I am a big fan of iPads, the large Pro in particular, which I use every day. But I don't think it is quite ready for being the only computer, except in a few select use cases.
A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
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Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#42I unsuccessfully tried using the iPad as a full-fledged computer for two months. It did not work out. Much of the web still assumes that you're using a mouse. You don't realize this until you try browsing the web with the iPad. Also, using SSH,even with Panic, was not as seamless as it seemed. There was much screen refreshing. I really missed having a mouse.
You can get a USB mouse, can't you?
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#43I don't want to sound arrogant, but for everyone who used a ridiculously overpowered computer - 90% of people (?) - for surfing and using Word, yes the iPad Pro is fine - or even overpowered. Using it to develop Python looks intersting, I'd like to know more about what he does (I assume Python works fine, Webpack compile? How is the 'drive'?)
Two things the iPad Pro completely replaced for me: - TV - Wacom Tablet For most people it is a 100% replacement for everything they do on a computer, if they get an external keyboard. Prior to the iPad Pro, I used my iPad exclusively for a number of months thanks to remoting in to my desktop. It slowed me down a bit, but it wasn't bad and I got a lot of work done during that time.
Did you mount it when using as a TV? That could be a good solution for me.
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#44Decent writer looks for a niche that's not occupied and says 'hey this will do'. Then tries to convince us it is all well. It is not -- the emperor is naked. I like how Federico does his job but I really don't like 'lets pretend iPad can replace proper computer' approach. Matt Gemmell took the same path recently and it won't end well too.
This is my biggest problem. This article is a really long tutorial on how to make an iPad sorta kinda do the things my Mac already does out of the box. Why? There's never a convincing argument why I would want to do this.
The argument is more app innovation is happening on mobile apps than PCs these days, and the simpler paradigm allows for more concise workflows and you can do a good deal more of your stuff just carrying around a iPad or even from your phone than you can when living in a MacOS world.
HN is probably the wrong audience because windows and filesystems are uniquely well suited abstractions for developers who have umpteen workflows and use cases of significant complexity. However observing how huge an improvement an iPad is for my joe-sixpack relatives, I think it's worth exploring the idea of how far can iOS can be taken by power users. I certainly think it could feasibly meet the needs of specific creative professionals like writers, designers or video editors.
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#45The article is interesting, I learnt about a few apps that could be valuable to me. But what I found most worrying was the lack of acknowledgement that exclusively using cloud storage has caviates associated with it. Are we really so comfortable with, unencrypted, cloud storage now that we don't even mention the potential for warrentlsss access and other abuses?
Yes, most people are that comfortable with unencrypted storage. But I expect the most interesting push back will not come from a tiny fraction of the population who care about such things, but from strict rules in governments and large organizations that prohibit storing classified or confidential data in unencrypted cloud storage. Either we'll get encryption as a normal feature, or private clouds.
(also sp. caveats, warrantless)
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#46I unsuccessfully tried using the iPad as a full-fledged computer for two months. It did not work out. Much of the web still assumes that you're using a mouse. You don't realize this until you try browsing the web with the iPad. Also, using SSH,even with Panic, was not as seamless as it seemed. There was much screen refreshing. I really missed having a mouse.
You can get a USB mouse, can't you?
iOS has no cursor. I suppose a mouse might be viable for remote desktop environments, but there's nothing to move with a mouse in the OS itself.
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#47Decent writer looks for a niche that's not occupied and says 'hey this will do'. Then tries to convince us it is all well. It is not -- the emperor is naked. I like how Federico does his job but I really don't like 'lets pretend iPad can replace proper computer' approach. Matt Gemmell took the same path recently and it won't end well too.
Why not? It will not work for everyone but I think it will for a lot of people.
As much as I dislike the iPad there are some people that it is truly better. We tried giving my 90 year old great grandmother a windows 98 machine a looong time ago so she could send email with us but she really couldn't figure it out. We got her an iPad the other year and while she has ended up with it stuck in airplane mode (and a number of other similar problems) a number of times, she now functions with it. (we think this is important because she lives by herself now and still refuses to move down with us.)
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#48I unsuccessfully tried using the iPad as a full-fledged computer for two months. It did not work out. Much of the web still assumes that you're using a mouse. You don't realize this until you try browsing the web with the iPad. Also, using SSH,even with Panic, was not as seamless as it seemed. There was much screen refreshing. I really missed having a mouse.
Panic's Prompt is slick, but Blink Shell has mosh built in, making it a far superior terminal for iOS.
Re: A Computer for Everything: One Year of iPad Pro
#49I don't want to sound arrogant, but for everyone who used a ridiculously overpowered computer - 90% of people (?) - for surfing and using Word, yes the iPad Pro is fine - or even overpowered. Using it to develop Python looks intersting, I'd like to know more about what he does (I assume Python works fine, Webpack compile? How is the 'drive'?)
The iPad is very overpowerd for what most people want to do. The hardware is amazing, it's the software that's the problem.