
The Secret of iOS 7 - smacktoward
http://www.cringely.com/2013/09/19/the-secret-of-ios-7/
======
sytelus
I think OP is trying to see something when there is nothing to see. This seems
to be common pattern with lot of Apple fanboys. Apple _might_ be still
innovative as they want to believe and I wouldn't argue with that because it's
waste of time. OP's core argument is flawed due to many reasons:

1\. iOS is not good at multi-tasking which is bread and butter for desktop.
Look what happened to Windows 8 which tried to forced full screen apps on 24"
monitors all the time.

2\. Phone/pads still don't have necessary RAM to run desktop class
applications. Can you imagine running full strength Photoshop on iPad yet?

3\. Phone/Pads are still far behind in providing large cheap storage compared
to similarly priced devices.

I'm not saying that convergence is not possible. It's just too early for its
time still. I can imagine iPhone 7 to be able to replace today's laptops. But
arguing that Apple has this genius secret idea that no one is able to see it
bit too much of fanboyism.

~~~
mbenjaminsmith
I'm not sure I agree with Cringely here either, but I think you're missing
some important points:

1\. iPhones do support multi-tasking, but the interface for it is poor. This
could remedied, especially if iPhone would detect a larger screen and add an
additional menu bar.

2\. The killer app for the average desktop user isn't Photoshop, it's some
manner of email/doc/spreadsheet. These _do not_ require gobs of ram. For
everyday use, they require: monitor, keyboard, mouse.

3\. Which is quite possibly why Apple has built a zillion dollar data storage
center (iCloud).

Actually, Cringely might be right, but I don't think we're going to see it
anytime soon. I think it might be Apple's longer-term plan.

Put another way, it does pull together some interesting choices that Apple has
made:

1\. iCloud -- and more importantly the monster infrastructure developed for
it.

2\. The growing iOS-ification of OS X.

3\. 64-bit processors (which, of course, allow for 'desktop class' amounts of
ram).

4\. Hardware accelerated screen sharing (AirPlay).

Another thing, I don't understand why you would classify that as a "genius
secret idea". I would call it a multi-billion dollar technology company
looking a few years into the future.

~~~
bmj
Indeed. Particularly:

 _The killer app for the average desktop user isn 't Photoshop, it's some
manner of email/doc/spreadsheet. These do not require gobs of ram. For
everyday use, they require: monitor, keyboard, mouse._

If Apple thought they could run Photoshop off an iPad, they'd do it, but they
also know their bread and butter for laptops and desktops are designers who
use Photoshop and Illustrator all day, every day.

I work for a tech company with a fairly large operational staff. I reckon at
least half of those employees could get by with a good tablet with peripherals
for almost all of their tasks.

~~~
mavhc
There must be a reason why Apple's rewritten every pro app they've acquired.
My theory is it's so they will port to iOS easily.

iOS is 90% of Apple's business

------
rednukleus
So Apple's plan is to do what Ubuntu and Windows are already heading in the
direction of? Except when Apple do it is new and revolutionary.

Why would any enterprise IT department choose the iOS device, which is going
to be more expensive, less open, and probably play less well with all the
Microsoft back end products they have?

I cant see a single advantage Apple have in this space over Google and
Microsoft, other than a lot of senior management tend to like the shiny Apple
product.

~~~
chavesn
Ubuntu? Where's the hardware? Where's the full experience?

Regardless, innovative isn't just trying it first. It's making it work first.
Microsoft has made a good try but there's something missing if it's just not
seeing adoption. I don't think it's easy to say what that is or it would be
fixed already. But I do think Cringely is right that someone will get there,
Apple or not.

~~~
rednukleus
Nobody has done it fully yet, including Apple. But again, Cringely doesn't
give a single reason why Apple would succeed in this space over Google or
Microsoft, or something like Ubuntu. Enterprise is probably going to want to
stick to mostly one OS if everything has to be ported over and all their
accessories need to be compatible, and iOS is very very unlikely to be first
choice of most IT departments for obvious reasons.

So the idea of convergence isn't new, and the idea that iOS would win at the
convergence game in the Enterprise is implausible - I don't know what he was
smoking when he wrote this article.

