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Isn't the iPad Really Just A Toy Still?

Imo it's now about the apps catching up. We have iPad Pros with 4GB of RAM and fast SoCs, and Apple has been expanding the APIs in iOS.
Pros that see the advantage of integrating the iPad into their workflow will.
 
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parseckadet said:
...so I know the thread title may seem trollish....
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yup!
parseckadet said:
now I'm back to thinking that maybe there is some usefulness to the iPad beyond consumption.
...
So now I'm so wrapped up in knots that I just don't know what to think. My personal experience has been that the iPad is indeed just a toy for watching videos. But is there something about the Pro that changes this?
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Unknot yourself. The ipad is very useful complimentary device. Its utility to me is somewhat undermined by file sharing issues into the Windows world. icloud drive is a joke. You cannot transfer documents for Sketchbook Pro or Scanbot. Thats insane, Apple! Apple pen is very good, but massively overrated. I love my ipad. Things are what they are.
 
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I use my base iPad 2017 frequently for light productivity and media consumption (books, photos, and movie etc). For light productivity, I use the iPad for; responding to email, scheduling and reminders, taking notes, marking up PDFs, and drafting/editing short documents (pages, numbers, and keynote). So, it is more than simply a toy for me.

That said, the iPad OS and UI have certain limitations, and there are definitely times when my MBA is a better choice for the task at hand. The iPad is a touch first device. The MBA's OS is a keyboard and trackpad input device, and there are times when this UI is just plain superior to touch.

So, for the OP, why beat your head against a wall? You can purchase a new 2017 MBA on sale for as low as $750. You can purchase a new 2017 iPad for as low as $250. That's $1,000 for two very capable machines. A new base MBP is $1,300. The Apple ecosystem allows you to move seamlessly between devices, so there really are no major disadvantages to owning both devices and using them for their intended purposes, which is better than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Just food for thought.
 
parseckadet said:
Ok, so I know the thread title may seem trollish, but I promise that's not what I'm trying to do. Part of my purchase process inevitably gets to a point where I say to myself "I don't really need this thing." The iPad Pro with iOS 11 has me really tempted, and so I'm in that same spot of saying that I don't really need it. That's the reason I'm starting this thread, to get these thoughts out there and see what others have to say.

So on the one hand, I could use a hardware upgrade. I have an early-2011 MBP, which is really starting to show its age. But it also was invaluable when I was looking for a new job and relocating 6 months ago. I updated my resume, posted to recruiting sites, had several interviews over Skype, wrote numerous coding samples for prospective employers, organized and executed my move, all from my MBP. There's no way an iPad could have accomplished all of that, so I'm not someone who's going to go iPad only.

On the other hand, the iPad could have accomplished a lot of those tasks. I have an original iPad Mini, which is REALLY showing its age. So much so that I haven't bothered to dig it out of the box since we moved, and I haven't missed it.

That last part is what's feeding my thought process that the iPad is just a toy. Sure, I've enjoyed taking it on trips to watch movies and Netflix, read books, etc. But that's all its ever really done for me.

Then Monday happened, and now I'm back to thinking that maybe there is some usefulness to the iPad beyond consumption. For example, I'm constantly having to scan receipts, sign a cover document, and email them off.

So now I'm so wrapped up in knots that I just don't know what to think. My personal experience has been that the iPad is indeed just a toy for watching videos. But is there something about the Pro that changes this? Is multitasking (even the version that came in iOS 9) really THAT big of a game changer? Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, but my thoughts are just such a mess right now. I would love to hear what everyone else has to say.
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Not a toy. During Hurricane Irma my iPad Pro with LTE was able to receive data while my internet was down and I had no power. So it was and is a very useful and powerful device.
 
I have both the Pro 10.5 with pencil and keyboard, and a 2016 TBMBP. Quite frankly the MB does writing, multitasking, video and just about every hard core task better than the iPad Pro. But, I’m writing this text from the iPad, and prefer watching videos, news, travel, weather, writing with pencil on it. The iPad is Far easier to use in my lap.

