I don’t know about that, computers have replaced many different things. Not sure that a single device can do all of those things well. For example, record players and tape decks. Portable tape decks/CD players, physical books, sketchpads, pencils, paint brushes, notebooks, newspapers, radios, TVs, etc. You get the idea. I mostly use my iPhone to play music because it is a good replacement for portable tape decks. I use my iPad for drawing because it has the Apple pencil and a big screen. I use my Mac for software development, because you can’t do that on any other Apple device.
Every Apple device has it’s strengths and weaknesses, I don’t see how one single device can be good at all the things computers can now do.
Your point is absolutely true, and precise. I was not trying to make as broad a point as you may have perceived. All I really meant was that I think people are passionate about the iPad issue because they would like to be able to buy an iPad instead of a Mac, and because of that, they also want the iPad to be able to do everything that they can otherwise do on their Mac. They want a choice not to have both a traditional computer and an iPad.@snelly’s comment about “how many computer’s does one need,” encapsulated that point in my mind. I was just playing off his pithy comment.
I also wasn’t trying to derail @Bmosbacker’s thread with my comment and apologize that I may have.
You know, the funniest part about my pithy comment is that I meant it in the context of my Mac. “If my Mac does everything I need, do I need another computer? Is that a benefit to me?”
To put it another way, is there a benefit to my mental health, my relationships, and my relaxation time if I get rid of the iPad in the living room and replace it with a book, or a conversation, or even my Nintendo Switch? If all I do is consume content on the iPad, essentially chase dopamine hits, is that good for my long-term health? And why would I spend thousands of dollars (in Canadian) to pursue that dopamine? (And is it good that our society is so littered with computers that millions of people have the same problem?)
I might be wrong, of course. Once I return the iPad, there might come a time when I miss what it added to my life and workflow (particularly for sketching wireframes for clients, reviewing and signing contracts, occasionally bringing to church when sheet music isn’t prinnted, whatever), and I end up buying it again. But I’d rather do the inverse experiment: at least one month without any iPad whatsoever. Just to see if, to inappropriately quote a Radiohead song, I’m “fitter, happier, (and) more productive.”
(Quick edit to add that my dream setup, I think, is basically a Mac Studio and the tiniest Mac laptop Apple will ever make. And they don’t make a laptop small enough to qualify for that yet, so I’m just rocking a MacBook Pro. Once in a while, reality is that I do need a computer outside my office, but I don’t need it to be big, and I want it to run macOS.)
Really thinking about going Mac mini + iPad Pro. I prefer the aspect ratio of the 12.9 to the MacBook Air. Reminds me of a Surface Book I used to have. I never really liked doing work on my MacBook Air, the screen feels too small and the 15 inch Air is a bit much. Needless to say, I’ll be checking in to see how things go.
Yes, it seems to work that way. I bought all three options, so I have them all unlocked. However, it is not (yet?) as sophisticated as the desktop version of CCC. For example, it does not support multiple backup tasks, etc., but I’m hopeful they continue to develop it as this is still v1.
This is why I decided not to get the Magic Keyboard this time. I went from the 12.9 to the 11 because I wanted more of a slim tablet form factor. The MK made me feel like I was trying to emulate a MacBook again
These videos were helpful; thank you for posting them. I knew about 90% of what was presented in the videos, but I did learn or was reminded of three tricks:
Guided access looks to be an effective way to focus on one app.
Creating a note widget for quick notes to use like posted notes
I was reminded to make more use of quick actions in the files app.
This author is close to providing a good thesis regarding why some people thrive on the iPad, and others do not. I have excerpted a few paragraphs, but the article is worth reading. It is short.
I read a newsletter last year that argued younger people — Gen Z — are often described as tech-savvy because they grew up in a world where the Internet, computers, and smartphones have always existed. But there is an argument to be made that their digital literacy — their “ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” — is not translating to digital fluency, which is “having the skillset and understanding of digital technology to not only use it for basic tasks but also to adapt different digital tools for different situations to achieve a desired outcome such as creating new information and content.”
Gen Z is extremely capable on tablets and smartphones because they spend so much time in that environment but their skills with a computer are lacking because of it. There certainly are more studies that need to happen based on this thesis, but if you only ever use a tablet and only have ever used a tablet for years, getting the things done that you need to using one will feel like second nature. Even if it’s harder than if you were on a computer — assuming you had equal skills — it’s still possible.
If you look at the iPad as one part of a larger creation system of a desktop computer, a laptop, and external monitors, then it starts to fall apart. Trying to do things the way you’re used to doing them on a computer is a recipe for disaster when it comes to the iPad. But that’s the world tech reviewers live in: they are fluent in multiple types of tech language and when they try and integrate the iPad into an existing workflow, even a workflow designed by Apple, it stumbles and falls.
I know people bemoan macOS for being somewhat of a closed system but compared to iPadOS, it’s a free-for-all. iPadOS works if you only ever use iPadOS, but go beyond and it’s incredibly restrictive.
That is why so many creators who have never known anything but the tablet and phone environment are perfectly happy on iPadOS and so many tech reviewers feel hamstrung by it.
