PDF expert 7 does file reducing now. Not sure about OCR. It is however, subscription though.I have been experimenting with being iPad-only for about two months and am planning on sticking with it. I have the 11-inch Pro, but connect it at my desk to an external USB-C 4K monitor with a freestanding BT keyboard. That’s not an ideal set-up right now, but I think mouse support will make a huge difference with the new iPad OS upgrade (I’m not running the beta). And the other OS upgrades should also remove most of the workflow issues.
I’m a lawyer. I do serious work on my devices. Mostly writing long documents, reviewing and managing PDFs, and carrying out legal research via either a browser or a dedicated app. I find it all very doable on the iPad and more enjoyable from a tech point of view. Unlike many, I actually prefer the less cluttered version of Word on the iPad to the Mac one (although I usually prefer to work in Pages). Yes, there are workflow changes. For example, there are a few things I need to do with long PDFs — including OCR and file-size compression — that iPad apps still don’t allow. PDF Expert is pretty good, but not as fully featured as on the Mac. And I cannot understand why Adobe has not brought Acrobat Pro to the iPad. But there are some pretty good online PDF alternatives (Kami, Sedja). Overall, I like the simplicity of one device that I can use in all sorts of places and in different sorts of ways — conventional tablet being one — and where the multitasking is good, but not so good that I am distracted by an array of things all visible at the same time.
I’d been using Macs since around 1990 and maybe had just got bored with them. In some ways, my current iPad set-up reminds me of the techno pleasure I got from my very first Apple PowerBook 100 in 1991. Although the iPad can do a ton more than that device!
Part of me wonders whether I should get the 12.9-inch model, as I’m not always connected to an external monitor. Maybe I’ll wait for the next product refresh and then try that out.
PDF expert 7 does file reducing now. Not sure about OCR. It is however, subscription though.
I think we all do serious work ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There's many posts and threads where people successfully use the iPad as their only device.Indeed! But my point was to respond to those whose refrain is that the iPad is only suited to content consumption and entertainment.
On my goodness I can show you how to scrap on my iPad. I have been wanting to do a series on this. I actually design scrapbook kits on my iPad as well.I did it for quite a while with iPP and iPhone. Ultimately this year I bought another iMac, mainly because I got some work from home opportunities with my p/t job that will just be easier on a desktop. That and I wanted the ability to do some digital scrapbooking, which is the only thing I haven’t been able to find a way to do on my iPad.
Now granted, nothing I do on a daily basis requires much more than basic apps/usage, so I’m probably not a prime example, but I LOVED the simplicity of it.
I've been thinking of selling the MacBook Pro, like some of you all. I should be able to carry on just fine with the Mini and the iPad. I don't carry the MacBook Pro around very much at all anymore since I've had the iPad. If I traveled for work, I'd probably have to carry the MacBook Pro, but I only take the iPad for personal travel.
On the other hand, the iPad is getting long in the tooth and I've noticed the darn thing follows me everywhere I go!
The iPad being so light, not needing a power brick attached, having its own cellular card,and "always on" or "instant on"; and it seems like I'm constantly engaging with it.
Sometimes, I think I should sell both the iPad and the MacBook Pro and stick with the Mini and the iPhone as my less intrusive solution.
As for the Average Joe: I can certainly see an "iPad only" solution. Of course, you'd have a cell phone too.
Many young folk I know have only a large screen smart phone and rely on using institutional, parental, or workplace PCs for heavy duty work. So "Mini iPad" is already here for lots of folk!
On my goodness I can show you how to scrap on my iPad. I have been wanting to do a series on this. I actually design scrapbook kits on my iPad as well.
I’ve been considering selling my MacBook Pro and iPad Pro and getting a 3rd gen iPad Pro with iOS 13. So I’d use an iPhone XS Max and an iPad Pro. I’m just curious if anyone else has?
Let me see about starting a new thread on this....With photos? Where you can make books and stuff? I would LOVE for you to share!
It never really was! It's just that back in the 90s, the gigantic beige box desktop PC setups were our only option. They were, and still are, much too complicated and error prone for most regular computer users who just want to check email, message their friends, watch video, play games, etc. This is all a majority of of people have ever really done with their home computers. This is why the iPad fit so nicely for those kinds of users right from the get go, and why I think that the Mac was just a multi-year series of stepping stones to the iPad, which has in turn been a multi year series of stepping stones to the iPad Pro and iPadOS.XS and iPad Pro 11 here.
I’m just a consumer of media, so the iPad is fine. A non-work computer is definitely not needed for most people nowadays.
Absolutely.It never really was! It's just that back in the 90s, the gigantic beige box desktop PC setups were our only option. They were, and still are, much too complicated and error prone for most regular computer users who just want to check email, message their friends, watch video, play games, etc. This is all a majority of of people have ever really done with their home computers. This is why the iPad fit so nicely for those kinds of users right from the get go, and why I think that the Mac was just a multi-year series of stepping stones to the iPad, which has in turn been a multi year series of stepping stones to the iPad Pro and iPadOS.
The difference now with the iPad Pro and even some of the more current non-Pro models is that they don't have to be constrained to "for fun" stuff if you do the kind of work that fits well on the iPad. I find photo editing, drawing, and many other content creation tasks to be much more fun and intuitive with an Apple Pencil and an iPad Pro than with a Mac and a mouse, for example. The iOS apps for these tasks have gotten incredibly powerful.
I know there are always going to be people who don't like or agree with this idea--there's a huge legacy base of Mac users that will probably never move to an iPad Pro, or at least never 100%. But there is a growing number of people (myself included) that can get it all done on the iPad Pro and have more fun doing it.
I've been thinking of selling the MacBook Pro, like some of you all. I should be able to carry on just fine with the Mini and the iPad. I don't carry the MacBook Pro around very much at all anymore since I've had the iPad. If I traveled for work, I'd probably have to carry the MacBook Pro, but I only take the iPad for personal travel.
On the other hand, the iPad is getting long in the tooth and I've noticed the darn thing follows me everywhere I go!
The iPad being so light, not needing a power brick attached, having its own cellular card,and "always on" or "instant on"; and it seems like I'm constantly engaging with it.
Sometimes, I think I should sell both the iPad and the MacBook Pro and stick with the Mini and the iPhone as my less intrusive solution.
As for the Average Joe: I can certainly see an "iPad only" solution. Of course, you'd have a cell phone too.
Many young folk I know have only a large screen smart phone and rely on using institutional, parental, or workplace PCs for heavy duty work. So "Mini iPad" is already here for lots of folk!