Federico, The iPad guy, uses MacBook and becomes prolific

Hardware
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This whole genre is so tired. He was never an intended iPad user, he was finding every possible way to have the iPad do what it was not indented to do. It’s fine, it was a great niche for him and his site. It’s similar to political coverage that finds something to get clicks and just keeps going at it over and over again. Similar to how a certain genre of productivity apps have become a YouTube creators thing right now.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing what he has done on his iPad and it’s fun to see, but to pretend the iOS updates should be geared to users like him is just wild.

I use my iPad Pro a lot as my , especially when doing mostly my administrative type work. It’s a great device that serves many audiences but the one it’s not intended for is tweakers. That is why Apple has iPadOS and MacOS and did not try the dumb Microsoft plan of making every device do everything.

It’s all so tiring!

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I agree. My iPad Pro is my primary computer, but I think iPad power users isn’t the market Apple is pursuing. With that said I wouldn’t be disappointed if they put a second USB-C port on iPads and let them use the full screen of external displays. That would be handy when I edit video and do my taxes.

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This is true of all filesystem access (where it’s permitted) on any device :wink:

(For what it’s worth, I use Blink to get very Unix-like access to the iPad’s filesystem.)

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Oh my gosh, so much this. My clients don’t know how to put a detailed subject line in emails, or create new threads for bugs, and it’s awful. It’s impossible to find things later.

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Indeed! In fact, I often rename subject lines before replying or forwarding.

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One of my biggest pet peeves is people who have no respect for the email subject line.

As for search: that takes skill too. A lot of the same people who don’t bother to learn file systems just skim the first page of Google or Spotlight results and call that search.

I don’t think there’s a single right answer. I use search a lot – but when it fails (or takes forever because of what I’m searching for, what I do/don’t remember about the specifics, the commonplace nature of the relevant terms, etc.), it sure helps to know how to dig through the file system. Vice versa as well, of course. And to have a relatively consistent file naming system.

This feels a bit like debating whether screwdrivers are necessary now that we have power drills. Feel free to limit yourself to a subset of the available tools if that works for you! I’d rather have them all at my disposal.

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I’m just wanting to put those two statements together where they belong. :laughing: They won’t care, they will just yell at the nearest sucker… err… expert on hand.

Put a nerd in such a position and something happens… called progress. My first job in the school holidays was manually entering data in a computer system. By the time I left 5 weeks later I had massively improved the system and taught the guy in charge how to use it. I heard later that he’d taken what I had done and (with way more knowledge of the data in question) made it even better! My first win.

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Nice insult - thank you

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I teach high school social studies. Sometimes my students write literally the entire email in the subject and send it with the body of the email blank.

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Sounds like they’re in need of some email etiquette training?! :grin:

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Personally, I think this forum is far more useful for my needs that the usual suspect Apple blogs. Not that I don’t listen to MPU or App Stories, it’s just that I feel more distanced than even from the repetitive concerns with productivity apps, Shortcuts, and aspirations for the next version of an OS.

I love my 4 year old iPad Pro; it’s a good size for reading (academic pdfs, blogs, ebooks …) and I spend an inordinate amount of time downloading the latest psychiatry articles to an iCloud drop folder when they get picked up and added to Zotero.

However, when I want to work on Zotero or DEVONthink, I want them open on my iMac because they need lots of space, and it’s only on the iMac that I can take advantage of the more sophisticated parts of those apps.

I use the Ordnance Survey mapping app on my iPhone when we’re out walking. The iPad wouldn’t work, and I’d hardly take my iMac. When I’m working in the library, I use my MacBook, even though I’ve grown to dislike using it because I quickly develop neck pain. But it’s really light, and I don’t have to find room in my bag for extra keyboards, stands, etc. And when I’m in London, it’s my iPhone that I present at the ticket barriers, not my iPad, MacBook, or iMac.

