Funnily enough, I was just working on a post for my blog about iA Writer and Grammarly. I think it is a power combo for anyone who writes for a living (as I do).
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This is the iPad problem, succinctly and expertly summarized in a single sentence.
I love my iPad and wish it had more of the tools I need on it. There’s no reason for it not to have Figma, or Final Cut (as examples) — or even great developers tools. I am mostly convinced that Apple has a developer relations problem more than anything else. They always compare the App Store to video game consoles. The difference is that console makers actively pursue developers to make big hits for their machines. If Apple would work with devs to make that happen, the iPad would be a better tool. It’s not like there isn’t precedent with the Mac and the publishing industry.
Anyway, I share the frustration of all involved, including those frustrated with the grumpy people. It’s a weird situation and everybody is right all at once.
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I think one reason is Apple’s desire to maximize the revenue they can extract from each of their customers. In 2007 Apple Computer, Inc became Apple Inc. and the company became more than a hardware/software company. Today we have Macs, iPads, iPhones, AirPods, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+, and Apple Cards, and only 5GB of free iCloud storage.
I would be surprised if the iPad ever gets programs like Final Cut. Why would Apple make a true alternative to the Mac when it can sell you both? I believe the principal of caveat emptor will always apply when making any purchase.
Most of my work is now done in Ulysses (with support from Safari, Calendar, Reminders and office apps). I don’t have a need to move files around regularly. I could easily work most of the time on iPad, and might even benefit from the relatively distraction free environment.
There are still minor limitations, however. In Ulysses if I want to edit an export style I have to use a Mac. Not something I do often, but I need to retain a Mac for that purpose. I’m not sure why, except perhaps the developers have a perception about who/how/where iPads will be used.
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I love it when people who don’t know hardware and software design or manufacture, and even some folks who should know better, tell Apple what they ought to be able to do.
It’s so easy to forget or ignore the thousand and one decisions that go into designing, making, selling, and supporting a product.
It’s great that we have a sounding board here for people to air their gripes and wishes, but if a product doesn’t work for someone, they should simply stop using it. Find something else. Or maybe wait a few years to see what turns up. I enjoy watching people come back to the Mac now that the state of the art has allowed Apple to leapfrog the iPad once again.
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I also don’t do car design, but can tell you by driving it if it’s been poorly designed.
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I’m no Apple apologist, but… again, some people are disappointed by the iPad, others appreciate it for what it is. Some people use iPads to get work done, some people don’t/can’t, some don’t even try. The precise definition of “work” is variable/subjective. Apple ran a marketing campaign that suggested the iPad could function as a replacement for a traditional computer; that messaging certainly still isn’t true for all, but (importantly) it also isn’t false. Not every marketing message is meant for all of us.
The iPad isn’t a “traditional computer”. That doesn’t necessarily make it a poorly designed device. I think the argument is a bit more nuanced than that— including whatever range of considerations impact the development of iPadOS, contentious App Store policies, and support for developers invested in providing pro level functionality for the platform etc.
Could the iPad be better? Yes. No argument there. Is the iPad I currently work with miles ahead of the first iPad I owned or even an improvement on the iPad I last upgraded from? For sure.
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Does this mean, in your eyes, that the iPad has “been poorly designed?”
And not simply constrained by security issues? Or by marketing goals? Or by evolution of the target audience? Just to name a few possible design guardrails …
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You can definitely have an opinion. You can’t say if it’s poorly designed if you don’t know the parameters and the constraints the designers had to consider.
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This.
Apple’s “What’s a computer” ad wasn’t claiming the iPad was a computer, but rather it was a device for people who do not need a computer.
Alas, too many people try to use it for something it isn’t, and then claim the tool is the problem. Spoiler alert: it isn’t.
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Simply pointing out that hardware and software design or knowing manufacture are not the only criteria of good design.
But surely whether it’s been well or poorly designed is to do with the marketing? Someone may well design a great boat, but if they try to sell it as a car, people will argue it’s poorly designed.
