The file system dates back to the vertical filing cabinet invented in the late 1800’s. It’s had a good run but it’s time to let go of it.
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For every modern operating system, the file system is a fundamental part of the way the OS works. Especially for Unix derived systems, which includes all of Apple’s OSs, everything is a file. If you want to be a computer professional or a “power user”, then I consider it essential you understand what the file system is and how it works.
Now a casual user can certainly get away with not understanding it, but if you want to move from a casual user to a power user, a good place to start is the file system.
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Because they might skip buying either one? My wife has a nice iMac that I have setup an account on, which I almost never use. I’ve been iPad Pro (and iPhone) only for years now.
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I think this is a false dichotomy. Search and a folder system (and tagging, for that matter) are complementary organizing schemes. If one only needs to find a file, then a folder structure is not required. However, a folder structure is tremendously helpful for grouping items. An obvious example is tax and financial records. Occasionally, I want to zip or otherwise batch-process a group of files based on category or date. Or, I may want to change the file name extension of a group of related files. Unless one has a strict, detailed naming and tagging protocol, having related files in folders is essential. The same thing can apply to client files. A filing system is also helpful for archiving documents. Theoretically one could do this with tagging but tagging is not consistent or reliable in the Apple ecosystem and it requires consistency in capitalization, etc. Few people will be consistent enough with tagging to make it a reliable substitute for a folder structure.
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Thanks for the recommendation, I just purchased it. 
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Plaintext was supposedly made obsolete by the introduction of rich text in the last century, but it’s recently seen a resurgence in popularity. It’s old, but it’s future-proof because it isn’t proprietary: the files can be opened and edited in any text editor.
Organizing files in system folders has similar benefits because you can navigate them with any file manager on any operating system. It doesn’t depend on proprietary tools that can be discontinued.
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I may be the outlier (it would not be the first time! ), but I seldom use the browser in my work. I’m almost always using an app. The only meaningful work I do in a browser is access Google files, and of course when surfacing the web.
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I was half joking but I agree. You need to understand your file system.
One problem we had with every file system we tried (ext3, ntfs, hfs plus, reiserfs, etc.) was it became unusably slow long before we reached the limits of the file system. We had tens of thousands of images in hundreds/thousands of folders and just opening a folder to view it took several minutes. Eventually we put everything into a database.
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Not necessarily, it depends on your work. Google Workspace users are one example, but a lot of companies now use services such as SalesForce through a browser.
The number of native apps seems to be declining. At one time the majority of my tools to manage email, telephone systems, etc. were Windows only or terminal programs. Before I retired all were web based.
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Back when I still used OneNote, I switched to running it in Safari because the app drained my MBP’s battery like crazy
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How do you define “understanding what the file system is and how it works”? And maybe more importantly, how do you define “computer professional” or “power user”? I would argue there are plenty of true professionals who don’t understand much past “I can make folders” in the file system.
But perhaps we are talking about different people? As a computer science guy myself, it was (and is) pretty important to know. In my professional office setting, I don’t think anything past “folder creation” is very important.
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I was thinking narrowly, such as a software or web developer, but it extends beyond that. I think anyone that creates content on a computer should understand that there is a hierarchy of files and directories. That there are different types of files that can be opened by different applications. A photographer should understand that jpeg files are compressed and that raw files are uncompressed with much more detail. A podcaster should understand different audio file formats and the tradeoffs between them, etc.
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Sorry, I’ve read this a couple of times and I don’t understand what your point is.
You said:
My response is that if they don’t incorporate new features in iPadOS, users such as myself may skip the Apple products entirely. That’s the incentive to create the best version of iPadOS that they can.
And use what instead? If Apple doesn’t make iPadOS more like macOS, are you going to switch to buying Windows, Linux, and/or Android devices? Apple doesn’t seem to be having any problems selling iPads, including expensive iPad Pros and accessories, even without doing that and cannibalizing Mac sales.
Interesting, thanks for explaining. I think I see where you are coming from, yet don’t necessarily agree with the conclusion as many people who do very professional work on a computer in an office setting may not need to know the file structure much at all.
But I feel like I’ve derailed this thread, so I’ll leave it alone. I 100% agree with you that certain professions absolutely need to know the file structure and how certain files work/play with each other. Good points!
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You never said ‘make iPadOS more like macOS, and neither did i. You suggested it was in Apple’s best interest to not make iPadOS as good as it could be.
I saw an interesting video from a photographer who was running a seemingly similar experiment. Anybody interested in this thread would probably also be interested in this video, whether their work is artistic or not. Jonathan Mizaur tackles the same kinds of questions we’ve been discussing here regarding artistic applications. I had never heard of Mizaur before seeing this video; it just came up in my feed.
The comments are pretty great, too. There was one that I saw that really caught my eye, by “@trentgilliam5192”:
Great video. But until the MacBook has cellular data and a built in and a rear facing camera, it will never replace my iPad. Granted, I’m probably a niche user but the iPad has changed the way I do aid/relief work in the field. I’ve had the iPad cellular still working when wifi was down while reporting live from typhoon hit regions. I can coordinate supply delivers (water/food/medical) live from the field with one device without being tethered to another all with a screen large enough for me to be comfortable working from.
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@Bmosbacker I am looking forward to reading about your journey through this! Will you update here or on a blog?
I did a similar journey on my iPad Pro (2018/2019?), I will say that I think I wasted too much time and get “caught up” in these immaculate uses of the iPad from others online. I did lots of app-jumping. For the most part, it took care of what I needed it to…which was (as simple as possible)
- writing
- reading
- entertainment
When it got to other complexities, managing Wordpress site, managing Squarespace site, or working with an excel sheet, or editing audio. I would go back to my mac mini for mainly 2 reasons.
- I have 2 screens - easier to work on stuff / more screen real estate (especially when comparing excel sheets)
- muscle memory - much easier to do work on the mac for a particular workflow than to learn a whole new way of doing a workflow (time spent vs getting it done quickly)
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If you read the context of the entire back-and-forth thread rather than just that one comment in isolation, you’ll see that it was about many users wishing to see iPadOS acquire more macOS characteristics so they can use their iPad to do Mac as well as iPad things, and I was pointing out why IMO Apple doesn’t see it in their business interest to do that.
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