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So... why buy an iPad?

Koh Phi Phi said:
I agree is that it is indeed a software limitation. The latest generations of iPad Pros are beasts hardware-wise as they are.

I have been saying this for at least a couple of years: if Apple gave us an "iOS Pro" with the following 3 features, the iPad Pro could truly become a laptop replacement with hardly any compromise:
  • Fully fledged file management/navigation app.
  • A bit more of flexibility to multi-tasking.
  • Mouse/trackpad cursor compatibility.
That would make the iPad Pro the ultimate hybrid device for every household, every student, and even every office desk in the world.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And such a device would kill the low end of the MacBook lineup. Which probably explains why they won't do it! :) It also explains their pricing strategy. To get a MacBook equivalent iPad Pro, you'd have to opt for 256GB and a Smart Keyboard case (or some other similar accessory). That gets you very, very close to MacBook territory in pricing.
 
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Because even the biggest iphone is still to small a screen for me, and I love the music apps Bias fx garage band etc...


ThatsMeRight said:
If you read reviews or go to Apple's product page for iPad, all they focus on is what's new and better compared to previous or other iPad models.

But no one seems to be talking about why one would buy an iPad.

Personally, I've had several iPads in the past but I mainly used them for watching videos and browsing the web. That need kinda went away when bigger sized phones showed up.

The new $329 iPad, however, grabs my attention. Relatively low price and iOS seems much improved when looking at stuff like multitasking.
Still not convinced I'm going to buy one. Also considering the 2017 iPad which is $30 cheaper.

So, I'm curious: what is the reason why you bought (and kept) an iPad?

:)
Click to expand...
 
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No reason at all. thats why sales are trailing off and the price is half what it was afew years ago. The novelty has worn off and phablets are filling that slot quite nicely. I cant see how they can reinvigorate the market under the current conditions. Maybe you would make them thinner magnatise the back so we can stick them on to the fridge as a sudo smart panel that can flex into other role's.
 
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paulryp said:
No reason at all. thats why sales are trailing off and the price is half what it was afew years ago. The novelty has worn off and phablets are filling that slot quite nicely. I cant see how they can reinvigorate the market under the current conditions. Maybe you would make them thinner magnatise the back so we can stick them on to the fridge as a sudo smart panel that can flex into other role's.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just like googles pixel tablet.
 
musicpenguy said:
I run a podcast all about this and using the iPad as your primary computer - www.iPadPros.net - firm believer that for many people the iPad can and is a great experience as your main computer.
Click to expand...

Awesome! I’m a serious advocate for the iPad as a primary computer. In my case the iMac is my secondary computer. For when I want to tinker, play older games, or need to do development.

The iPad is the workhorse. It handles my finances, word processing, photos/videos, entertainment, social media, meetings, organization/pim. You name it.
 
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ericwn said:
Thanks for the link, will check out a few episodes this week!
Click to expand...
Awesome thanks - try to create the podcast so the majority of the episodes will have value long term. If you do have a certain app developer you’d like interviewed in the future please let me know. Coming up next Thursday is the co-founder of Fantastical.
 
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paulryp said:
No reason at all. thats why sales are trailing off and the price is half what it was afew years ago. The novelty has worn off and phablets are filling that slot quite nicely. I cant see how they can reinvigorate the market under the current conditions. Maybe you would make them thinner magnatise the back so we can stick them on to the fridge as a sudo smart panel that can flex into other role's.
Click to expand...
Yeah, your information is severely out of date.
[doublepost=1532100476][/doublepost]
musicpenguy said:
I run a podcast all about this and using the iPad as your primary computer - www.iPadPros.net - firm believer that for many people the iPad can and is a great experience as your main computer.
Click to expand...
That's awesome. I too used to cohost a podcast, and I did all the recording, syncing, editing, publishing right from my iPad Pro for most of the time we did the show. Because my cohost was in another country, I did have to use my iPhone in tandem to get the master conversation recorded while I recorded just my own voice on the iPad, but that was the only exception. It was like a dream being able to use my iPad with my Apogee Mic as a mini podcasting studio that I could take anywhere.