I’m by no means saying the ipad in general is poorly designed and I totally agree that functionality is subjective. But Apple’s marketing does question some design decisions. Take for example the placing of the camera. For video meetings, which for a vast majority is in landscape on the ipad, it seems a poor design decision for its intended purpose.
Just about every professional pilot has replaced his flight bag with an iPad. And the medical profession has been using iPads for at least ten years. In some countries a nurse with an iPad may be the only medical professional they ever see. An always connected device can provide point-of-care health information and allow rural patients the ability to FaceTime with a doctor.
When I was a salesman I would have loved an iPad. It would have replace my briefcase, the computer terminal back at the office, and my bag of quarters I needed for payphones. 
Regardless of what we think of the iPad it has been embraced by the enterprise and it looks like mobile is only going to get bigger: The World Advertising Research Center (WARC) using data from mobile trade body GSMA predicts that 72.6 percent of internet users will be mobile only by 2025.
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Unlike pilots, the one thing I am surprised about that the iPad hasn’t seemed to have solved are kids backpacks for school. They still seem huge and packed to the hilt, when I would have thought a Chromebook, iPad or MacBook would have solved these issues. Of course, I don’t go peering into kids bags to investigate (I am not writing this from jail!) 
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I would have liked to hear about some of the more obscure iPad accessories, particularly Pencil accessories and mods. The only new accessory I’ve considered recently is one of the paper-like screen protectors, so I appreciated that discussion.
Replacing the cap with a soft tip stylus might as well be a requirement as far as I’m concerned (at least for the 1st gen of Apple Pencil, I haven’t used the 2nd). David’s story about misplacing his Pencil on the airplane reminded me of my old setup using the clip from a Micron pen to stop the Pencil from rolling around, which was fun until I switched to a case with a built-in pen holder.
Clearly, the iPad’s strength is not necessarily in being multi-modal for each individual user, but multi-modal across users in a way that more traditional computers simply aren’t. I was getting quotes from tree surgeons a couple of months ago and one of the arborists brought an iPad to create a map of the trees on my property (tbh as a client, I wasn’t a fan of how much longer the process took as a result and thought it was overkill for five trees, but I could see it being very useful on a larger lot). They’re all over the place, doing all kinds of things.
I disagree, I don’t think it’s anything to do with the marketing, it’s about the design brief. If I design computer tablets at costs to manufacture (not to buy) of £100 and £400 these are probably going to be very different devices with different designs due to the cost constraints I have to work within, so the £100 tablet is probably going to have a vastly inferior screen to the £400 tablet. That doesn’t mean I created a poor design for the £100 device, just that I did the best I could with my resources to meet the design brief for the tablet. A £100 tablet is not going to be for artists, it’s going to be for people doing email and browsing the web, a bit of facebook and some candy crush.
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I can’t comment on kids backpacks. When I was growing up my older cousins dressed like extras from “Grease”. My education was strictly analog.
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iPads easily could shrink backpacks. But from my anecdotal observations, schools still want to teach analog methods that require tons of supplies (construction paper, notebooks, glue, scissors, etc.) So while the device can do it, curricular goals don’t take advantage of the iPad for that purpose. At least this seems to be the case in elementary through high schools. College may have to do with some kids preferring physical to digital textbooks. Some of it may be textbook unavailability in digital form.
No criticism implied by any of that, just an observation.
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Was the pen mac the apple Newton? Or maybe the modbook?
Quinn Nelson (Snazzy Labs) did an awesome video of the history behind the Modbook https://youtube.com/watch?v=2AoX-5KIh9Q
@MacSparky in the episode, you mentioned using the iPad and the Apple Pencil in Omnifocus during your EOD review, using Scribble. I tried that this morning as I thought it might make for a great start on my balcony, but I found the text entry fields in Omnifocus so small that I could never write anything. Would you be able to elaborate on this workflow a bit more? Maybe I’m missing something.
Here’s a picture to better illustrate what I mean
With Scribble, once you get the text going into a text field, you can actually write all over the iPad screen and it will still go in that text field. Give that a try and see how it goes for you.
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