I’ve made short videos on the iPad, but for more detailed and lengthy ones I use the MB with Final Cut Pro.

Basically two different devices with different capabilities.

They are both enjoyable to use.
 
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I use my iPad Pros for almost everything, work and play. Still use my MacBook for Scrivener sometimes and for loading video and music onto iPads, and for music-making with GarageBand. I’m a writer, so I’m not doing coding or serious video editing, I can understand that a Mac would be better for that.

I love that the iPads have everything I need on them, the 10.5 is cellular and goes everywhere with me, I don’t like using public wifi, this and battery life are major benefits over taking my MacBook anywhere. I sometimes use the 12.9 as an extra monitor with MacBook, which is great, using Duet.

And, of course, Apple Pencil, is superb, I do a lot of writing with this in Notability, Nebo, and for lists and non-work notes, Apple Notes.
 
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Only toy Apple sells is the Watch. My 10.5 has replaced my computer for 95% of the things I use it for. The remaining 5% is gaming, special software/programming.
 
It depends largely on the kind of work you do. For me, the 12.9 is perfect. I’m constantly on camera teaching and writing on a virtual whiteboard. Beyond that, I do email, message, calendar, web, and a few basic games. I haven’t decided whether to sell my MBP, but I suspect I wouldn’t miss it. I haven’t used it once in the last couple weeks since I got the 12.9. My iPad Air 2 is actually more useful to me as a secondary device than a laptop is. I use the Air 2 as a replacement for paper reference materials and heavy books while I teach.
 
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I don't do any work on my Air 2 - I'm retired - but I would never consider it a toy. It a convenient alternative to my desktop for casual consumption. I don't need it but I find it extremely useful, particularly for reading. Like a lot of other useful things, not being necessary does not make it a toy.
 
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I can go weeks without using my Macbook. I use my iPad for work and play. When I do go back to my Macbook, I'm reminded of how nice of an experience it is - the iPad is just more immediate and useful in many situations. IMO it makes sense to have both.
 
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batrush said:
Only toy Apple sells is the Watch. My 10.5 has replaced my computer for 95% of the things I use it for. The remaining 5% is gaming, special software/programming.
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I wouldn’t even say the watch is a toy, I utilize the fitness tracking abilities everyday and Siri on the wrist has come in handy frequently for me despite how bad Siri can be.
 
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Adelphos33 said:
I can go weeks without using my Macbook. I use my iPad for work and play. When I do go back to my Macbook, I'm reminded of how nice of an experience it is - the iPad is just more immediate and useful in many situations. IMO it makes sense to have both.
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This is pretty much where I've settled. I have a computer my employer gives me, so most other productivity things are handled by the 10.5.

Still, I can't get by with just the iPad. Just this last weekend I needed to enter some warranty requests into my home builder's website. That site will only work on a desktop browser. No idea why, and it's absolutely an instance of a poorly developed website. If I had a choice I wouldn't use it, but like I said, it's forced on me. My choices are to use the site or don't get my house fixed. Sadly my experience with the iPad is still that you can use it for 95% of your daily life, but when it fails you in that 5% it fails hard.
 
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parseckadet said:
Still, I can't get by with just the iPad. Just this last weekend I needed to enter some warranty requests into my home builder's website. That site will only work on a desktop browser. No idea why, and it's absolutely an instance of a poorly developed website. If I had a choice I wouldn't use it, but like I said, it's forced on me. My choices are to use the site or don't get my house fixed. Sadly my experience with the iPad is still that you can use it for 95% of your daily life, when when it fails you in that 5% it fails hard.
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You can use Mercury browser and set the user agent to any one of several desktop browsers. So far this has worked for me on any site that requires a desktop browser, even a specific one like Internet Explorer, unless the website also requires a plug-in. (But plug-ins are on their way out with some of the major browsers having dropped support for them, so that rare failure point is going to be moot soon.)

The main thing holding me back from iPad as a work machine is the very poor mouse support.
 
