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The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

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Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#91

Post by e_proxus »

cm2187 wrote: post #4

Text selection is the most broken thing to me on an ipad. It makes any kind of editing pretty much unusable. Great device to browse the web from my bathtub and watch movies on a plane, but haven’t found any other usage.

My favorite pet peeve is trying to edit URLs in the address bar in Safari. Just trying to get the cursor to the end of the address field a an error prone chore. Often the text is select and there’s no way to unselect it. Then of course it doesn’t help when you want to remove some components of the URL that Safari helpfully autocompletes back to the URL you jus visited.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#92

Post by gherkinnn »

ghaff wrote: post #64
gnicholas wrote: post #25

Gruber is right that the iPad hasn't revolutionized an industry like the Mac or iPhone. But the iPad was launched smack in the middle of the iPhone and the Mac, not in the middle of a green field. The iPhone had competition below it, from feature phones and Blackberrys. But there was nothing above it. Similarly, the Mac was launched into a very nascent market, where there were competitors (PCs), but it wasn't facing…

The iPad arguably succeeded because it wasn’t a convertible. However, now, especially given big phones, it feels as if some sort of tablet/laptop convergence will eventually be the future.

I’d argue that the iPad is an excellent chance to downgrade to a less capable phone.

Get an iPhone ~8 — no need for an 11 in combination with an iPad.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#93

Post by zozbot234 »

Nextgrid wrote: post #87
zozbot234 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Updates can be provided by the community in many cases. Buy cheap LineageOS-supported tablet, unlock the bootloader and put LineageOS on, you're done. (Then once pmOS gets good enough for your use case, your device will be software-supported for the entirety of its useful life, by a mainstream, desktop-like OS. You don't get anything like that on the iPad - the best you can do is reuse it as an additional screen for…

The community is not an acceptable answer for a business deploying thousands of these. With an iPad you are guaranteed X years of updates. With the community, you may or may not get an update, it might have quirks and installing it might be non-trivial.

If you're deploying "thousands" of these devices, you can standardize on a single model and even get custom support. The iPad might still be a good choice then, but it's definitely not the only one.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#94

Post by slipheen »

Phenix88be wrote: post #90
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…

> And Steve Jobs was old enough to learn that much earlier: that the "modes" are bad and that good UI doesn't require one to do some magic to switch between them, as it can be summarized in the joke: "How to Quit Vim and Exit the VI Editor — the most popular Stack Overflow question -- and I'm using vi last two years because I can't figure out how to exit it." The more a software do, the less it's user friendly... You…

The File, Edit, etc menus on macOS are much more clear interface than most applications I've used on the iPad.

macOS is undeniably more powerful - It's the truck versus the sports car in the analogy.

But macOS is much much more straightforward and easy to use. I have far fewer things that I just have to memorize.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#96

Post by akg_67 »

acqq wrote: post #36
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…

> 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.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#97

Post by darkerside »

dewey wrote: post #89
alopex_plenus wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so the captain tells us to switch off all electronic devices and then proceeds to navigate the plane via iPad?

They tell you to switch off the device's broadcast functionality ("airplane mode"). Something they don't need for navigating with an iPad as it's just offline maps / apps).

Besides, what if they did? You think you need to use your device just because the pilot is?

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#98

Post by devxpy »

have_faith wrote: post #65
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…

I think a big part of the mediocre sales is related to the use-cases that most iPad users have which seems to mostly be watching videos, browsing the internet, reading etc. Any 2 or 3 generation old iPad will do this fine with very little reason to upgrade. It doesn't have anything near comparable to the upgrade path that a lot of phone users who seem very eager to upgrade to a better camera/battery/etc.

Exactly. If it were not for the OS, the hardware seems to be a lot more capable than casual entertainment. These use cases simply don't push the hardware to its limits.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#99

Post by audunw »

alopex_plenus wrote: post #74
bronco21016 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all of them disappeared into thin air one night then nearly the entire global aviation system would come to a screeching halt. It’s the device of choice among air carriers for navigation charts. Paper backup isn’t even carried anymore. We just carry extra iPads and batteries. I’m not sure any of the charting apps used by air carriers are even available on another OS at this point. I’ve never been aware of JeppFD P…

so the captain tells us to switch off all electronic devices and then proceeds to navigate the plane via iPad?

While it's good to avoid EM interference from electronic devices, I think the real reason they want you to switch of these devices is to make sure you're not totally distracted during take-off or landing, and that you're not using headphones, so you'll be aware in case of accidents/emergencies.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#100

Post by arethuza »

devxpy wrote: post #98
have_faith wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big part of the mediocre sales is related to the use-cases that most iPad users have which seems to mostly be watching videos, browsing the internet, reading etc. Any 2 or 3 generation old iPad will do this fine with very little reason to upgrade. It doesn't have anything near comparable to the upgrade path that a lot of phone users who seem very eager to upgrade to a better camera/battery/etc.

Exactly. If it were not for the OS, the hardware seems to be a lot more capable than casual entertainment. These use cases simply don't push the hardware to its limits.

My iPad must be 4 or 5 years old and seems perfectly capable of pretty much everything I use it for (videos from various sources), lightweight web browsing, looking at pictures, browsing Ordnance Survey maps...

Only reason I would upgrade is if I break it (unlikely as I don't take it outside very often) or when iOS upgrades stop (which is what happened to two previous iPads I have in a drawer somewhere).

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