Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
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Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
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Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#2[deleted]
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#3I broadly agree with this thesis - I don't think there's a "betrayal" of a vision (and even if there had been, who really cares?) - but I do think Apple's vision has got muddled.
My problem is we're not all talking about the same thing when we talk about "The iPad". Right now, on sale today, there are four iPads to choose from. No, not different colours, or memory sizes - you need to make a choice between the Mini, the Air, the Pro and the regular iPad.
Want a desktop? Cool, you've got the iMac, the Mini, the Studio, and the Pro. Within each of those you have choices on processor, memory, storage and more.
Or maybe you just want a phone. Cool. Want the 16, the 16e, the 16 Pro, or the 15? They're all on the Apple store right now.
None of these have anything on the Watch (Series 10, Ultra 2, SE, Nike or Hermes).
I think it can hard to work out where each device sits in your life, but then there are spectrums and overlaps between them, and this is confusing for the consumer. Should I buy a high-end phone and spend a little less on an iPad and see it as just a bigger screen? Or should I get the last generation phone, splurge on an iPad Pro, and then maybe I don't need as much in the way of a Mac?
When you're selling a lifestyle, you need to be coherent. It used to be the case that Apple was coherent, but this choice is making customers confused.
I'd love to see a paired back offering and have more clarity and delineation. Do that, and this "is an iPad a laptop replacement?" becomes a more redundant question, and this idea of "betrayal" can go away.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#4From Apple's point of view, Apple Vision (Pro) is the ultimate platform. That's why I think they were so convinced in developing it. If VR/AR headsets follow the same transition we had between the first gigantic mobile phones of thw 80s and the pocketable ones of the 2000s, I could seriously see Apple throwing out all their consumer lineup (phone, watch, ipad, macbook) and only have a Vision device. This would solve all the problems regarding different experiences.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#5I think people get this idea that Jobs shaped Apple by dumbing things down, which is not true. For example OS X shipped from the beginning with a Unix shell, which is way harder to use than GUI; this is something that Jobs added to the Mac. But it’s hidden in an app and probably most folks will never interact with it at all. It’s like the deep end of a swimming pool: there if you want to do some specialized stuff, but anyone can ignore it and still have a great time in the pool.
The idea of a stylus for drawing on the iPad must have been there from the start because Wacom was already financially successful and a popular Mac accessory. Their Cintiq monitor/drawing tablet predated the iPad by about a decade. Apple’s leadership must have been aware of it.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#6I honestly thought the touch bar was introduced into the laptops as 'test' iteration before it leading somewhere, and maybe partly with the ipad pros. For on-the-move prosumer use in music, video, and image editing I can see a lot of use for fully customisable hot buttons, especially combined with the pencil.
As it is, they're in a weird space. It's better to buy an air than the ipad pro + pro keyboard, the price of which is eye-watering. My ipad is now a very expensive screen for watching Tv in bed, and playing the odd bit of roblox to keep endgaged with my kids. I'm not going to bother typing anything on it... it's an absolute chore compared to my phone because of worse ergonomics due to it's size.
As a gateway device for AI... something maybe there's an interesting use case to be discovered but I'm not bullish on the value proposition of them going forward.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#7It still remains a crippled user experience in many ways:
- PDF reader: Preview would be a nice addition to the set of default app, but you have to choose between the very basic viewer tied to Files.app and various viewers with many schemes to get into your wallet.
- Files: I know a lot of apps rely on databases, but we still have to use files every now and then. The Files.app is very clunky for what I consider a solved problem.
- The weird stage manager: Even on a 13" screen, it's hard to manage more than two apps side by side. Why not introduce a simple workspace manager a la GNOME if they user want to save a particular set of windows.
- Profiles: Even browsers are adding them these days as they recognize that people have a faceted life. Instead we have custom notification settings. The ipad is not that personal of a device. It's closer to the Apple TV than my laptop in terms of privacy.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#8> When Jobs introduced the iPad in 2010, he wasn’t trying to freeze technology in amber.
Well it's 15 years later, their rules have only ever voluntarily-changed to carve out more fees for themselves and the software you're not allowed to use appears to be banned "forever".
His vision was a closed ecosystem with massive fees and no competition, even changes to the laws around the world haven't really disrupted this:
> One can read books bought elsewhere, just not buy/rent/subscribe from iOS without paying us, which we acknowledge is prohibitive for many things.”
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#9From Apple's point of view, Apple Vision (Pro) is the ultimate platform. That's why I think they were so convinced in developing it. If VR/AR headsets follow the same transition we had between the first gigantic mobile phones of thw 80s and the pocketable ones of the 2000s, I could seriously see Apple throwing out all their consumer lineup (phone, watch, ipad, macbook) and only have a Vision device. This would solve…
We're still a long way before it being a viable option to ditch all other devices for. If they could get it working as an AR glasses wirelessly reliant on an iPhone then that would be the thing that makes it go from weird overpriced useless product to an actual useful device.
Getting rid of the phone completely though is a whole other issue and we're nowhere near being able to ship anything with enough computing power and battery capacity into a form factor as light as standard glasses.
The whole chunky VR headset thing - no, that's not taking off as a thing people will wear all day.
Re: Apple has not destroyed Steve Jobs' vision for iPad
#10It still remains a crippled user experience in many ways: - PDF reader: Preview would be a nice addition to the set of default app, but you have to choose between the very basic viewer tied to Files.app and various viewers with many schemes to get into your wallet. - Files: I know a lot of apps rely on databases, but we still have to use files every now and then. The Files.app is very clunky for what I consider a sol…
Preview was just included in iOS 26