~~~
chavesn
Enterprise is going to be a slow-adopting beast, no matter what, but that
doesn't mean that iOS (or some future evolution of it) is out of the running.
Come on, you're not really saying that office work can't ever fundamentally
change again, now that PCs are here -- are you?

~~~
rednukleus
Firstly, iOS as it stands is very very poor compared with a desktop OS for
office work. At an absolute minimum people need to be able to have two
documents up on screen at once, maybe one spreadsheet and one PowerPoint doc.

Secondly, im willing to entertain the idea that iOS could evolve into
something that could become useful as a desktop replacement, but i am yet to
see a single reason why it would have an advantage over competitors, and there
are many reasons, such as cost, that they are at a disadvantage.

~~~
nicholassmith
From my experience of working in an office with admin teams, the very large
majority worked with apps open on the full screen and tabbed between them.
Very rarely would they have more than app visible at once, even when they knew
they could they wouldn't.

~~~
rednukleus
That has not been my experience with office workers. They often work with one
maximized app, but they often work with more than one document at a time. For
admin teams in particular they often have a small chat client open either for
work reasons, or more commonly to chat with coworkers.

------
Jun8
He's absolutely right, this _will_ be the future of office type of work. He
doesn't mention the Motorola Atrix
([http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/motorola-atrix-4gs-
webtop...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/05/motorola-atrix-4gs-webtop-
application-turns-your-phone-into-a/)) which tried to do precisely what he's
talking about but failed due to Moto's incompetence (and lack of software like
iWork). Apple's not Motorola though, they got everything aligned, including
connection to the TV screens at home, something Atrix couldn't do.

------
glhaynes
_iOS 7 has, for the first time, support for not just Bluetooth keyboards but
Bluetooth mice as well._

Wait, what? If this is true, it certainly hasn't been talked about much.

Edit: I should be more straightforward — I don't believe this is true.

~~~
maguay
I believe it supports them, just like it supports game controllers now, but
apps will have to include their own implementation of support to actually make
use of them. It doesn't seem that iOS 7 supports using a mouse/touchpad by
default throughout the OS itself.

~~~
glhaynes
Looks like apps can only support arbitrary Bluetooth devices if they're the
Bluetooth Low Energy type:
[http://stackoverflow.com/a/11892685](http://stackoverflow.com/a/11892685).
Conventional Bluetooth devices would have to go through the MFi program to be
supported by App Store apps.

------
damian2000
Sounds similar to the Lapdock by Motorola [http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-
Lapdock-100-Smartphones-Packa...](http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-
Lapdock-100-Smartphones-Packaging/dp/B005P58B5G)

------
snowwrestler
> Go to your desk at work and, using Bluetooth and AirPlay, the iPhone 5S or 6
> in your pocket will automatically link to your keyboard, mouse, and display.
> Processing and storage will be in your pocket and, to some extent, in the
> cloud. Your desktop will require only a generic display, keyboard, mouse,
> and some sort of AirPlay device, possibly an Apple TV that looks a lot like
> a Google ChromeCast.

What is the networking? iPhones don't have Ethernet ports. WiFi has limited
bandwidth and much worse security (you can sit in the parking lot and listen
for authentication creds). Cellular is more secure, but expensive and slow.

What is the network identity and permissions layer? There is nothing on the
market that comes close to Active Directory, which is probably the #1 reason
that so many businesses still run Windows on the desktop. As far as I know,
there is no AD integration in iOS.

Can businesses run an iCloud sync service locally, within their corporate
firewall? I'm guessing no. Corporations are rarely comfortable with sending
all their proprietary data out to some 3rd party--even more so following the
recent NSA revelations.

Can you run antivirus on an iPhone?

I think Cringely is not fully appreciating the corporate mindset when it comes
to technology--a common failing among tech pundits.

