Is the iPad actually useful?

[akash.nu]

Slightly off-topic, but I find it rather ironic that Apple pushes the iPad for teaching children how to write code, yet there is (currently) no way to create actual apps on an iPad. Then if a child’s family can’t afford a Mac? Well of course, they can get a PC. (Microsoft appreciates Apple's efforts at recruiting future coders! )

iPad can be used to learn coding. That doesn’t mean iPad will be used to create apps.

 

[960design]

I find that even if I do take it travelling it’s much easier just to use the iPhone. At home, the MacBook is easy enough to use. So I find the iPad a bit useless. How do you use the iPad compared to your iPhone and MacBook?

I use the iPP10.5 as a secondary monitor when building software. I can see the changes immediately as I change the code without having to give up any IDE screen area.

I also use it to read books and watch the occasional movie at lunch ( lunch binging Rick and Morty right now ).

 

[MBAir2010]

Is the iPad useful?
that all depends what you need to do.

personally,
i now can scan, draw lines, color and save/export my comics on the iPad 2017.
during the productive phase,l will spend 7 to 10 hours a day on the the iPad developing.
the iPad can also spell check, look up info, change albums and remind me what need to get done.
My iPad can replace the mini and MBA if i felt i did not need to back up images or just use another source for a change.
I hope this helps!

 

[dsr2]

Disclaimer: I am retired so my use is strictly personal, but my ipads have replaced my MacBook Air. Reading, news, lists, calendar, entertainment. For me it does it all. Have even helped edit work for friends with a download of Office 365. I’ve tried to go back to my MacBook at various points, but I miss all the apps from my Ipad that I use that would cost me on a MacBook, if they even had them. If I could get a better price for my MacBook, I’d sell it. As it is, Apple won’t give me much so I’ll hold on to it for an emergency or to give it to one of my kids.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

iPad can be used to learn coding. That doesn’t mean iPad will be used to create apps.

That's the whole thing though. To truly learn how to code one needs the actual hardware that can build applications. I appreciate the effort Apple is making but the fact is, the families of many children who want to code cannot afford a Mac.

 

[akash.nu]

That's the whole thing though. To truly learn how to code one needs the actual hardware that can build applications. I appreciate the effort Apple is making but the fact is, the families of many children who want to code cannot afford a Mac.

Hardly any children is actually learning to code any complicated app. I think iPad is good enough for kids learning. When they get to the point of actually developing meaningful apps they’ll be ok with getting a Mac. IMHO.

 

[fricotin]

Is the pope a catholic ?

 

[The Game 161]

Yes it’s my only device I use web browsing for..couldn’t do without it

 

[charlituna]

I find that even if I do take it travelling it’s much easier just to use the iPhone. At home, the MacBook is easy enough to use. So I find the iPad a bit useless. How do you use the iPad compared to your iPhone and MacBook?

how anyone else uses their iPad is moot if you find the device useless. because our uses aren't your uses. so sell the iPad and stick with using what works for you.

 

[sparksd]

how anyone else uses their iPad is moot if you find the device useless. because our uses aren't your uses. so sell the iPad and stick with using what works for you.

Yeah, I find this akin to the iPad vs. laptop vs smartphone vs Android arguments - use a) what works best for your needs and/or b) what you like using best (may be different from (a)). Your devices for a and b may be quite different from mine. And (b) may be more important than (a) because you'll find a way to make do.

 

[labyrinth153]

Screen big enough to do actual work and the battery lasts forever. I find touch more productive than a keyboard and trackpad.

I use my iPad for everything.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I now have a solution with an awesome gaming desktop that dual boots Mac OSX and Windows 10. I am selling my 2014 Macbook Pro 15” and sticking with my iPad Pro 12.9” for all my mobile stuff. Works great.

 

[eoblaed]

I find that even if I do take it travelling it’s much easier just to use the iPhone. At home, the MacBook is easy enough to use. So I find the iPad a bit useless. How do you use the iPad compared to your iPhone and MacBook?

When I fly, my iPad is my goto device while on the plane. Far, far, far, better for watching movies/vids than an iPhone and significantly more convenient than a laptop.

I'll often bring my iPad into restaurants with me in the event I have to respond to a lengthy email or do anything else that requires a fair bit of typing. I don't have to depend on the place having a wifi, or setup tethering through my phone for my laptop, it's also much more compact than my MBP so it's easier to get out/stow away when I need to use it, and for typing anything more than a sentence or two, it's so much more convenient than doing it on my iPhone.

