iPad Pro Is this a computer?

[cipher29]

A computer is something that computes things... An iPad, iPhone, calculator are all “computers” ..

Can an iPad be a main computer for someone? Likely some users, yes... IMO an iPad can’t be a main computer for me as it just sucks so bad at “work” tasks and can’t replace a computer with a full blown operating system.

The question should almost be: “can iOS be used as a MacOS/Windows OS replacement?” ... IMO, the answer to that is no.

 

[Michael Goff]

A computer is something that computes things... An iPad, iPhone, calculator are all “computers” ..

Can an iPad be a main computer for someone? Likely some users, yes... IMO an iPad can’t be a main computer for me as it just sucks so bad at “work” tasks and can’t replace a computer with a full blown operating system.

The question should almost be: “can iOS be used as a MacOS/Windows OS replacement?” ... IMO, the answer to that is no.

What do you think most people use their Macs and Windows computers for? What do you think are, say, the top 10 things people do on their Macs and Windows computers?

 

[bensisko]

A computer is something that computes things... An iPad, iPhone, calculator are all “computers” ..

Can an iPad be a main computer for someone? Likely some users, yes... IMO an iPad can’t be a main computer for me as it just sucks so bad at “work” tasks and can’t replace a computer with a full blown operating system.

The question should almost be: “can iOS be used as a MacOS/Windows OS replacement?” ... IMO, the answer to that for me is no.

Fixed that for you. =)
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I never misinterpreted that comment. I’ve always had very clear the use cases for a stylus on the iPad, which are the ones you stated. Still, it didn’t spare me years of comments by people who used to say that “normal people” don’t need a stylus, therefore Apple shouldn’t make one (for some reason). Of course adding optional trackpad support would destroy iOS for “normal” people who don’t need one. Like styluses and game pads.

If Apple “should or should not” do something with iOS is irrelevant - the fact is that Apple has their own direction for iOS that is aimed directly at what they see for user experience and it will never be the techie playground that Android is. Apple, Google, and Microsoft all have very different visions on what a Tablet is/should be. Getting into personal territory, I see that as a good thing. I like that iOS isn’t like Android or Windows.

 

[Pakaku]

It's still impossible to develop an iPad app on an iPad. Until that's possible, it is not an absolute Mac replacement, only relative if you do any other sort of work on one.

 

[bensisko]

It's still impossible to develop an iPad app on an iPad. Until that's possible, it is not an absolute Mac replacement, only relative if you do any other sort of work on one.

I don’t think anyone has ever said it is an absolute replacement (if they did, they’re flat out wrong). Just like a MacBook Pro can’t be an absolute replacement for an iPad.

 

[JagdTiger]

A computer is anything from a calculator up. It’s simple.

The electronic chess sets are also computers.

 

[Mainsail]

What do you think most people use their Macs and Windows computers for? What do you think are, say, the top 10 things people do on their Macs and Windows computers?

This is the $64k question. It is a less important question for Work applications because most folks need specialty software or access to proprietary data bases, so the employer will dictate the device. For personal use, where folks get to choose what they use and buy, I believe the most frequent (in approximate order) computer activities for most people are:

1. Web searching and browsing
2. Email and messaging
3. Watching Movies, Videos, and TV
4. Playing Games
5. Photo sharing & occasional editing
6. Reading Books & PDFs
7. Calendar & Reminder
8. Taking Notes
9. Creating simple/short documents
10. Personal Finance and Banking

So, an iPad is more than sufficient for the taks listed above. Students are kind of an exception. For example, I believe most college students spend a huge amount of time on document creation and editing. In my opinion, HS and College students really benefit from using a laptop rather than an iPad.

 

[JagdTiger]

Who cares? I don't give a flying fart if my iPad is a computer so long as it does the things I want it to do...

All these things are computers, the Atari 2600, colecovison, intellevision and the new Atari video game system being developed now, essentially anything which calculates numbers or manipulates graphics for games etc.

 

[stevenme]

This one's easy, from Wikipedia:

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. The ability of computers to follow generalized sets of operations, called programs, enables them to perform an extremely wide range of tasks.

So applying this definition I'd say smartphones and tablet are "computers".

 

[JagdTiger]

A computer is something that computes things... An iPad, iPhone, calculator are all “computers” ..

Can an iPad be a main computer for someone? Likely some users, yes... IMO an iPad can’t be a main computer for me as it just sucks so bad at “work” tasks and can’t replace a computer with a full blown operating system.

The question should almost be: “can iOS be used as a MacOS/Windows OS replacement?” ... IMO, the answer to that is no.

It’s more than possible the tablets will be the future of computers with detachable ssd’s and being non tethered plus can attach to a monitor/television with keyboard...the standerd desktop ones now don’t seem to be a future tech as such with them being stationary and using more electricity.

 

[Traverse]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/15/bricked-mac-pro-how-to-restore/

There seems to be the opinion of many that a "real computer" is only one that can restore itself in case of a crash. I've seen multiple people say that because an iPad Pro needs another computer to revive itself from a crash, then it is not a computer.

By that logic, then is a iMac Pro considered a computer?

Based on this trend, I would guess all Macs will be like this soon. Is it a problem? Maybe for some of you. I've been using both macs and iOS devices for 10+ years now, and I have never had a crash that required a full restore. But I take care of my computers and keep them organized. I would guess more people have hardware issues that require service than have software issues that require a full restore. But maybe I'm wrong.... I've seen quite a few clueless people over the years who don't know how to use their computers and always mess stuff up.

OP is just pointing at a common argument used against the iPad. "It's not a real computer because you have to connect to iTunes to restore it if something goes wrong."
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I’ve not heard of the definition that a real computer needs to be able to restore itself in case of a crash.... for years if my windows PC failed I’d have to burn a restore disk on another machine to fix it...

Meant to quote you abouve.

 

[bensisko]

It’s more than possible the tablets will be the future of computers with detachable ssd’s and being non tethered plus can attach to a monitor/television with keyboard...the standerd desktop ones now don’t seem to be a future tech as such with them being stationary and using more electricity.

Depends on the audience. For some tasks, desktops will be a thing for a good many years to come. For anybody with high processor and storage requirements, the technology just doesn’t catch up fast enough to go mobile.

For a more mass audience, I just don’t see a detachable SSD (one that transfers from laptop to other devices) being a thing - not with cloud services so prevalent. More likely you’ll just have multiple connected devices where you log into cloud services to access data. In fact, we’re there now - thinking about certain types of content.