Also worth noting: the sound quality I got out of doing everything in Ferrite on iOS was far superior to anything I ever got out of my Mac.
 
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Why did I buy? I have the 2017, bought new just over a year ago. I absolutely love it. It's the perfect size for my use, and lets me do much of the stuff I use a laptop for. I use it a lot. I bring it to use as my work "notebook" (in the sense of a paper notepad- writing is painful from my arthritis, but using the iPad is not) and use it at home for everything from Facebook to news reports to a private video device (I want to watch baseball, so I use it to kep from hijacking the TV and keeping my wife from entertainment) and more. I am able to use it as a remote device to my work computers. I am still finding new ways to use it. Frankly, i love my iPads.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
If you read reviews or go to Apple's product page for iPad, all they focus on is what's new and better compared to previous or other iPad models.

But no one seems to be talking about why one would buy an iPad.

Personally, I've had several iPads in the past but I mainly used them for watching videos and browsing the web. That need kinda went away when bigger sized phones showed up.

The new $329 iPad, however, grabs my attention. Relatively low price and iOS seems much improved when looking at stuff like multitasking.
Still not convinced I'm going to buy one. Also considering the 2017 iPad which is $30 cheaper.

So, I'm curious: what is the reason why you bought (and kept) an iPad?

:)
Click to expand...


1. Creativity, i.e. drawing, sketching, writing, typography, illustration
2. Multimedia, i.e. video
3. Reading, i.e. books, articles, scientific papers
4. Learning and documenting at home and on the go, i.e writing down notes, annotations, research, collecting and organizing information
5. Convenience, i.e. the handling of the device is easier (I often use it in bed or on the couch)
 
There is still a use for iPads these days. I used to think they were pointless but now my needs have changed I fall into the type of user who can make use of an iPad.
  1. I wanted something lighter for travel.
  2. I wanted to be able to put away my rMBP at the end of the working day and use something else so it doesn't feel like I've just looked at the same screen for 12 hours for work and play.
  3. I do a lot of reading and PDF markup for my research - doing that hunched over a laptop screen just isn't great but the iPad gives me more options.

My rMBP is my primary device at home but it is a little cumbersome for throwing into a weekend bag for work or leisure trips. Plus if I lose it on say a bus in Istanbul then I'm screwed. When I go away for work I can do everything I need on an iPad whereas before I was taking my rMBP, charger, notebook, pens etc. I still need a rMBP for heavy research and writing but reading documents, PDF markup, notes during events etc can all be done on the iPad with Apple Pencil.
 
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iAlexG said:
There is still a use for iPads these days. I used to think they were pointless but now my needs have changed I fall into the type of user who can make use of an iPad.
  1. I wanted something lighter for travel.
  2. I wanted to be able to put away my rMBP at the end of the working day and use something else so it doesn't feel like I've just looked at the same screen for 12 hours for work and play.
  3. I do a lot of reading and PDF markup for my research - doing that hunched over a laptop screen just isn't great but the iPad gives me more options.

My rMBP is my primary device at home but it is a little cumbersome for throwing into a weekend bag for work or leisure trips. Plus if I lose it on say a bus in Istanbul then I'm screwed. When I go away for work I can do everything I need on an iPad whereas before I was taking my rMBP, charger, notebook, pens etc. I still need a rMBP for heavy research and writing but reading documents, PDF markup, notes during events etc can all be done on the iPad with Apple Pencil.
Click to expand...
I totally relate to this! Though, I did not think tablets per se are useless. But having tried offerings from Android (Acer A500) and Windows (Surface RT/ Surface 3), I have to say, the IPP 10.5 (including the Pencil and ASC) to me is close to an ideal device and in that sense very useful.
 
