: why is he traveling with his iPad at all? He loudly asserts "I’m not leaving my iPad at home" but does not explain why. From where I'm standing, the iPad is a crappy platform that has no reason to exist. It's a worse Mac. I can maybe see artists using an iPad for the touch screen, but that use case only exists because Apple refuses to give the Mac a touch screen.

It exists for casual, potentially older users, outside of dev/IT profession, to do grocery shopping and simple games on a couch while they watch TV after work.

I've never bought an iPad or found use for the one I was once given as a present, I have seen older people transition from using cheap crappy laptops to iPads with only positive feedback, probably because it's easier for them to use.

It's largely the same UI as their smartphone which they'll be familiar with by now, it's easier to pick up and put down, smaller form factor but not so small that they'd be pinch-zooming frequently as they would on a phone, etc.

Anecdotal but it makes sense. Also marginally easier for a layperson to hold an iPad up and show a partner what they're buying, than a laptop.

Personally, I'm in the industry, and I've been playing with computers for 27 years. I have a phone for reading stuff like this on the go, and a laptop for working on things home or at the office. I have no professional or recreational use for a tablet. I have a laptop and I'm very glad it doesn't have a touchscreen. But I can understand why non-laptop products exist.

Couple of other developers I know have iPads, but they have them in the same way they have an electric toothbrush — they didn't need it, but they bought it anyway. Mostly see them use it for browsing the web or shopping after work. I suppose if your stuff's at the office and you just want to cruise the web, an iPad is lighter than a personal laptop, but I just use my phone /shrug emoji.

Some illustrators I know have iPads but I'm pretty sure they'd survive without them. For actual work they have a proper setup (wacom, magic trackpad), and if you need to sketch something on the fly, pen and paper is still a functional and low-cost solution, as is a phone since you have one already for a dozen other reasons.

Designers don't need an iPad at all, mouse is sufficient.

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