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Dealmans

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Mar 12, 2022
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I think the actual iPad is the problem not the OS, I haven’t found a use for me that isn’t just a bigger version of my iPhone really. And I have had every iPad.
 

MajorFubar

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Oct 27, 2021
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Having just bought a new iPad 9 to replace my ancient iPad Air 1, I thought I'd see just how far iOS multitasking has come by trying something really, really basic by opening Apple Music to play some music of my choice through my APP's while also having YouTube open on silent to watch one of the dialog-free tech-restoration channels I subscribe to. Turns out I cannot do that on this miraculous computer-replacing device, no more than I could on my neanderthal iPad Air. I definitely don't consider this to be some kind of obscure, niche activity. It's basically something my 2003 Compaq Windows XP laptop used to be able to do with its gargantuan 512MB of RAM. Ah well. *Inevitably picks up MBA. Again.*

EDIT: Maybe it can be done and I just went about it the wrong way? I'm always open to the idea that I'm a simpleton. But I suspect not.
 
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VaruLV

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Mar 25, 2019
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I think the actual iPad is the problem not the OS, I haven’t found a use for me that isn’t just a bigger version of my iPhone really. And I have had every iPad.
You could, in theory, install iOS on MBP and would you then say that the problem is laptop itself, not the limited iOS and vice versa?
 

AlaskaMoose

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Apr 26, 2008
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I’m not always 100% convinced this argument is true. Isn’t it more in apple’s interest to sell more iPads because on an iPad you are more locked into the App Store and therefore the cut apple takes. It also is better suited for services like Arcade. So you could argue they make more money on top of the device sale with an iPad

On a Mac, you can install software anyway you want, completely bypassing the additional revenue stream for apple.

Now, I’m sure they still prefer you to buy both off course
In my view what the the iPad iOS' lacks is the sort of intuitiveness Apple computers are known for. Somewhere along the way the the link between the Mac apps and the apps in iOS-relating to "intuitiveness" was muddled. For example, launch Pages on your Mac, and then Pages on your iPad and let a person who is not familiar with this app decide which one of the two is easier to use. Once you are familiar with the Page's menus on your Mac, the ones on the iPad are a puzzle to a new iPad buyer. Apple has done the same to Text Edit.

I just bought a new iPad and while it is a beautiful product, it does not hold my interest very much. I could use it now and then, but that's about it. My wife uses a 2011 MacBook Air, and her older iPad Mini perhaps once every few months. She charges it about every other week, but that is it.

Putting that aside, one has to consider that Apple advertises the iPad as being a product one can do everything with (just like a Mac), but that is not true. For example, try to transfer your contacts and Safari's bookmarks from your Mac to your brand new iPad without using iCloud, or just figure where the fonts menu is when creating a document in Pages.
 
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darngooddesign

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Jul 4, 2007
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For example, try to transfer your contacts and Safari's bookmarks from your Mac to your brand new iPad without using iCloud
Finder Sync with a cable or Wifi.
or just figure where the fonts menu is when creating a document in Pages.
Tap on the "abc".

I think its less intuitive for people with ingrained mouse and keyboard muscle memory.
 
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rui no onna

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Oct 25, 2013
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In my view what the the iPad iOS' lacks is the sort of intuitiveness Apple computers are known for. Somewhere along the way the the link between the Mac apps and the apps in iOS-relating to "intuitiveness" was muddled. For example, launch Pages on your Mac, and then Pages on your iPad and let a person who is not familiar with this app decide which one of the two is easier to use. Once you are familiar with the Page's menus on your Mac, the ones on the iPad are a puzzle to a new iPad buyer. Apple has done the same to Text Edit.


I don’t know if the “intuitiveness” argument holds. The above sounds more like having better familiarity with Macs.

Both my grandmothers couldn’t use Macs or Windows PCs but they enjoyed using their iPads.
 

AlaskaMoose

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Finder Sync with a cable or Wifi.

Tap on the "abc".

I think its less intuitive for people with ingrained mouse and keyboard muscle memory.
The easies way to move your contacts to you iPad is by using iCloud, or by syncing from your Mac to the iPad. But OS-X allows to your Mac to import or export contacts, and Safari allows for importing/exporting as well. Besides that, I can move my contacts across all the Macs in the network. I could also export the contacts to a thumb drive or SD card, plug the card to another Mac, and from there I can import both the contacts bookmarks.

iOS' Safari does not have an option to import/export bookmarks. Well, maybe there is one that I haven't found. And yes, I can move files and photos in/out the iPad by the use of USB self-powered hard drives, or non-powered SD cards.
 

AlaskaMoose

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I don’t know if the “intuitiveness” argument holds. The above sounds more like having better familiarity with Macs.

Both my grandmothers couldn’t use Macs or Windows PCs but they enjoyed using their iPads.
The intuitiveness I am referring to do not longer exists with the iPad and iPhone. The Mac has always been perceived as the easiest to learn. It started years ago with Apple school programs for children where Apple computers were used. It didn't take very long to figure how to use these computers. Apple has continued being "easy to use." In fact, Windows started to look much like OS-X a few years ago. Windows-7 is a good example of it.
 

sparksd

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Jun 7, 2015
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Seattle WA
The intuitiveness I am referring to do not longer exists with the iPad and iPhone. The Mac has always been perceived as the easiest to learn. It started years ago with Apple school programs for children where Apple computers were used. It didn't take very long to figure how to use these computers. Apple has continued being "easy to use." In fact, Windows started to look much like OS-X a few years ago. Windows-7 is a good example of it.