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iAlexG said:
There is still a use for iPads these days. I used to think they were pointless but now my needs have changed I fall into the type of user who can make use of an iPad.
  1. I wanted something lighter for travel.
  2. I wanted to be able to put away my rMBP at the end of the working day and use something else so it doesn't feel like I've just looked at the same screen for 12 hours for work and play.
  3. I do a lot of reading and PDF markup for my research - doing that hunched over a laptop screen just isn't great but the iPad gives me more options.

My rMBP is my primary device at home but it is a little cumbersome for throwing into a weekend bag for work or leisure trips. Plus if I lose it on say a bus in Istanbul then I'm screwed. When I go away for work I can do everything I need on an iPad whereas before I was taking my rMBP, charger, notebook, pens etc. I still need a rMBP for heavy research and writing but reading documents, PDF markup, notes during events etc can all be done on the iPad with Apple Pencil.
Click to expand...

One day it will be desktops that will become pointless.
 
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When the iPad has an indirect input option i.e. a trackpad on the keyboard and multiuser login, it really will be perfect for light productivity/creative tasks.

I'm waiting until that day to get one.
 
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bluecoast said:
When the iPad has an indirect input option i.e. a trackpad on the keyboard, it really will be perfect for light productivity/creative tasks.
Click to expand...

I agree! I find my iPad Pro rather cumbersome when I try to copy/paste different paragraphs and formulas from one document to another. Pintching on the screen to select pieces of content is not nearly as accurate as a mouse cursor.

My Android tablet is mouse compatible and it does make a world of a difference!
 
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Koh Phi Phi said:
I agree! I find my iPad Pro rather cumbersome when I try to copy/paste different paragraphs and formulas from one document to another. Pintching on the screen to select pieces of content is not nearly as accurate as a mouse cursor.

My Android tablet is mouse compatible and it does make a world of a difference!
Click to expand...

I have long advocated for iPad mouse support, so I get your point. However, I recently got a keyboard case (Logitech Slim Folio) for my 2017 iPad, and I am starting to rethink my position. The keyboard coupled with a precise pointing device (I use an Adnoit Dash 3 Pen) make navigation and copy/paste activity much easier.

I am concerned that with mouse support App Developers will move away from a touch-first approach to input, which is fundamental to a tablet experience. Instead, we might end up with a hybrid experience, which is neither fish nor foul. When I talk to people that use Windows devices, they tell me they rarely use touch or tablet mode....basically, they just mouse around because the OS and Apps are not designed to be touch-first.

That said; there is no doubt that if you need to have multiple windows open and navigate between various documents and apps quickly, the iPad is really not the best tool. With iPad, you can have a couple of Apps side by side or 3 finger swipe to quickly navigate between Apps....but, this is not nearly as efficient as mouse navigation in a traditional computer environment. I guess the bottom-line is that if you frequently need to have multiple Apps and documents open at the same time, then a traditional computer is probably a better bet for this use case.

BTW - There are some productivity activities that are easier on the iPad. For example, marking-up and annotating PDFs with a pencil are easier to do on an iPad then a traditional computer. Creating sketches and handwritten notes are also easier with an iPad.
 
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Koh Phi Phi said:
I agree is that it is indeed a software limitation. The latest generations of iPad Pros are beasts hardware-wise as they are.

I have been saying this for at least a couple of years: if Apple gave us an "iOS Pro" with the following 3 features, the iPad Pro could truly become a laptop replacement with hardly any compromise:
  • Fully fledged file management/navigation app.
  • A bit more of flexibility to multi-tasking.
  • Mouse/trackpad cursor compatibility.
That would make the iPad Pro the ultimate hybrid device for every household, every student, and even every office desk in the world.
Click to expand...

Conspiracy theory: Apple relegated iBooks/iBook to Books because they're setting up to release an iOS-based notebook with trackpad support, multi-window multitasking, and a Finder called...iBook for $999.
 
