Do you agree with this author's opinion?

[SportsPhan8]

In an article from over a year ago, the author from the website ZDNET believes that the iPad Pro is only one feature away from being a solid replacement for a PC; it being able to use an external hard drive.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-ipad-pro-is-one-feature-away-from-being-a-true-pc-replacement/

Thoughts?

I happen to agree with him, although I love my mac and will always enjoy laptops. I could see this happening in the next few years, too.

 

[Channan]

Disagree. It already is a "PC replacement" for some. For others, it's going to take a whole lot more than that.

 

[bufffilm]

PC replacement is a very loosely defined term.

Right now, the iPad is a niche product.

 

[jonnyb098]

PC replacement is a very loosely defined term.

Right now, the iPad is a niche product.

I fail to understand how over 300 MILLION (and billions in revenue) iPads sold makes it a "niche" product. It was the fastest selling piece of consumer tech after the DVD player. Just about everyone I know has some various model of iPad. And these are not "tech" people. For most people they just want basic tasks like browsing, texting, photos. Simple things that a PC is pretty obnoxious for now.

 

[ardchoille50]

PC replacement is a very loosely defined term.

Right now, the iPad is a niche product.

Agreed. I own an iPad Pro 9.7, an iPad mini 4 and an iPhone 6s.. and I see no need for for me to own a desktop machine for the foreseeable future. However, I feel that heavy video/image editing or app development would be a much different case.

 

[Superspeed500]

I use my iPad Pro as an addition to my Mac. My iPad is great for taking notes and such, but it lacks file browsing, terminal access and laptop-class multitasking. My iPad Pro will not replace my Mac in the nearest future. It won't replace my gaming rig either.

 

[bufffilm]

I fail to understand how over 300 MILLION (and billions in revenue) iPads sold makes it a "niche" product. It was the fastest selling piece of consumer tech after the DVD player. Just about everyone I know has some various model of iPad. And these are not "tech" people. For most people they just want basic tasks like browsing, texting, photos. Simple things that a PC is pretty obnoxious for now.

You are equating 'niche' in your mind with $$$ in sales.

The two are unrelated.

 

[barkomatic]

I use my iPad mostly for entertainment purposes, but when I take trips I'll use it to check work email and it's somewhat compromised even for that.

Obviously, many people use it for work quite successfully but until it can somehow run the windows-only databases and reporting tools I use then it's a no-go in my case at least. I just love it for my gaming, youtube and web surfing/shopping though which is probably 80% of my home use.

I will say that the iPad de-prioritized my need for a PC to the point where I was unwilling to spend $3K to buy a macbook pro and went with a really nice quality PC for half the price.

 

[darkarn]

I brought my iPad Pro and my MBP 13" for my recent trip to Japan and used the MBP way more often.

What do you think my answer for this will be?

 

[dk001]

I fail to understand how over 300 MILLION (and billions in revenue) iPads sold makes it a "niche" product. It was the fastest selling piece of consumer tech after the DVD player. Just about everyone I know has some various model of iPad. And these are not "tech" people. For most people they just want basic tasks like browsing, texting, photos. Simple things that a PC is pretty obnoxious for now.

You are equating Consumption vs. Creation. Units sold as proof of functionality.
There are many things a tablet can do. Many more it cannot and requires the power, flexibility. and file handling an iPad cannot. Old discussion.
Aside from that, the iPad is a declining product that Apple is using PRO to attempt to slow this.
Can a tablet be a PC? Look at a Surface Pro. Wish my rMB had touchscreen capability.

 

[profets]

You are equating 'niche' in your mind with $$$ in sales.

The two are unrelated.

You are equating Consumption vs. Creation. Units sold as proof of functionality.
There are many things a tablet can do. Many more it cannot and requires the power, flexibility. and file handling an iPad cannot. Old discussion.
Aside from that, the iPad is a declining product that Apple is using PRO to attempt to slow this.
Can a tablet be a PC? Look at a Surface Pro. Wish my rMB had touchscreen capability.

It's always the same argument. The iPad can't do everything that some of us technically savvy users need, therefore it can't be a PC replacement for anyone.

The iPad is not a declining product. The rate of growth is levelling off, but in total there is still growth. I mean, if it settles to sales of 10M/quarter (~double that of Mac), would it be a bad thing?

I really think, what Apple is pushing, is the iPad as a primary computer for not every single person, but for the majority of consumers. Big difference. And Jobs at a Code conference explained it quite succinctly a few years back. I posted a link to it on youtube the other day in one of these threads.

As for the article, I think the author misses the point entirely if what he thinks will make the difference is being able to connect a USB based disk to an iPad.

 

[dk001]

It's always the same argument. The iPad can't do everything that some of us technically savvy users need, therefore it can't be a PC replacement for anyone.

The iPad is not a declining product. The rate of growth is levelling off, but in total there is still growth. I mean, if it settles to sales of 10M/quarter (~double that of Mac), would it be a bad thing?

I really think, what Apple is pushing, is the iPad as a primary computer for not every single person, but for the majority of consumers. Big difference. And Jobs at a Code conference explained it quite succinctly a few years back. I posted a link to it on youtube the other day in one of these threads.

