I think there are a lot of people like you. My wife has an iMac and an iPad Air. She is very happy with this setup. Heavy lifting is done on the iMac. Light computing and content consumption are done on the iPad. Works great for her.
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iPad OK, I got an iPad. Now what?
- Thread starter MrWeenus
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As someone that used to work in education, a lot of schools were burnt by how fast older iPads became unusably slow to due to updates. They budgeted for the iPads to age as gracefully as their suites of iMacs.
Our school district had a similar experience. Initially, there was a lot of enthusiasm about iPad, but eventually, they decided to go with Chromebooks. Every student between grades 6-12 get a district provided Chromebook. We live in a reasonably affluent district, so many of the older students opt out of the Chromebook and use laptops purchased by their families.
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I have owned an iPad since the first one with unlimited ATT data and I still ask myself the same question. Currently I have an M1 iPad "Pro" and an iPad Mini 6 and I can't find a use for either one of them other than reading magazines, old comic books, and reference pdfs. I doubt I will ever buy another one. Mac and iPhone are all I will get from Apple in the future.
Personally i use it as a laptop replacement with Affinity suite, DaVinci resolve and Luma Fusion, i have few video apps like Netflix and pluto TV and sone to do like Clear.
I also use MS Office on it, all in all there is little I can’t do on this iPad.
Rnning with 11 Pro M2 and Magic Keyboard.
It is a lovely consumption device, but a good power machine as well when needed.
I also use MS Office on it, all in all there is little I can’t do on this iPad.
Rnning with 11 Pro M2 and Magic Keyboard.
It is a lovely consumption device, but a good power machine as well when needed.
Thankfully not all of us are so challenged as to how we can use our iPads.
I only use my iPad connected to an external monitor, keyboard, and magic trackpad about 25% to 30% of the time. The largest majority of my real estate work is done either with my Logitech Combo Touch like a laptop, or with my Apple Pencil 2 sketching home and property dimensions, signing, taking notes, annotating, filling forms and contracts, editing photos, etc.
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This has been exactly my experience too. I can imagine the mixture of Chromebooks, Macs and PC's must be a burden to deal with for some teachers, especially when attempting on the spot troubleshooting of student issues. It probably pushes more education software towards being web based.
oh and apple believes that no amount of money you spend on your "pro" ipad is sufficient. you still need to pay them $50-$100/year forever to use their "pro" apps. they have become slimy used car salesmen..
Apple is by far not the only company that has a subscription plan for their software and services. An already big and rapidly growing segment of businesses and software developers have subscription based business models.
Microsoft
Adobe
Amazon
All the streaming video and music services
And the list goes on
Not enough room to list them all. Subscriptions are nothing new and have nothing to do with the level(pro or not) of tech device you are using. That was a really uninformed/uneducated statement you made up there, or maybe you are just fishing.
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Guess I'm lucky then. I get to use mine for both office and road.
Professions that use an iPad
Businesses that use an iPad
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Yeah, no one wants to see, hear, or know that a ton of real businesses and professionals use iPads in the office, and in the field.
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I had an iPad Pro back in 2015 used to play Minecraft with my daughters. Then I figured out it didn't have a port for getting content off it to my laptop and backup drives easily.
Maybe it was just me, could have been easily not a tech guy. Just yearned for a USB port really.
Sold it, never looked back, never had an iPad since.
Maybe it was just me, could have been easily not a tech guy. Just yearned for a USB port really.
Sold it, never looked back, never had an iPad since.
The iPad is the ideal couch device. I pick it up and read the news, RSS feeds, websites, light email, etc. It's also great for watching movies when traveling. That's about it for me. Tertiary device, not essential, but nice to have.
I'm not really sure that the iPad makes sense as a computer replacement. You can sort of get away with it when the iPad in question is a 12.9-inch iPad Pro and you're rocking some form of keyboard attachment. But past that and it's sort of a different animal.
As for what I do with my iPads? I play Hearthstone, browse Facebook, use the same messaging apps (Messenger, iMessage, Google Chat, etc.) that I would on desktop and phone. E-mail and web browsing are substantially better on an iPad than they are on any smartphone, iPhone or otherwise (though, personally, the older I get, the less I like using my phone for e-mail and web browsing). I occasionally will watch movies when my computers and TV are not within reach. They're good for that. I find most of what I mentioned is best done on an iPad mini. But that's a highly subjective opinion and will be different for everyone. The one thing that I covet my 12.9-inch iPad Pro for is for notetaking. Pair one of those with a keyboard attachment and it's way fast, easy, convenient, and with minimal distraction. I got through my IT certification classes with one of those and I wish I had such a thing in college (though, I'll totally concede that a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ or S9+ or Ultra and Samsung's keyboard attachment would probably do just as well for that). But that's what I use iPads for.
In your case, you have a 10th Generation iPad. Unless you get that new USB-C budget model of Apple Pencil, your Apple Pencil mileage will probably suck on that iPad. The keyboard folio case for that model is pretty cool and also unique. Video calls will be great due to the front-facing camera finally being in landscape mode. It'll otherwise be just fine for just about everything I use my iPad minis for. Might be bulky for reading (iPad minis are comfortable for extensive one-handed reading sessions; the other iPads are not), but your mileage may vary.
Otherwise, iPadOS, especially on that kind of iPad, really just makes for a larger iPhone. Though, things that suck to do on an iPhone for how small it is, don't necessarily suck to do on an iPad.
Yep, fishing it is...I can't wait for Apple to release their retooled iWork with subscription attached.
Now just got to figure out if it's for trout, bass, or tuna.
You mean like Microsoft does with Office, and Adobe does with Photoshop and Acrobat, no matter what platform. And all those "Pro Apps" for iPad Pro you talk about, are also subscriptions on Mac and Windows. Better get after them dastardly gas, electric, and water/trash town utility companies too. Talk about high monthly subscription prices that suck the life out of your wallet. And we're not talking $50.00 to $100.00 a year, we are talking $300.00 to $500.00 per month...Forever!
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I really like how the first thing you say is that iPad is a device that is meant for consumption, then proceed to share that an overwhelming majority of the activities you do are production based.
Maybe don't suggest that watching Steve unveil the iPad 13 years ago is somehow a prerequisite to understanding what should be done with it...
All my iPads sit next to me on a table and are always on charge they never leave the house, they are WiFi only and i use them to scan forums check the TV Guide for the shows, and since they are always on and they don't have problem of not starting quickly they beat my laptops for what i need.
I think you may have responded to the wrong post because (a) the word consumption does not appear anywhere in my post and (b) my post was a response to a first time iPad user’s inquiry about what to do first and how I use my iPad.
My post clearly stated that the iPad can be used for both contemplative and production activities — even though it is optimized for contemplative activities — then listed some of the activities and apps I use. This post was an answer to the OPs question. It was NOT an attempt to debate whether the tired iPad is a “consumption” device opinion — which you seem invested in and fixated on.
If your reply was not a mistake maybe you should actually read the post before pouncing on it as a reason to share a tangential opinion.
Finally, research the phrase “design intent.” It addresses the underlying principles and specifications that guide the creation and modification of a designed item. And the design intent of the iPad, Apple’s first tablet computer is as relevant now as it was when the iPad was introduced — just as the design intent of the original Mac still guides the design of today’s Macs some 40 years later.
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