
Steven Sinofsky on iPads replacing laptops and transitions in computing - occamschainsaw
https://twitter.com/stevesi/status/1059663467676762112
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daedalus_j
I worry that people don't remember "The Coming War on General Purpose
Computing" [1]...

When my tablet has a full IDE which lets me compile a new app and install it
on the tablet, and share it to my friend's tablet, they will be
"professional". When my tablet allows me to plug in any accessory I want
without it having to be blessed by the tablet manufacturer, maybe it will be
able to replace a "real" computer. (Although on this front USB-C gives me a
little bit of hope, maybe..)

Those replies about how people are just grumpy that the times are changing are
completely missing the point. We need to figure out how to re-focus the
conversation and make people think about about the walled garden seriously.

[1]
[https://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html](https://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html)

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anotheryou
I don't see it that black and white.

The big difference between iPad and PC is the input. It's no surprise that
consumers are less power users of input methods than people working on their
machines.

Power users always use less intuitive, but more efficient input. The mouse
accelerates my cursor, it moves farther then the mouse travels and has great
accuracy. On the iPad I'd have to stir my arm around all day and selecting
within text with your finger in the way was never fun either (though the
latter can be fixed easily). I could only imagine in "air mouse", like a
touchpad on your desk with mouse-like tapping and scrolling per finger.

Typing is where I see input methods might evolve. A touch-typists will remain
more efficient, especially coding for a long time. Physical feedback on
screen-keyboards would have to improve to the level of physical keyboards to
fix that. Good speech to text (or mumble to text¹) might overtake the keyboard
for prose but not for code unless the synax of programming languages adapts.

After that I see eye-tracking and direct brain interfaces, but those wouldn't
be iPad exclusive either.

¹
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuUSc53Xpeg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuUSc53Xpeg)

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deltron3030
If you sit on a couch or in another chill place, browsing the web with a good
trackpad on a laptop in your lap is so much better than by touch on an iPad
display. My impression is that the people hailing iPads that much are actually
mouse and not trackpad users.

The iPad just requires more physical interaction to accomplish the same
things.

The only device(s) that would be able to beat the laptop experience (imo) are
comfortable (24/7 wearable) AR glasses + screenless laptop body as a keyboard.
This would maintain the laptop/trackpad benefits while improving ergonimics
(screen height) and also enable desktop like workflows, meaning thatcreatives
don't have to switch between desktop and mobile desktop UX.

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eysquared
I worked on Windows 7 and 8 on the Core UX team when he took over and turned
the Windows desktop into a touch friendly interface. The guy is a true
believer and maybe he is right, but I certainly don't feel like my iPad gets
much use anymore. Most headlines I hear seem to be about declining sales and I
can't help but recall the overwhelmingly negative feedback from users about
the Windows 8 changes.

I always felt like Apple did it right - take the phone and move towards the
desktop. Otherwise you are just creating a system that is as bad at the new
computing scenarios as it has now become for the old ones.

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EpicBlackCrayon
I think MS did it right with 8.1, just hide tablet UI on a desktop. On a
separate note, how do you feel about the regressions in Tablet Mode UI/UX in
Windows 10? Seems like MS threw out even the stuff that worked.