~~~
simonh
Active Directory is basically just an implementation of an LDAP server and
Kerberos. There are plenty(1) of commercial and high quality open source
implementation on various forms of Unix and iOS is Unix. Wifi bandwidth is
increasing all the time. Many laptops nowadays don't have ethernet ports.
iPhones don't have viruses either.

Most of the problems you mention are problems for PCs, but beyond the PC world
they're non-issues. Ask your Unix server support team the last time they had
to deal with a virus on their machines.

I remember when the iPad came out someone I think on HN posted that he needed
to be able to print to a portable bubble jet printer and iPads didn't support
that, so therefore they would never catch on. Seriously, that was his
contention. Everyone thinks their own little world is the entire universe.
Blackberry and the tech press were adamant iPhones would never encroach on
BB's corporate sales because iPhones don't play well in corporate
environments. We all now know how that went down. In theory everything you
mention is a problem, but in practice they can be worked around or are just
non-issues.

(1)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LDAP_software](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LDAP_software)

~~~
arethuza
Active Directory itself, as you identity, isn't anything remarkable. However,
it is valuable because it is deeply integrated into all of Microsoft's
products and a huge range of products from 3rd party vendors.

~~~
simonh
Including OSX server's Profile Manager, which through iOS Configurator can be
used to manage profiles for iOS devices. Apple's enterprise grade iOS
management products have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years.
This really isn't going to be a problem.

[http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/](http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/)

------
leoc
Some thoughts:

* This is something like an obvious thing to do; the question is when and whether the mobile OS vendors are going to be bothered with the work to make it happen, including the internal revenue/political frictions to overcome (ChomeOS vs. Android, anyone?)

* Speaking of the work necessary, here are two technical changes I assume you'd see if Apple was actively working towards this now: one, a move towards resolution independence for iOS apps, and two, API changes to accommodate having multiple apps active at the same time. If these were happening, presumably iOS developers would be talking about them?

* iOS famously tries to abolish the file, document and filesystem (from the user's perspective). It's interesting to consider what kind of compromises Apple would or will make in making a desktop, multitasking iOS. Stick to the iOS model or try to retrofit something?

* 'Native' support for keyboard and mouse - an experience good enough that Apple wouldn't be embarrassed to be advertising it as a first-party option - would be awkward to bring in. iOS 7 may have a nice new interface for switching and managing tasks, but how much fun would it be to close an app with the throw-it-away gesture on a large-screen device using a mouse?

------
rcarmo
I suppose most people here aren't familiar with Cringely and his completely
off-the-wall "revelations", using just enough facts and tossing in a few
plausible (and deniable) "pseudo-facts" to spin a good yarn.

FYI, iOS7 does _not_ support a mouse. Yes, there were jailbreak hacks for it.
No, Apple has no interest in making the OS navigable with a mouse (even though
the changes involved are actually pretty minor). Yes, apps can try to go their
own, but good luck with trying to pair any other HID device besides a keyboard
(or a few custom devices such as styluses) at this point.

Also, as someone who's been successfully living off an iPad as a thin client
(using SSH+RDP to a remote X11rdp server), yes, the iPad makes a kick-ass thin
client, good enough for you to develop in (despite the screen size). It was
even better when I could use Citrix/ICA, but perfectly usable in every
respect.

But, again, Apple doesn't care about thin clients - otherwise they'd have
shipped a working ARD (Apple Remote Desktop, an enhanced VNC protocol with
proprietary extensions) from day one. What they believe in is a nice, smooth,
local integrated experience.

------
6ren
1\. of course phones will replace desktops, it's been coming for ages. If your
phone is powerful enough, why buy a desktop too?

2\. in general, phones are "overshooting" what is needed in a phone: 1080p,
469ppi, quad-core, 2GB RAM etc

3\. the real next market is a smaller form-factor (which this better tech now
makes possible), not larger - maybe watches, maybe glasses, maybe something
else. Apple has being absolutely extraordinary in leading new markets several
times - but only with Steve. Sony also did it several times - but also only
with their founder.