Regarding backups, I wonder if there isn’t a solution for files that would be possible via Shortcuts and an external SSD. My thinking is that in the Files app, there is the “Latest” view, so it’s easy to see which files have been modified lately. The “Get Details of File” action in Shortcuts can get the file path, and so it should be trivial to replicate the file path but save the file to an external drive instead of to iCloud.
The downsides that I see immediately are that A) none of this would be automatic or done in the background, and B) versioning would be tricky (although not impossible—maybe appending the file name with a date stamp would work?).
For this reason, I tend to think that it’s a mistake for schools to hand out iPads rather than laptops for doing schoolwork. They’re going to learn to use touchscreen mobile operating systems anyway because they all have or are all going to get smartphones, and those skills will translate easily into tablets like the iPad. But a laptop running a desktop OS is an opportunity for schools to teach and for kids to learn skills many of them will need in the workplace.
Apple is an at an impasse. It can continue iPadOS and the users who know it and nothing else will continue to love it, but reviewers and those who work in a wider ecosystem of devices will regularly complain. Or, Apple can change iPadOS to be more like a computer and upset the users that are used to the current experience. If there is anything obvious from all of this, it’s that Apple has to do something, but very likely whatever that is, it won’t please everyone.
Apple’s main goal isn’t giving users everything they want in a single device. It’s selling products and boosting profits. They don’t want iPads to become a reason not to buy Macs and vice versa.
Well, now, I’m most definitely going to have to write a blog post about that article, thanks for sharing.
He quotes this from Apple’s iPad website:
“iPadOS is designed to let you power through advanced workflows and do all the things you love with ease and simplicity. Run pro apps, play high-performance games, and take on creative projects of any size with an intuitive touch-first experience.”
It’s interesting in the article that unlike so many other iPad articles written by old-school Mac users, that he acknowledges that it may well be that the iPad is just not for them. That it is, in fact, for a different audience, particularly, the younger audience that grew up with tablets and iPhones rather than Macs. I think Apple’s marketing above speaks to that. So much of Apple’s marketing is towards the young creator crowd. It’s directed right at them and not at all directed to older tech reviewers.
Exactly. He hits this in his next paragraph.
I think I get hung up on the “do all the things you love” part, because that’s the promise iPadOS doesn’t deliver to those who are used to the computer environment.
Then he writes:
Apple is an at an impasse. It can continue iPadOS and the users who know it and nothing else will continue to love it, but reviewers and those who work in a wider ecosystem of devices will regularly complain. Or, Apple can change iPadOS to be more like a computer and upset the users that are used to the current experience.
I’m gonna blog it rather than write a long response here but a simplified response for this post is that I think he’s wrong. Apple will do exactly what they have been doing. They will continue to iterate, year by year. iPadOS will retain its super simple mode for those that need it (kids, older folks) and the more advanced modes/features will be improved. He’s correct that the more advanced Mac using reviewers will continue to complain. They won’t ever be happy and I don’t think Apple cares much about them as I don’t think Apple sees them as the target audience.
But you can be sure that each year Files will be improved. Mail will eventually get smart folders. Xcode will come. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro 3 will be released next year. The list goes on. 14 years in, Apple’s not going to abandon the course they have set after this much investment.
In five years what will iPadOS look like? My guess is that it will continue to look and work more like macOS but it will retain the core touch-first iPad experience. We’ll see!
I was just talking to a teacher today about this. Just one teacher so this is anecdotal but what she said seems to accurately reflect much of what I’ve read. In her district in a suburb of St. Louis Missouri they don’t use a desktop OS. They use Chromebooks and much, perhaps most of everything they do beyond specialized education apps is happening in Google’s apps with documents all stored on Google Drive.
I’d be curious how many schools use Macs or Windows. Is the thinking that Google Docs/Sheets get’s them close enough to general computer literacy that real desktop apps aren’t needed?
I have lots of thoughts about this. I’ve implemented three 1:1 computing programs in three different schools. I don’t have time to elaborate on this right now, but perhaps sometime shortly, I’ll share a few thoughts. Most people who implement computers in schools do it for the wrong reasons and have little idea what they’re doing. They don’t start with pedagogy, which is the place one must start before deciding about hardware or software.
Yeah, Chromebooks are the most popular devices in schools for handing out to students mostly because they’re easy to administer, and they’re kind of in their own category.
ChromeOS is more of a desktop OS than iPadOS, but schools usually lock them down so students can’t do things like install Linux apps or access the Linux terminal, so I don’t know how much they’re learning that will be transferable to intermediate and advanced use of Windows, macOS, or desktop Linux distros.
I think schools are missing an opportunity to teach students digital fluency because they’re focused primarily on making device management as easy as possible for administrators.
But beyond that, it seems to me that such discussion is generally lacking in the public discourse. Education, tech, tech in education, AI, etc… so much important discussion is left to chance isn’t it? As I think about it, I wonder, what are the channels for public discourse on topics important to democracy? What role does tech play in that discourse? What are the channels, the spaces for citizen education? It’s quite a conundrum. Another topic for another time!
I’m now trying this in reverse. 