
The Day the iPad Became the Mac - ONE37
http://one37.net/blog/29/1/2013/the-day-the-ipad-became-the-mac
======
talmir
In my household there are two iPads, two Mac's and three PC's (I am a
professional software developer, and my girlfriend loooves her apple
products). So I have used all of them pretty extensively.

The reason I have not used my iPad for serious work (As in, developing
software, writing my documents, checking e-mails) has nothing at all to do
with the storage available on it.

With my PC (Or even a Mac) I can do all the stuff I want to do on a Mac (given
that I can replace the OS on the Mac with linux, as Mac OS is a bit too much
of a (my personal opinion remember) toy for serious work other than writing,
photoshop or any other artsy productivity). And I can do it all on my PC as
well.

The reason the iPad pretty much solely as a reading device these days is
simple. Its form factor and user interface suck (again, only my opinion). It
is when I can install any software I want on it without being held back by the
app store. The day it becomes professional is when I can load any music, files
or documents onto it without the need of secondary software (iTunes). It is
when I can actually do work on the iPad without feeling constrained by the
display and size of the device.

It is when the device and its operating system stop feeling like a "gosh apple
is cool" kind of advertisement/toy/gimmick.

That blog post read like the rant of a overzealous apple fan fawning over the
newest apple product. What about extra space changes it towards being a
professional-grade machine today when we have almost unlimited cloud storage
at our disposal?

Absolutely nothing.

~~~
nanook
> Mac OS is a bit too much of a (my personal opinion remember) toy for serious
> work other than writing, photoshop or any other artsy productivity

I've read a few comments that say the same but I've never understood why. What
serious work do you do that OS X isn't good enough for or what does it not do
well?

~~~
king_magic
Yeah, I don't get it either. I find OS X is my preferred environment for
hardcore dev; I have the best of many worlds - terminal, multiple desktops,
browsers, text editors, word processors, spreadsheets, email - I consider that
pretty serious work.

------
breckinloggins
_sigh_

Form factor MATTERS.

I definitely envision a day where we only have one "computer" and whether
that's used as a handheld, tablet, wall projection, or professional
workstation just depends on where you choose to "throw" the IO (with all apps
responding appropriately).

But we're not there yet. A 128GB iPad does not bring us closer to the true
hardware and software changes we'll need to make this happen.

------
rossjudson
The author says he can do "almost" anything he does on the iPad. Clearly he
has no need for a general purpose computing device, then. Doesn't sound like
he needs to (or can) type fast. No file system. Minimal, restricted
connectivity to the outside world.

Anyone who thinks the iOS iWork apps are in any way remotely close to their
desktop equivalents has blurred vision, the most likely cause of which is
staring at an iPad screen, deciding to read something instead of smashing your
head against the wall trying to do work on it.

The iPad is beautiful to look at. My 2 year old loves it, so it's totally
crapped up with sticky stuff. I don't really have any use for it; the Air is
superior in almost every way that matters.

------
revelation
So they upgrade the storage, and suddenly the post-PC era as predicted by the
prophet has cometh.

I thought in the post-PC era we store data on transient clouds with unlimited
storage. Oops.

~~~
bitcartel
More money for Apple as people will have to purchase extra iCloud storage to
backup their iPad.

------
king_magic
Yeah, I'll buy this the day I can run Xcode on my iPad.

------
ckluis
I see this as a defensive move against Surface Pro.

~~~
potatolicious
I don't see it - the Surface Pro is a x86 machine (i.e., it runs almost all of
your favorite old apps), with a laptop-class spec sheet, a real digitizer (for
creative types), and what is for all intents and purposes a desktop OS. You
can even plug your printer, mice, and pretty much any USB device into it, just
like you do on your laptop.

The Surface Pro is in actuality closer to a laptop than what comes to mind
when we think of tablets.

The iPad has doubled its storage size - good news to many with lots of content
no doubt, but I don't see how it gets it closer to the "laptop in all but form
factor" ideal of the Surface.

~~~
ckluis
If the iPad offered a keyboard, & OS X - you would see it be a very popular
device very very fast. It would canabilize their laptop sales almost
completely.

I see this as the first step in that direction.

The pen is optional. I won't say much about Windows 8, but there is no denying
that the Surface has an awesome physical feel.

------
bpolania
That day will come the day we can install and run XCode at the same time we
create an Excel Macro, all in an iPad.

------
dvo
Additional storage is not enough to make a professional tier iPad that
qualifies as a full-time workhorse device.