    
    
      either don’t see a competitor rising up or are too complacent to feel threatened.
    

Christensen says it's far worse: even when they do see it, fund it, prepare
for it, take it seriously, they _still_ can't do it. Factors: it's a different
emphasis from everything else they do, so it's not only learning/adjusting,
but also unlearning/unadjusting (entrants only have to learn/adjust).
Specifically: the rate of releases (eg Windows vs iOS); what users
value/prioritize; how they use it (tasks); how to communicate to customers (a
previous positioning works against them); financial analyst expectations (new
markets start small and unexciting); corporately, small and possibly-failing
new markets do not always attract the best talent; and well-established
corporations tend not to attract risk-takers - and why wouldn't such people
strike out on their own? That's often how it goes in practice.

Basically, like animals, companies become supremely adapted to their niche.
When that niche disappears, they can't adapt. Fortunately for Apple, the same
people will probably buy iWatches, iGlasses, iWearableWhatevers, for the same
purposes, the same priorities as they buy iPhones.

Still, cringely is right.

~~~
netcan
Say you live in Apple land and have all the iStuff. Would you buy a brainless
iPad with storage processing on your iPhone? If the only advantage is a cost
savings ($50?), I don't see the point.

~~~
6ren
Sorry, I don't understand. Cringely's idea is not a brainless iPad, more like
a brainless laptop/desktop

When laptops came out, many people docked them at home/work to a full keyboard
and monitor. Why have two (or three) computers to maintain and worry about?
Why go to the hassle of switching between them - your files, apps and
customized environment?

To be fair, today is different, the cloud (dropbox etc) helps. But avoiding
the problem in the first place has an appeal too; and dropbox doesn't solve
apps. Though using webapps exclusively could solve that.

You may have a point about the price difference though - is it really only $50
to buy a PC box these days? (i.e. excluding display, keyboard, mouse).

~~~
netcan
I just gave it as an example. Brain one place hardware in another. It just
doesn't require imagination using iOS & iphone-esque RAM/processor on an ipad.

$50 - In the ipad example, I imagine that would be the cost difference for the
brain. Maybe a little more, I don't know. But there are definitely decent
android tablets in the 100-$200 range. The whole premise of the-phone-is-the
brain seems to be that this is all you need on your desktop. Anyway, Apple
don't do stuff like this because its cheaper.

But I don't really see a big cost savings. File sharing might be a bit of a
win, but small compared to cloud based patchwork stuff (drive, dropbox
emailing files). Apps are easy enough to install in iOS anyway and you could
make app purchases be cross platform if you are all in the same ecosystem.

Basically, I see the advantage of iOS on the desktop. Its clean and easy and
better for a lot of people. But why complicate that by outsourcing processing
to a different device? If you want iOS on a laptop, just put iOS on a laptop.

~~~
6ren
But with a brainless iPad, you don't get the keyboard, mouse and upright
display, which was the point...

Anyway, maybe you're right about the cost saving. A SoC is pretty cheap.

A clearer argument is that the guts of desktops/laptops will be replaced by
phone guts. This is because an ARM SoC are cheaper than intel, and now good
enough. We're already seeing the samsumg chromebook and asus transformer - and
as ARMs increase in power, it increasingly makes sense. It's expected that
Apple will do one eventually - which I guess also explains the evidence in the
article (and you get iOS on the laptop/desktop with no extra work).

Note 1: intel x86 CPUs (apart from atom) are still much more powerful than ARM
- even a celeron. But Christensen's idea is that this doesn't matter. He calls
it "overshooting" what the market need: people want enough power to do their
tasks, they might like more, but not enough to sacrifice other things, or pay
more. Maybe it won't run photoshop, but most people don't.