Suttree said:
Conspiracy theory: Apple relegated iBooks/iBook to Books because they're setting up to release an iOS-based notebook with trackpad support, multi-window multitasking, and a Finder called...iBook for $999.
Click to expand...
100 percent this except the Finder will be a much much better version of the Files app - it doesn’t make conceptual sense for iOS to have apps in a Finder like the Mac does, but yea this would be great as an alternative to what iPad is
 
Suttree said:
Conspiracy theory: Apple relegated iBooks/iBook to Books because they're setting up to release an iOS-based notebook with trackpad support, multi-window multitasking, and a Finder called...iBook for $999.
Click to expand...

While I like the idea I think they are done with making new I-things going forward.
 
What I am missing with iPad? Since I am sort of biased it might be a good idea to mention what I don't like.

  • The files app is a great start, but it isn't intuitive to use. I feel like file management with touch could be awesome. Though it ends up being a bit of a struggle to organize things. I use the files app primarily for work. I store assets for artwork I do and scanned copies of documents. I can drag and drop files into apps like affinity photo.
  • There are a lot of bugs with rotating the iPad. Occasionally I get the dock stuck on the side and have to lock and unlock the screen to fix it.
  • No ability to download on safari that I know of. If I click a javascript link, it just "does nothing". If I drag and drop the link to the files app I just get a ".txt" file that is empty.
  • I worry a little that I will be in the middle of an edit on a document or note and I will get called away. When I come back it might refresh what I was doing and I will lose work. Most apps save to iCloud though so it's not a problem. I haven't had any problems in practice but it's in the back of my mind.
  • For me at least handwriting isn't very natural with the Apple Pencil. I don't want to palm the screen, and when I do it is kind of uncomfortable. I have the 10.5 inch though, which is probably not the optimal size to do so.
  • The office apps do not have good compatibility with the even the apple desktop versions. So I have trouble opening and saving files. Every spreadsheet I export to excel has a stupid coversheet to it that explains why the file might not work right. I would rather it just not work 100% right and have no cover sheet. Most of the people I work with aren't tech savvy enough to realize they just need to click another tab. So I am forced to open everything in office 365 to delete the cover sheet and re-save it. And I hate working on anything but my iPad or iMac. Work computers run SUSE Linux. Hopefully there is an easy solution to this.
  • PDFs exported by anything on iOS are huge files. I scan 15-20 pages of pretty much black text on white paper. I set it to black and white on the scan documents and it looks flawless. It should be a few kb jpeg at best. The PDF ends up being like 12mb. So I have to run it through a pdf optimizer to get it down to 2mb. I feel like there should be an optional "reduce size" toggle. I might actually put this as feedback for the notes app.

Probably more, but thats the basic day to day list. As for what I want to see in the new iPads, not much really. It is pretty damn near perfect for me.

  • I like stupid features like ProMotion and TrueTone. My screen adjusts to the lighting in the room to look natural. Awesome. My screen looks smooth as butter when I am scrolling so I don't get eye strain. Double awesome. I am not sure what more they could do here. I like the pixel density. I like the HDR color range. Brightness and reflectivity are good. Long story short more cool features like this.
  • Better Camera. I would drop a grand right now for an "Apple Camera" with a real 15-24mp sensor and all of the processing ability of the a10x/m10. Just give me a half decent optical zoom with OIS. Perfection. Since that probably won't happen keep the iPad using the latest gen camera. I want the 2x optical with OIS like the iPhone X. Please get rid of the smudgy anti-grain though. I can always tell when something is shot on an apple device because it looks slightly smudgy even in good lighting. I use my iPad for a lot of artistic shots and family/friend portraits. Not to mention when I am out on a job site and need to document issues. I hate using my phone because I can't spend a day taking photos or video with it and not have to hug every charger port I can.
  • Better GPU. I know this is coming. Apple designed gpus made it into the iPhone X so the next iPad will surely have them. Not that I can complain at all now. I just really feel like I am using the fastest aluminum slab in the galaxy when I use my iPad Pro. I want to keep feeling that way. Keep putting the surface to shame.
I'm an iPad nut and I am not ashamed. That comes when your first computer is a giant TV with two colors and now you have a 1 pound hd screen with essentially two cray supercomputers inside.
 
