After printing and multitasking, what's next?

[Bodhi395]

Now that the iPad will finally get the ability to natively print, and multitask, what will be the next big software features for the iPad do you think?

I think not having a more robust file system is now the biggest weakness. Since its still hard to save files and transfer them back and forth through apps, and its especially hard to transfer them back and forth from the iPad to a computer. Going through email is just not a good solution.

Once it gets that better file system in addition to the printing and multitasking, I think the iPad can basically replace a notebook computer. It will have almost all the necessary tools most people would need, except for power users who need professional apps like photoshop or final cut pro, etc... For the average user though you could do almost anything, and pair the iPad up with a wireless keyboard for writing longer pieces of text.

 

[thelookingglass]

I'm not saying this is whats next, but have you tried using Dropbox through DocsToGo? The app allows you to directly access files on Dropbox and then sync after you make changes. Very useful. I think too many people don't look at alternatives beyond Pages and wonder why the ipad is so limited. I've never even considered buying Pages because of the terrible syncing capabilities.

 

[Satori]

Now that the iPad will finally get the ability to natively print, and multitask, what will be the next big software features for the iPad do you think?

I think not having a more robust file system is now the biggest weakness. Since its still hard to save files and transfer them back and forth through apps, and its especially hard to transfer them back and forth from the iPad to a computer. Going through email is just not a good solution.

Once it gets that better file system in addition to the printing and multitasking, I think the iPad can basically replace a notebook computer. It will have almost all the necessary tools most people would need, except for power users who need professional apps like photoshop or final cut pro, etc... For the average user though you could do almost anything, and pair the iPad up with a wireless keyboard for writing longer pieces of text.

The more that people tend to use the iPad as a laptop replacement, the more a decent file management system would seem to be needed.

However, I suspect that Apple may want to try and introduce another paradigm with iOS devices whereby files are stored mostly by various cloud services (email, idisk, dropbox etc) and accessed solely through apps. Not much will be stored locally, and local content will always be accessed through its specific app.

Although we are used to hierarchical directory/folder style file management systems, it might be argued that having dedicated applications as the primary (or sole) point of access for their file types is a more intuitive for novice users. Each app effectively becomes a file manager for a particular file type.

This wouldn't be my preference cos I'm stuck in the old ways of doing things, but it may be what the future holds.

 

[TorontoLRT]

^I think they'll introduce something like a "universal file hub" that groups files by type automatically, so they can be accessed from different apps. A bit like a cross between a real file system and the way it works now.

 

[emptyCup]

what will be the next big software features for the iPad do you think?

Some mechanism for storage and backup that frees the device from the need for a separate computer.

 

[poloponies]

I'm not out to be Apple's apologist but are people really that bent out of shape about the methods for transferring files? As it is, if I want something copied from my desktop to my MBP I either email it or use a thumb drive. How is transferring through iTunes (or via the aforementioned email) any more cumbersome? Sure, Apple can work to make it even easier, but as mentioned above, there are always other options. Whether Apple is giving you the option directly or allowing 3rd party options, it's far from a complicated process.

 

[Bodhi395]

I'm not out to be Apple's apologist but are people really that bent out of shape about the methods for transferring files? As it is, if I want something copied from my desktop to my MBP I either email it or use a thumb drive. How is transferring through iTunes (or via the aforementioned email) any more cumbersome? Sure, Apple can work to make it even easier, but as mentioned above, there are always other options. Whether Apple is giving you the option directly or allowing 3rd party options, it's far from a complicated process.

You're right, there are other options, BUT there were also other options for printing before, and Apple realized they were not very good and decided to make it simple and built into the OS directly. I think they should do the same with the file system. Even something as simple as good integration with mobileme would be nice. So you could save files from apps directly into your mobileme idisk, and load files directly from there, without having to use a separate app. If they did just that small change they would please almost everyone and also sell tons more mobileme accounts.

 

[Liam8]

Since we're all talking about file storage and management, you think it's possible they will use they're new cloud storage facility to allow iPad and iPhone users an amount of space to store file in the could and access them through any app that needs them? Similar to iWork.com. Maybe iWork.com was they're testing for cloud based services!

 

[Reddkryten]

I can't speak for everyone, but it's not the iTunes file transfer thing that bothers me. It's the difficulty in moving things around on the device itself.

Say I write a document in pages, but want to send it to docs2go or something (maybe one of those apps that puts word docs out through the TV connection, so I can project it) that's very awkward. I can email it to myself, get the email and re-import it into the other app. Sure it's doable, but not the most elegant solution.

I know some apps have the ability to open files in other apps, but so far I've only found one which does this. It kinda works, but is not particularly well implemented (I know half of that is down to the app developers, but still.)

Or a better example, I recently saw some sort of music creation application (something like Garage Band) say I created a song in that, but wanted to import it to iMovie for a video I am editing. I don't think there is a way to do that at the moment.

There are ways around all of these, it's not a massive problem, but it is a kind of inconvenient.

The thing I would love to see next is the ability to manage content on the device. Like iPhoto, at the moment I cannot create events etc on the device. Or if I find a video online, I might want to save it to the Video app. Maybe this is just me, but I'm obsessive about keeping things organized, I have a few video files without director, year, description etc. If I could edit those on the device it'd help keep things cleaner.