Note 2: Apple has a focus on video and photo editing, and as these apps
improve, they will meet the needs of more and more people, perhaps eventually
reaching photoshop users. One thing that intrigues me about Apple's choice of
pushing GPU (and not CPU) in iPhone/iPad, is that GPUs scale better, and GPGPU
might well be the best multicore we're going to get. It's generally perfect
for image processing (ie photoshop). So in this case, the iPhone 5S guts may
turn out even more powerful than it seems.

------
zmmmmm
This seems like a giant extrapolation based on only the merest hint of any
actual evidence.

The big question to me, is why would Apple, the quintessential hardware
company, be going out of their way to try and sell you _less_ hardware? They
don't want you to reuse your iPhone as your main computer. They want to sell
you both. In general they detest the whole concept of shoehorning bits of
technology into roles they are not meant for. In Apple's eyes, each device you
own is exactly optimized for its unique role.

This whole thing sounds like Cringely's personal fantasy rather than anything
Apple would actually do.

~~~
leoc
Yes, it can't be the next big thing for Apple's revenues if it doesn't shift
lots of fairly expensive hardware. There's also Apple love of iCloud, and
iCloud revenue, to push them towards cloud (or even local) sync between your
iPhone and a mini-desktop rather than a dock-your-iPhone solution.

------
netcan
I agree with sytelus that the writer is seeing what he wants to see. I don't
agree with the reasons though. They all seem like doable hurdles if Apple
really wants to do this.

I think iOS could handle mult-tasking if it was a priority. The lack of
RAM/Processor/storage is not a long term problem either. Specs will go up over
time and apps like photoshop will be written to max out the capabilities of
their average users' machine, but not more.

I just don't buy the everything-is-powered-by-your-phone future. I see
difficulties, hurdles and compromises but no benefits. There is no reason _not
to_ have processing and storage capabilities where the display-keyboard-mouse
is. It's cheap.The problems solved by putting the brain in your phone are
small.

I especially don't see _Apple_ doing it. It seems like an anti-Apple move.
Apple like to keep their metaphors as clean as possible. That means stuff
needs to be self contained. A brainless desktop powered by your phone and the
cloud is the opposite of that. It's complicated.

OTOH, I do see (or maybe see what I want to see) the benefit of iOS on a
keyboard & mouse device. I just think its a different iThing. An iOS desktop
could be what chromebook should have been. A "computer" where everything is
easier than it is on windows/mac.

------
mcphilip
The iPhone could replace desktop PCs that are only used for basic tasks like
word processing and web browsing. However, advanced uses of desktops like
hardcore gaming, a/v editing, software development, etc require much more
advanced applications and underlying OS support that won't realistically be
available on the iPhone in the near future.

That being said, I do think the idea of Apple selling MacBook Air like cases
and displays with a slot for adding the iPhone has potential.

~~~
DigitalJack
This has been done before and not taken off, but who knows with apple. The
slot could be where the trackpad is with the phone functioning as the
trackpad.

------
stretchwithme
Yeah, you're not gonna leave it in your pocket so the battery can die. You'll
drop it in the something that will also connect the i/o.

------
tptacek
The secret of iOS 7 appears to be that it supports bluetooth mice.

------
shearnie
I've been wanting to dock my phone into a cradle hooked up to multiple
monitors, speakers, USB hub, keyboard, and mouse for a very long time.

The Microsoft acquisition of Nokia for a Surface Phone that would do something
like this makes a lot of sense. They certainly wouldn't want to lose the new
desktop form factor race.

------
r00fus
I don't think Apple wants to abandon their desktop market at all. However,
they could be introducing a new thing - a new Apple TV style device that's
designed to connect to monitors and act as a workplace bridge for iPhones and
iPads.

If you could get a $100 or $150 AppleDesktop that only ran App Store apps, but
hooked up to a monitor/TV and allowed BT keyboard/mouse, would you do it?