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A new addition to iPad Pro or standard version would be a built in projector with a 100/150ft screen.
 
labyrinth153 said:
What I am missing with iPad? Since I am sort of biased it might be a good idea to mention what I don't like.

  • The files app is a great start, but it isn't intuitive to use. I feel like file management with touch could be awesome. Though it ends up being a bit of a struggle to organize things. I use the files app primarily for work. I store assets for artwork I do and scanned copies of documents. I can drag and drop files into apps like affinity photo.
  • There are a lot of bugs with rotating the iPad. Occasionally I get the dock stuck on the side and have to lock and unlock the screen to fix it.
  • No ability to download on safari that I know of. If I click a javascript link, it just "does nothing". If I drag and drop the link to the files app I just get a ".txt" file that is empty.
  • I worry a little that I will be in the middle of an edit on a document or note and I will get called away. When I come back it might refresh what I was doing and I will lose work. Most apps save to iCloud though so it's not a problem. I haven't had any problems in practice but it's in the back of my mind.
  • For me at least handwriting isn't very natural with the Apple Pencil. I don't want to palm the screen, and when I do it is kind of uncomfortable. I have the 10.5 inch though, which is probably not the optimal size to do so.
  • The office apps do not have good compatibility with the even the apple desktop versions. So I have trouble opening and saving files. Every spreadsheet I export to excel has a stupid coversheet to it that explains why the file might not work right. I would rather it just not work 100% right and have no cover sheet. Most of the people I work with aren't tech savvy enough to realize they just need to click another tab. So I am forced to open everything in office 365 to delete the cover sheet and re-save it. And I hate working on anything but my iPad or iMac. Work computers run SUSE Linux. Hopefully there is an easy solution to this.
  • PDFs exported by anything on iOS are huge files. I scan 15-20 pages of pretty much black text on white paper. I set it to black and white on the scan documents and it looks flawless. It should be a few kb jpeg at best. The PDF ends up being like 12mb. So I have to run it through a pdf optimizer to get it down to 2mb. I feel like there should be an optional "reduce size" toggle. I might actually put this as feedback for the notes app.

Probably more, but thats the basic day to day list. As for what I want to see in the new iPads, not much really. It is pretty damn near perfect for me.

  • I like stupid features like ProMotion and TrueTone. My screen adjusts to the lighting in the room to look natural. Awesome. My screen looks smooth as butter when I am scrolling so I don't get eye strain. Double awesome. I am not sure what more they could do here. I like the pixel density. I like the HDR color range. Brightness and reflectivity are good. Long story short more cool features like this.
  • Better Camera. I would drop a grand right now for an "Apple Camera" with a real 15-24mp sensor and all of the processing ability of the a10x/m10. Just give me a half decent optical zoom with OIS. Perfection. Since that probably won't happen keep the iPad using the latest gen camera. I want the 2x optical with OIS like the iPhone X. Please get rid of the smudgy anti-grain though. I can always tell when something is shot on an apple device because it looks slightly smudgy even in good lighting. I use my iPad for a lot of artistic shots and family/friend portraits. Not to mention when I am out on a job site and need to document issues. I hate using my phone because I can't spend a day taking photos or video with it and not have to hug every charger port I can.
  • Better GPU. I know this is coming. Apple designed gpus made it into the iPhone X so the next iPad will surely have them. Not that I can complain at all now. I just really feel like I am using the fastest aluminum slab in the galaxy when I use my iPad Pro. I want to keep feeling that way. Keep putting the surface to shame.
I'm an iPad nut and I am not ashamed. That comes when your first computer is a giant TV with two colors and now you have a 1 pound hd screen with essentially two cray supercomputers inside.
Click to expand...
All fair assessments. I’ve found writing and drawing on the 10.5” to be fantastic though. I use it mostly for sketching and note taking while it’s laying flat on my desk.
 
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