My dad is being admitted for respite today so he’s loaded up his iPad with audiobooks to take with him (and his iPhone to chat), but not his large iMac.

The Apple blogs rarely talk about what I’d call academic apps, comparing citation managers, technical software, or other writing systems like Latex. Perhaps because they focus on solutions to their own, common, problems (IT not personal) and concerns with maximising productivity.

But neither do they talk about the iPad as I increasingly often see it used now as platforms for tradespeople, shopkeepers and market stallholders. Much less how they’re used in other settings, such as hospitals, prisons, or in dementia care settings.

I suppose what I’m saying is that what I see as the US-centric focus on productivity and pushing the iMac/IOS envelope is fine and quite interesting, but it comes across to me as increasingly rarefied; drifting away from my simpler needs and philosophies.

Horses for courses, as they say.

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I find iPad only workflows interesting, but I think these people sometimes forget that they are not Apple’s only customers. In fact realistically they are a small minority globally, and Apple’s focus is understandably on delivering what the majority need/want whilst also pushing the boundaries (which of course we love them for).

As others have commented elsewhere, there are many iPad users for whom going on the internet or opening email is perhaps their only activity. I live in a working class community, and of those that have iPads, they’re using them to go on Facebook, watch films and read their emails. Many don’t have iPads and are just doing this on their iPhones. This is their only interacting with the web. In fact, my own sister has an iPad that is only used for Netflix, Facebook and web shopping. She owns no laptop besides her work-issued one and “doesn’t see the point”.

Every time there is an iOS update, there is a round of panic as things change and people have to be re-shown what to do or why the screen now looks like this (iOS changing the tab and address bar in Safari was… “stressful”).

I still recommend Apple devices whenever anyone asks, because in my opinion they are far more user-friendly than non-Apple tablets, they’ve got a better “shelf life” and it’s almost impossible to break them. But we mustn’t forget that each time us nerdy tech folk demand more of our devices, there is a corresponding wave of panic from those who just want to do the basics and have nothing ever change (and despair from those who provide them with tech support :grimacing:).

I told my sister about the exciting development of widgets coming to the Lock Screen soon. She said “what’s a widget” :joy: I explained, and she said “why wouldn’t you just open the app?”. Can’t argue with that…

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One couldn’t help but smile reading that, sounds very much like my wife. :slightly_smiling_face: Sometimes tech nerds (I can’t figure out if I qualify or not!) make things more complicated than they need to be.

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If you don’t know, you definitely are one :wink:

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That is good to know, I like being in an “exclusive” club. :joy:

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Anybody who uses DevonThink and has opinions on their preferred task manager is absolutely, without fail. That, and you are literally a well-known and well-respected member of the Mac Power Users forum.

Sir, you’re a nerd. (We all are.)

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Almost sounds as if they took mine a bit too literally: :sweat_smile:

“Try to put everything in the subject line!
Everything the recipient needs to know and act on!”
If they don’t even have to read the mail body, to reply / give you what you need, that’s perfect!"

Well, of course I’ll make sure to add:

…if you can do it in half an SMS’s worth (80) of characters or less.
And do include references to make it easy to find things. Account/client/invoice number, or date, etc.

I’ve seen many just put “enquiry” or something in the subject line though.

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You made my day! Now, I just need an official nerd badge. :grin:

image

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You are right, most of Apple’s sales come from iPhones. IPad’s were only 8.7% of total sales in 2021. Macs accounted for almost 10%.

https://statstic.com/apple-revenue-by-product-category/

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My father had a MacBook for a number of years and was always struggling to use it. I eventually convinced him to buy an iPad Pro and he is much happier with it’s simplified workflow. He came over the house the other day and had his iPad. I watched him open up Mail and fly through his Inbox. He has become very comfortable doing the things he needs, email, web browsing, catching up on baseball scores.

To us tech nerds, the iPad seems full of frustrating limitations, but for the non-tech obsessed, it really is better.

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