It could be the AppleTV store, or the iOS App Store, or even the Mac App Store
that's backing it, but it would definitely be an interesting competitor vs. a
Chromebox, as it could function without internet (which might make it a
perfect "computer" for your aging parents). The fact that it couldn't run OSX
or sideload apps would clearly protect Macs from some cannibalization.

------
graeme
Apple lost the iPod market? I haven't been in the standalone mp3 market for a
while: what beat them?

~~~
ubernostrum
People no longer carry dedicated media-player-only devices, since their phones
do that and a bunch of other stuff.

Same reason why people argue that standalone pocket cameras are dead or
doomed.

------
bni
I dont get his theory at all, the trend seems to be people getting more
devices, not less.

Why try to unify handheld and desktop? For customers it would be a
FridgeToaster(tm), with less power than a dedicated desktop (yes performance
matters). It doesnt even make business sense (less devices sold).

------
mark_integerdsv
But... I love my MBP.

I'd go for the pocket PC with peripherals thing for convenience but I want to
go to my desk pop open my MBP and kind of BE there with my machine.

I know this sounds kind of ethereal but ffs, I don't have an office anymore.
Most people I know work in coffee shops or somewhere similar.

There needs to be some signal that I am 'at work' on something.

For me, sat on a bench at the dinner table in our apartment with my laptop
open is that signal. Kids don't bug me and my wife knows to approach with
caution.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I like having a workstation that takes up a
space.

------
Tloewald
I think Cringely is wrong in detail but right in overall thrust. iOS is
Apple's future, but Apple's plan is for multiple comparatively inexpensive
devices that share data and do their jobs well, not one thing that hooks up to
accessories and works badly. The killer app for iPhone 5S is commerce and
becoming your identity wallet (Google Authenticator is a similar play, but it
simply becomes an app you prefer to keep on your iPhonr). I can certainly see
the iphone 5S logging you into your device.

------
Schwolop
Maybe I'm missing something, but if I were Microsoft, I think (at least my
first pass thinking anyway) I'd just say "Nope. No MS Word on iOS. Ever."

I can't see what's in it for them. A tiny slice of cash compared to selling it
for desktop computers, and if they _don 't_ sell it for iOS-based-desktop-
replacements then the iOS-based-desktop-replacements won't have the ability to
write files for the rest of the business world to use.

~~~
sbuk
I'd argue the opposite; Microsoft should've been offering Office from day 0.
That people have started using Numbers and pages on iPads has meant that they
are aware that alternatives exist and that they _do_ open Offices document
just fine. Surely making money from a competing platform as well as your own
is better than making money just on your own platform.

------
LiweiZ
Good read. It seems everything will be a module of a system. Users will only
need to carry the necessary part with them. And since the mobile device now
can have such a powerful calculation capability and wireless connectivity,
users will be able to just switch the physical interface they operate on and
use the small bar as the core device. This isn't the first time someone tries
to do this. But it seems quite viable with what Apple currently have.

------
ianstallings
I think it's about a TV/game console/entertainment center to compete with
others in the home and accomplish what today's apple TV and tablets cannot. I
seriously doubt they would give up on desktop architectures given how much
effort they have put into it and the plain superiority of the modern x86 PC
architecture when it comes to performance. But the specs on the 64 bit chip
make it perfect for a home console.

------
beloch
A lot of people are seeing this. Phones now have a _lot_ of computational
power, but a 4-5 inch touch-screen and a hardware button or two constitute a
piss-poor interface for using it all! You have an office suite that works on
your phone. Big whoop. It still doesn't make them viable devices for serious
work.

So, what's next? Do phones become our personal go-everywhere pocket computers,
and will displays, keyboards, "vacuum" laptops etc. just become a way to
improve the interface capabilities of our personal pocket-computers? Cloud
computing, if the NSA doesn't manage to kill it completely, offers a way to at
least have our documents follow us around (e.g. Dropbox). There's no reason
why a lot more of our computing environment couldn't follow us around via the
cloud too. It's easily doable to store everything about your current session
on the cloud so that, when you leave work, your computer at home has
everything waiting for you just the way it was at work. Having the exact same
computer following us around without transmitting everything to Big Brother
would have a certain amount of appeal if not for the greater danger of losing
_everything_ with our phone! So, what's next?