I'll also use it sometimes while we're watching movies (if I don't need to pay 100% attention) to get some work done -- I find it to be more comfortable to use, easier to shift around, etc, than even my MBP under those conditions. Same thing if my wife and I are relaxing in bed with something casual on the tv.

For any kind of gatherings with friends, etc, I'll bring my iPad. It's an exemplary photo-viewer.

 

[thelookingglass]

My problem with the iPad is that it's just powerful enough for you to want to use it for everything, but the apps just aren't robust enough to cover that last 10% of work that I need it for. Using it ends up becoming this endless search of workarounds and workarounds to those workarounds (slight exaggeration). In the end, I'm just typically not confident enough that I can rely on it for everything so I just don't use it much.

 

[akash.nu]

My problem with the iPad is that it's just powerful enough for you to want to use it for everything, but the apps just aren't robust enough to cover that last 10% of work that I need it for. Using it ends up becoming this endless search of workarounds and workarounds to those workarounds (slight exaggeration). In the end, I'm just typically not confident enough that I can rely on it for everything so I just don't use it much.

A lot of this is actually down to the service providers than the device itself.

 

[Feenician]

It’s a bit frustrating. The iPad is my home computer 99.9% of the time. For tasks that I consider productive it has limitations that are part Apple, part 3rd party limitations. A few examples/counter-examples/random musings: -

Microsoft Office: This is an example of the 3rd party crippling the experience. Office is in some ways one of the best and one of the most frustrating apps. What is there is, for the most part, implemented beautifully. You can open and edit quite complex Word files (I don’t use Excel or PowerPoint a great deal) and edit them with confidence. There’s Files integration and it’s a good citizen of the platform... And then you try to do something simple like insert a Table of Contents... Oh. It’s an entirely arbitrary ommision and I’m convinced it’s just not there because Microsoft know having these features would have a significant affect on their Windows business and they are just not quite ready to go there yet. There’s no way it’s a technical limitation or even a form-factor limitation. I am hoping that as they grow more into IoT, Cloud and SaaS they will be able to let loose a little.

SSH/Terminal access: This one is on Apple. Coming back to your session five minutes later to find it dead/disconnected. If you have control of the server you can work round it with screen but, honestly, it’s starting to feel arbitrary too. Don’t terminate my work if it’s not absolute necessary.

Art/Creative Apps: In some ways we see the biggest contrast here. Adobe are the masters of the desktop, though certainly Affinity are competitive for a lot, and an increasing amount, of workflows. Look at the limitation of the desktop vs the mobile apps though and Adobe are shipping toys where Affinity are shipping the full monty. Again, I’m pretty convinced that this is just a protection of existing interests. Affinity just see opportunity, Adobe just see price pressure.

My $0.02. I know some will disagree on some of the wider and finer points.

Edit: After having read through the thread a bit more closely I realized I focused on productivity and creativity, both of which vary wildly by profession and interests. For pure consumption of media, browsing and messaging the iPad is very strong.

 

[Howard2k]

If you have to ask...

I use my phone as a phone, unless out of the house.
Inside, I use the MBPro for Lightroom or anything that requires me to use my MBPro.
Typing sucks on the iPad. It’s tolerable for short messages, but any serious typing and I’m pulling out the MBPro with a real keyboard.

My iPad is used for casual surfing and GarageBand.
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A lot of this is actually down to the service providers than the device itself.

So this would never happen with a wifi model?

 

[akash.nu]

So this would never happen with a wifi model?

By service providers I meant the companies that are offering their services on iPads such as Microsoft, Adobe, Google etc.

 

[blipmusic]

A lot of this is actually down to the service providers than the device itself.

Maybe I misunderstand, but how will "service providers" (I assume you mean third party developers?) help me get around the fact that all iDevices are not very data-centric? Apple does not allow systemwide, unified user access to data - unlike any desktop class OS.

That's my problem with these things (I do have an iPad and use it on a daily basis). Very nice hardware with software that's obnoxiously app-centric. I want Apple to make a good Surface-alternative.

 

[44267547]

Screen big enough to do actual work and the battery lasts forever. I find touch more productive than a keyboard and trackpad.

I use my iPad for everything.

