I was listening to a podcast with Matt Gemmell while on the treadmill. His recent blog article was mentioned, so I decided to read it.
It’s a bit lengthy, but I believe many readers will find it either challenging or reinforcing, depending on their current hardware, applications, workflows, inclinations, and preferences.
I recently read this article, and his previous one from 2016, “Rediscovering the iPad”.
I agreed with his reasons for switching to an iPad, and also his reasons for coming back to the Mac. It’s not everyday I find that kind of balance in an article.
He’ll be on MPU before too long. 
I look forward to hearing him!
I just wish I could write as well as he does.
Very readable.
What I treasure most about his writing is his earnestness, which comes out in virtually every sentence. He is a tad verbose; however, I read every word.
I always find these articles fascinating to read, and like to compare my own journey with the authors’. I pretty much use my iPad exclusively, except when I have to use a couple of pieces of software (Scrivner and logos) where there is much more functionality in the desktop versions. Like him, if I’m being honest, there are some workarounds that I have to deal with on the iPad that I prefer not to. But I think there are also things to work around on the Mac, too. He’s right though, when it comes to just pure capability of Mac vs iPad.
i’m one of those guys who doesn’t long for macOS on my iPad, and I don’t long for the iPad to just be a Mac in tablet form factor. I like the idea of the iPad redefining computing, but at the same time ipad needs to be as capable as the Mac or PC. One of the things that I think would help tremendously is if Apple would devote a considerable amount of time to polishing the interface such that it is robust and reliable. The author talked a lot about focus problems. I encounter that a lot (e.g., even working in the text box of this editing window, which seems to move around at the worst possible times). I use an external display, and that exercise is sometimes a joy and sometimes a headache.
I think the question of defining what iPad is, which the author spent a great deal of words contemplating is a worthy exercise. I also agree that Apple doesn’t seem to have it on lock, the way it has the Apple Watch on lock. The Apple Watch is a portable, fitness powerhouse that does many other cool things. So, my own sense is that for an iPad to truly stand on its own, it cannot be as Steve Jobs originally thought of it as something between the Mac in the iPhone. It has to be distinct. It has to stand on equal footing with a traditional computer, while being different from a traditional computer. An iPad will necessarily always be less powerful (if you can quantify such things) than a Mac, the same way a Mac is less powerful than a super computer. So, what does standing on equal footing actually mean? Admittedly, I don’t know the answer. In my own mind, I want to be able to do everything that I need to do on my iPad without thinking about it. I want to not have little headaches in the file system. I do think some more hardening and robustness of the operating system would solve a lot of problems.
I think stage manager is a great design, I think there’s room for improvement. From a usability standpoint, the iPad (for me) does not run less smoothly than a Mac. In many things it’s more smooth. File operations, manipulating windows, navigating the system, are just as easy on an iPad when you get used to it. The only time it’s not as easy is when the OS acts up.
I imagine one of the problems that Apple has is they want to sell everybody a Mac and an iPad. As a result, I think Apple is blinded to the idea that they’re not teaching people how to pick between the devices. There is some of that. Not as much as there needs to be.
I think the magic of the iPad is focusing on the fun it brings to computing, the modularity, and the way it enhances your interaction with the content you are working with or the apps you are manipulating.
Make it rock solid,
improve the capabilities (especially those in involving plugging in peripherals, multi-stream audio and video, better screen sharing options in video conferencing, things that once were the purview of power users, but that now almost all users need) and
highlight and hammer those facts repeatedly (fun, modularity, interaction model, capability, reliability)
I think the iPad has a story to tell that differs from anything else in the computing world.
Okay, I’ll be the skunk at the garden party. This is just one man’s opinion after all (referring to my own).
Everyone I’ve read about or heard from who is “iPad only” is either not very busy or - more often - a content creator of some kind. Content creators can use the “using an iPad as a computer” experience to generate more content and expose them to more audiences via articles and podcasts. For them, the extra work of working around the iPad’s limitations comes with a benefit: producing additional content they can use to engage with their own (or new) audiences. That’s reasonable for them.