I also disagreed with this. As I noted, my Mom picked up an iPad for the first time when she turned 90 and used it for 5 years. Most usage she picked up on her own and she wasn't the least bit tech oriented - far from it, in fact, it was the only tech device she ever used. She didn't even have a cell phone.
 
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AlaskaMoose

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You’re right, it’s not true that Apple advertises that. 😆 At least not that I’ve seen.
Well, I see an iPad as an extension of a Mac. It is portable like an iPhone, but has a much larger screen. The fact is that one can use a 12" iPad in a similar way as a 13" MacBook once one buys the right "touch/track" keyboard. One can use Safari, Pages, and numerous other apps, just like any other Macs. If you launch iOS Pages (for example) to type a new document, you have to fumble around trying to figure where the formats are (font/sizes, rulers, font colors, and on and on).
 

AlaskaMoose

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Apr 26, 2008
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I also disagreed with this. As I noted, my Mom picked up an iPad for the first time when she turned 90 and used it for 5 years. Most usage she picked up on her own and she wasn't the least bit tech oriented - far from it, in fact, it was the only tech device she ever used. She didn't even have a cell phone.
Age has nothing to do with that. My wife's mother is 95 and uses a Dell laptop without any problem. She learned on her own. Launch MS Word, and follow the menus. The same for any Mac: launch the app, and choose what you one from the menu. But have the same person (the one who uses a Mac and Pages) launch iOS Pages, and....
 
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sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
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Age has nothing to do with that. My wife's mother is 95 and uses a Dell laptop without any problem. She learned on her own. Launch MS Word, and follow the menus. The same for any Mac: launch the app, and choose what you one from the menu. But have the same person (the one who uses a Mac and Pages) launch iOS Pages, and....

Like I said, with zero experience with computers or even cell or smart phones, my Mom picked up an iPad and put it to good use. iOS was intuitive to her.
 

iPadified

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Apr 25, 2017
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So many people have difficulties to remove prior habits and knowledge and thus have difficulties to learn and accept something new (me included). In teaching we often need to unlearn students before we can teach them new concepts.

I do believe this is the case for iPad complainers. Unlearn the Mac and the iPad will be easier to understand. Vice versa is also true. The same is true for Mac vs Windows as well.

The iPad is not a Mac and if you do not like it use a Mac. Complaining on the iPad to be more Mac like would be valid if there were no Macs to buy.
 
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iPadified

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Apr 25, 2017
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The easies way to move your contacts to you iPad is by using iCloud, or by syncing from your Mac to the iPad. But OS-X allows to your Mac to import or export contacts, and Safari allows for importing/exporting as well. Besides that, I can move my contacts across all the Macs in the network. I could also export the contacts to a thumb drive or SD card, plug the card to another Mac, and from there I can import both the contacts bookmarks.

iOS' Safari does not have an option to import/export bookmarks. Well, maybe there is one that I haven't found. And yes, I can move files and photos in/out the iPad by the use of USB self-powered hard drives, or non-powered SD cards.
Why would you not use iCloud? The iPad is a cloud dependent device and the you it expect to work well without?

I think it is more valid to complain that it is too automated in terms of syncing between devices.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,906
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So many people have difficulties to remove prior habits and knowledge and thus have difficulties to learn and accept something new (me included). In teaching we often need to unlearn students before we can teach them new concepts.

I do believe this is the case for iPad complainers. Unlearn the Mac and the iPad will be easier to understand. Vice versa is also true. The same is true for Mac vs Windows as well.

True.

I’m a Windows user and it was far easier for me to get used to the iPad than the Mac since the iPad has a radically different interface. I’m not expecting the iPad to work like a PC at all.

Meanwhile, the M1 Mac mini at home is closer to Windows but just different enough to what I’m used so it’s more frustrating. I frequently wish I’d just built another Windows desktop.
 
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AlaskaMoose

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Apr 26, 2008
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By dint of never owning or using a computer before, she didn't. She created new ones.
I see. I still have to figure how to transfer bookmarks without syncing. Otherwise I have to create new ones. But I still don't like lack of menus at the top of the Page's new documents. If Contacts or Safari would have an "import" feature, one could always export the contacts in a Mac, and also the Safari bookmarks to an SD card or thumb drive, and then move them to the iPad and import them to their respective apps.
 
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AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
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Alaska
Why would you not use iCloud? The iPad is a cloud dependent device and the you it expect to work well without?

I think it is more valid to complain that it is too automated in terms of syncing between devices.
I have never used iCloud for new Macs nor iPads. Once I have a list of contacts and bookmarks, share them across the computers own my network. Even music and files on my wife's and my cellphone I set it to manually. I do backup the computers to hard drives, and the phones and iPads to our (wife and I) respective MacBooks. I just prefer not to use Pages to create new documents in the iPad because of the difficulties encountered when looking fo the text, formatt, and other menus. It's OK for surfing the net, emailing, and maybe photo editing, but boring otherwise. I do like Sky Guide for iPad and iPhone because of the ease of use and menu layout, something that is important when I am outdoors during the dark nights (don't want to spend much time fumbling around the menus).

I downloaded a few eBooks and instruction manuals for the cameras I use. These are for reading while afield if needing to change some of the cameras' settings or modes (a refresher, I would say). I am not complaining about the iPad, just wishing that the iOS apps would have simpler and clearer menus that are similar to the ones in the Mac. It is beautifully designed-the iPhone is too.
 
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