I think trackpads are highly irrelevant for my situation, where I’m faster with interacting with the display by using a stylus or my finger. Even though I have my laptop readily available, I find myself using it less with my iPad completing the majority of my tasks in a shorter amount of time because of how quickly I can interact with it.

 

[akash.nu]

Maybe I misunderstand, but how will "service providers" (I assume you mean third party developers?) help me get around the fact that all iDevices are not very data-centric? Apple does not allow systemwide, unified user access to data - unlike any desktop class OS.

That's my problem with these things (I do have an iPad and use it on a daily basis). Very nice hardware with software that's obnoxiously app-centric. I want Apple to make a good Surface-alternative.

There are 4 different sides to this -

1. iOS is not meant for desktop setup. So, as a user, trying to force it to replace a traditional desktop OS is wasting energy and effort.

2. iPad as a device is more than capable of handling day to day computer usage for over 90% of the users.

3. People who need access to terminal / a development environment, are such a low percentage of the total user base that killing iOS design ethos to satisfy a non-significant user base will be a very poor business decision.

4. People who actually wanted to use iPad for some / casual productivity related stuff can still do them with the help of various apps. Professional production really needs proper setup and the industry experts know that.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

There are 4 different sides to this -

1. iOS is not meant for desktop setup. So, as a user, trying to force it to replace a traditional desktop OS is wasting energy and effort.

2. iPad as a device is more than capable of handling day to day computer usage for over 90% of the users.

3. People who need access to terminal / a development environment, are such a low percentage of the total user base that killing iOS design ethos to satisfy a non-significant user base will be a very poor business decision.

4. People who actually wanted to use iPad for some / casual productivity related stuff can still do them with the help of various apps. Professional production really needs proper setup and the industry experts know that.

This is pretty accurate. The iPad Pro has allowed me to get everything I need to get done (writing, art, blogging, etc.) with the understanding that I am usually near my desktop. But when I travel, I only bring the iPad, it has worked so far.

 

[temna]

Honestly, if they would just make an 8" iPP, I would retire the phone and the PC.. I don't use the phone for calls, I use it for imessage and gaming. But being able to get decent speeds and pencil support on the mini, and that's all I would need..

 

[blipmusic]

There are 4 different sides to this -

1. iOS is not meant for desktop setup. So, as a user, trying to force it to replace a traditional desktop OS is wasting energy and effort.

2. iPad as a device is more than capable of handling day to day computer usage for over 90% of the users.

3. People who need access to terminal / a development environment, are such a low percentage of the total user base that killing iOS design ethos to satisfy a non-significant user base will be a very poor business decision.

4. People who actually wanted to use iPad for some / casual productivity related stuff can still do them with the help of various apps. Professional production really needs proper setup and the industry experts know that.

I realize that what you write is probably where Apple stands business-wise, but I still feel iOS shows little respect for user data in terms of how it can be manipulated and accessed system-wide - the macOS terminal is just one way of accessing and processing data, and it's not necessarily a development-centric option. We accumulate more and more data in all kinds of forms, but in general iOS makes it very hard to access that data externally or do anything data-related if we don't restrict ourselves to app-centric containers, internet up/download or copy files back and forth between apps. As someone who works with data management and "archivable" formats in terms of future compatibility, I honestly find all of this a bit worrying. I can't even connect a hard drive and get it to show up in Files.app (AFAIK) - whether "there's an app for that" is completely irrelevant since that usually creates its own compartmentalized file storage. It's all about workarounds. Simple things that requires a USB-connection on a desktop, requires a wifi-connection in iOS... It's a bit absurd to honest.

The comments above on "learning programming on iPad, but develop on Mac" does not sit well with me, either. Having learning tools on the iPad kind of implies one can develop on the same system and I'm sure there are lots of teens out there smitten by Swift-playgrounds (it's pretty nice), but will soon have to persuade mom and dad to get a "real" computer to continue. As more and more people are encouraged to code early on and discover the fun and daily productivity gains, more and more people will realize how little iOS allows for. Python is quickly becoming a common subject in elementary schools where I live, but a relative in that age immediately discovered that many of the Python tutorials and projects online simply were not doable on an iPad (even with the fantastic Pythonista app).

Anyway I don't think you and I necessarily disagree, I understand the limitations are by design and work well for a large part of the user base. I disagree with Apple's vision and believe they are taking it too far. I actually like my iPad a lot. As long as I work within its restrictions it works very well.