I love my iPad. I can use it on the plane when the laptop is too cumbersome to deal with. I can use it at meetings in restaurants or coffee shops so that something smaller is on the table. It’s good for writing down things (with keyboard or pencil).
Every other type of workflow I’ve experienced - beyond content creation - reveals the superiority of the Mac. When you have enough work to do without having to work around your work tools - and when such extra work comes without the benefits mentioned above - the iPad must be quickly set to the side.
If you have time available in your life to build cumbersome workarounds for inefficient and inadequate tooling, you likely enjoy that type of activity as your hobby time, are a content creator who can get additional value out of sharing that experience with others, or you’re at a place in your career where you don’t have that much else to do.
I have no issues (zero, 0%, absolutely none) with anyone who falls into the three categories above. I do not, and as a matter of personal preference only, I choose not to spend my discretionary time making up for an inadequate tool.
Now you kids get off my lawn.
Several times recently my iPad has been open and so too my Mac and MacBookPro. Mac displaying full-screen Zoom session for a language class, MacBookPro either relevant pages from the text book or the teacher’s PowerPoint/Keynote presentation. The iPad serves as electronic paper.
This is awesome.
You are Apple’s favorite customer. God Tier.
Surely, you are also running your pomodoro timer on your Apple Watch, while listening to Mozart on your Apple TV in the background?
I"m basically "iPad Only’ and, IMO, you are not wrong. But perhaps you are not considering how some people need a lot less from their computers than others.
Until a few years ago I was an I.T. manager and I never needed a powerful computer. One of my first big projects was setting up the phone system, computers, servers, desktops, etc. software and data circuits lines for new factory. When the project started I was using a leather bound Franklin Planner and had everything on paper. Later I added a Palm Pilot with a clip on modem.
Even before personal computers became available my basic “tech” was always communications, contacts, calendar, and a list of “to dos”. Before I retired I was using 13 inch MacBooks with basic Apple software, a copy of OpenOffice, Microsoft Remote Desktop, and a handful of applications to manage networks, and our call center system. I could have used the oldest PC or Mac in the building.
Today I do everything on an iPad. To me it is similar to using a MacBook with full screen apps and Spaces. I use dedicate apps to handle finances, healthcare, insurance, and utilities, etc. And I avoid most ‘cumbersome workarounds’ by using Google services.
My email is filtered and filed by service side rules, so of the 400 or so emails I get receive each month only 4 or 5 make it into my Inbox each day. I create spreadsheets using Safari or Chrome, then update or review them using an app. Everything is available almost instantly on all my devices because the data doesn’t need to sync. And recently Google added Gemini to all Google Workspace business customers. (and raised the price $2/month)
Apple has made a lot of this easier by allowing commands like: Siri play “song” using YouTube music, or take me to the nearest Starbucks using Google Maps. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple Intelligence becomes a front end for a lot of business applications.
Nah. I do have an Apple Watch but that’s for exercise tracking in the main and for telling the time. I don have an Apple TV (other than the app) and I am not much of a fan of Mozart — give me Messiaen anyday (and I have tons of his material on my iPod Classic) however I need quiet when I work so everything is muted.
PS: For those that enjoy Matt’s writing and don’t know yet (quoting Matt below):
I write a new story every week, and send them out on Monday mornings via email. You can subscribe to the free weekly tale here, or use the form below. Unsubscribe any time, from the link in every issue.
And if you want to (financially) support him, you can buy one of his books:
I have an apartment + the grad work I have requires me to have “real” Chrome. (Google Workspace is garbage on the iPad) so I have a MacBook Air and find my iPad duplicative at this point. When I finally have space in a house for a spacious office my sweet spot would be an iPad and a Mac Desktop.
Bingo.
Twenty chars.
This perfectly describes me and my rationale for running linux as my primary OS for many years. Minus the content creator part. 
On the old misc.writing usenet newsgroup (RIP) there was a hierarchy of writing displacement activities, with ‘cat vacuuming’ and ‘yak shaving’ as the pinnacle.
I unsuccessfully lobbied to have ‘installing Linux’ as the new Number 1, but to be fair, this was in the late 90s, when it truly was a niche obsession.