As for the article, I think the author misses the point entirely if what he thinks will make the difference is being able to connect a USB based disk to an iPad.

It is an old argument. You either need just an iPad or you need more. You are beating horse paste.
The iPad has not improved nor evolved to change the current need for all.

 

[profets]

It is an old argument. You either need just an iPad or you need more. You are beating horse paste.
The iPad has not improved nor evolved to change the current need for all.

And you have still managed to miss the point. It may not have evolved to fill the needs for all, but it certainly can fill the needs for most.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And you have still managed to miss the point. It may not have evolved to fill the needs for all, but it certainly can fill the needs for most.

I would argue that it will fill the needs of many, but not most. Or, that it fills some needs of those you call the 'most'.

That depends on whether you want to consume content, or create content, as has already been pointed out by a number of posters such as @Rhonindk.

It is perfect for the consumption of content, but for those who wish to create content - and that includes writing - the iPad is not one's device of choice.

I had one - actually, I even bought a second one - colleagues had raved about it so much, but I ended up giving both of them away (one to each brother) and reverted, with a massive sigh of relief, to my 11" MBA, which is fast, powerful, portable, and reliable. It also has great battery life and a full sized keyboard.

Now, yes, the iPad sells exceptionally well, but it will not replace either laptops or desktops; instead, it will serve to complement them.

 

[bufffilm]

The iPad is not a declining product. The rate of growth is levelling off, but in total there is still growth. I mean, if it settles to sales of 10M/quarter (~double that of Mac), would it be a bad thing?

I really don't care what the yearly sales with be on the iPad, whether up or down.

If you think the iPad does what you need it to do, buy one. I have one.

But again, right now...the iPad is a niche product.

If yearly sales is 10M/quarter, nothing wrong with that. But there's nothing wrong with a number half that, either.

If sales jumps to 20M/quarter...it still doesn't change my opinion of what a niche product is.

 

[576316]

The ability to attach external media and moves files between folders within and between devices would be an excellent, pro, feature for iPad to have. But Apple are not interested in giving users useful features. They just want to charge you more for less.

 

[profets]

I would argue that it will fill the needs of many, but not most. Or, that it fills some needs of those you call the 'most'.

That depends on whether you want to consume content, or create content, as has already been pointed out by a number of posters such as @Rhonindk.

It is perfect for the consumption of content, but for those who wish to create content - and that includes writing - the iPad is not one's device of choice.

I had one - actually, I even bought a second one - colleagues had raved about it so much, but I ended up giving both of them away (one to each brother) and reverted, with a massive sigh of relief, to my 11" MBA, which is fast, powerful, portable, and reliable. It also has great battery life and a full sized keyboard.

Now, yes, the iPad sells exceptionally well, but it will not replace either laptops or desktops; instead, it will serve to complement them.

I really don't care what the yearly sales with be on the iPad, whether up or down.

If you think the iPad does what you need it to do, buy one. I have one.

But again, right now...the iPad is a niche product.

If yearly sales is 10M/quarter, nothing wrong with that. But there's nothing wrong with a number half that, either.

If sales jumps to 20M/quarter...it still doesn't change my opinion of what a niche product is.

Do you honestly think that most (not all) consumers actually need Windows or MacOS for day to day computing?

 

[motulist]

I already do 97% of my computing on my iPad, and the main thing holding it back from 100% is simply that software functionality hasn't fully caught up.

For example, with Spotify there are a couple of functions you can only do on the desktop client, but that's only because Spotify haven't gotten around to adding that feature to their mobile software yet.

 

[ABC5S]

Not important to me. NEXT. I purchased for my needs, not what other people think.

 

[dk001]

And you have still managed to miss the point. It may not have evolved to fill the needs for all, but it certainly can fill the needs for most.

Replace "most" with some and I will agree. Like I said, old debate.
[doublepost=1496164783][/doublepost]

Do you honestly think that most (not all) consumers actually need Windows or MacOS for day to day computing?

Who said anything about an OS?

 

[profets]

Replace "most" with some and I will agree. Like I said, old debate.
[doublepost=1496164783][/doublepost]

Who said anything about an OS?

Ok, replace Windows/Mac with 'PC' then. Same story.

So we do agree that the iPad can be a sole computing device for people, just that we have differing opinions on how many people?

 

[dk001]

Ok, replace Windows/Mac with 'PC' then. Same story.

So we do agree that the iPad can be a sole computing device for people, just that we have differing opinions on how many people?

Agree. I know a few folks for whom an iPad or other tablet does what they need.

 

[bufffilm]

Do you honestly think that most (not all) consumers actually need Windows or MacOS for day to day computing?

That's up to the consumer to decide.

There could be a case made that a smartphone could do what many consumers need on a day-by-day basis.

Buy what you need.

 

[profets]

That's up to the consumer to decide.

There could be a case made that a smartphone could do what many consumers need on a day-by-day basis.

Buy what you need.

Exactly my point. The smartphone even has already become the primary (and in many cases the only) computing device for many people.

Sure, it's up to the consumer to decide. But truly think abstractly about most consumers (not the tiny niche of us technically savvy or professional users). Do they really need a PC instead of an iPad?

 

[bufffilm]

Do they really need a PC instead of an iPad?

No.