ActionableMango said:
You can use Mercury browser and set the user agent to any one of several desktop browsers. So far this has worked for me on any site that requires a desktop browser, even a specific one like Internet Explorer, unless the website also requires a plug-in. (But plug-ins are on their way out with some of the major browsers having dropped support for them, so that rare failure point is going to be moot soon.)

The main thing holding me back from iPad as a work machine is the very poor mouse support.
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So I should note that the website wasn't saying it required a specific version. It was just that their javascript buttons didn't work in Safari on the iPad. So I can tap on the button to login all day long and nothing will happen. Like I said, bad code. But the reality is that there are lots of poorly coded sites out there. Everyone WILL have to contend with one at some point.

I find this very disappointing. While I have no problem pulling out my laptop when needed, my mom is looking to update her laptop. She's leaning heavily towards replacing it with an iPad only setup. Stuff like this makes me think I need to steer her away from that.
 
Well provided you have a decent network connection, you can RDP to a full desktop OS through iPad. Pair that with a keyboard and compatible mouse, then you are golden on OS X or Windows. It is unfortunate that iPad-compatible mouse selection is extremely limited though.
 
ActionableMango said:
Well provided you have a decent network connection, you can RDP to a full desktop OS through iPad. Pair that with a keyboard and compatible mouse, then you are golden on OS X or Windows. It is unfortunate that iPad-compatible mouse selection is extremely limited though.
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Doesn't that defeat the purpose then? Sure, it's technically possible to get around the issue. But if that solution is more annoying than just walking over to my laptop then what's the point?
 
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parseckadet said:
Doesn't that defeat the purpose then? Sure, it's technically possible to get around the issue. But if that solution is more annoying than just walking over to my laptop then what's the point?
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https://medium.freecodecamp.org/giving-the-ipad-a-full-time-job-3ae2440e1810

This guy makes a pretty compelling case for why he works from his iPad. He likes how the iPad forces him to focus on a single task at hand. So it’s also what the iPad doesn’t let you do.
 
Abazigal said:
https://medium.freecodecamp.org/giving-the-ipad-a-full-time-job-3ae2440e1810

This guy makes a pretty compelling case for why he works from his iPad. He likes how the iPad forces him to focus on a single task at hand. So it’s also what the iPad doesn’t let you do.
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It means that other people who see iPhone or iPad as a toy absolutely needs glasses.

The thing they wanted to have FULL OS capabilities on iPad, if iPad can run OS of course Macbook wont exist anymore. It means that THEY CANNOT AFFORD, DOES NOT have the money to buy Multiple device at a time cuz their TOO POOR like others.
 
Abazigal said:
https://medium.freecodecamp.org/giving-the-ipad-a-full-time-job-3ae2440e1810

This guy makes a pretty compelling case for why he works from his iPad. He likes how the iPad forces him to focus on a single task at hand. So it’s also what the iPad doesn’t let you do.
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So it's good because it can barely multitask... and requires a new app or manual automation for just about every task... o_O

From the article...

A dozen ways to do the same thing just results in time-wasting analysis paralysis. Apps packed with features to cover every conceivable need will slowly crowd out the tool’s primary use. Every extra configuration option that I delight in tweaking is another if-else branch in the system, requiring its developers to test more and change less, slowing the pace of innovation.
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The author talks about analysis-paralysis from too many choices, but then goes on about how you need a different app (of which you must choose from a countless selection) for just about every little thing you want to do with the iPad.

And really... "every extra configuration option" is "slowing the pace of innovation"? Many innovations come about as options themselves.

I actually feel sympathetic to the author, though. It seems that they're suffering from being overwhelmed and have a constant need for information (news, social media, etc) -- an addiction, even. It seems to be a real issue affecting people these days, and perhaps it's in part the 'innovation' that he so highly speaks of that's lead us to this relatively new issue. I'm not sure what the solutions will be to this trend but people will first have to recognize it as an issue.

I'm also not sure that an iPad, with its endless barrage of notifications and easy distractions, can treat the underlying issue. Given that his work is done through an SSH to terminal, perhaps a terminal-only OS would be well-suited.
 
it's basically just a photo album that is less productive and less comfortable than a laptop. Chromebook is better for leisurely activities.
 
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