MS isn't as far behind as Cringely thinks. The surface pro is basically a
desktop that's meant to follow you around. It's not quite phone sized, but MS
is definitely showing a strong interest in unifying the mobile and desktop
user experience. They've done more so far than Apple has, since Cringely's
speculations on iOS are still entirely future tense. Still, I'm not entirely
convinced the one-computer following you everywhere approach is going to beat
the cloud. A little back-tracking by governments on their right to invade user
privacy or a credible open-source secure-cloud environment actually taking off
could lift cloud computing's chances. Yes, I'm aware it will largely be chance
which one wins, and user privacy will likely be compromised no matter which
approach wins, either by cloud-data storage or mobile-device backups.

No matter how it happens, things are evolving towards a world where we won't
have separate, discrete devices, but just multiple ways of accessing the same
persistent computing space. When it comes right down to it, new ways to
interface with our computing environment are probably just as important as
unifying our discrete computing spaces. Google's work on Glass indicates
another possible way to change the game. Free both the user's hands and you
have the potential to deliver richer user-input capability. Still, it's not
entirely clear to me that this is Google's intention with glass. They may be
getting too hung up on the idea of augmented reality when improving user input
capability would bring far greater benefits. Augmented reality is nice, but if
that's all Google sees in Glass they're going to get their butts handed to
them.

~~~
r0h1n
Thank you for saying most of what I felt, only so much more clearly!

I don't how anyone whose work depends on _creating_ quality content -
programmers, journalists, designers - can achieve even a fraction of their PC
(I use that term loosely) productivity on a 'post-PC' device like a tablet.

I see people saying they have ditched PCs and laptops altogether in favour of
tablets, and I wonder how. I'm not a Luddite, and I've owned the iPad and
Nexus tablets for a while, but I still prefer my laptop for my work every.
single. time!

~~~
ryanSrich
I agree. Just a couple months ago I attempted to shift a lot of my programming
work towards my tablet, just to try it out.

In short; it sucks. You need constant internet connection because you're
always ssh'd in. The flow of productivity is interrupted every time you have
to lift your hand to physically touch the screen, and even with a high-end
keyboard the technology to quickly traverse a screen just isn't there yet.

~~~
dhimes
Here's an old post about an experiment along those lines.

[http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-
macbook-...](http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-for-
an-ipad)

------
btown
Add builtin inductive charging, with in-monitor charging stations (so you can
literally keep your phone in your pocket) and the entire puzzle is complete.
Although one might only want to do this _after_ one has their personal optimum
number of kids ;)

For me, I'll miss third-party non-gate-kept software. But I'm pretty sure that
I'm the minority... iff Apple can get Microsoft's business apps on board.

~~~
kennywinker
Serious question: which business apps? From where I'm standing it looks like
Office is dying. Not dead yet, but dying. So it can't just be that. Exchange?

~~~
monkeyspaw
Numbers are from 2012 b/c I didn't want to spend more time looking for more
recent #s. But according the MS Q3 2012 numbers, their Business division
revenue was $5.81 billion, up 9 percent from $5.33 billion a year earlier.

~~~
kennywinker
Those numbers say MS' business division is doing great. They don't say
specific "apps" are doing great or would be a huge value add to iOS.

That said, I'm clearly not in the business world, because I haven't used a MS
product outside an Xbox since school... so I probably have a skewed
perspective.

------
digikata
Instead of hooking a keyboard to your iPhone/ipad flip it around. Apple TV can
be an airplay receiver, your ios device sends it's display to the larger
screen and you type, touch, or dictate on the device that's already in your
hand most of the day. Some die hards won't give up their dedicated keyboards,
but many people can transition over to the "mobile desktop".

~~~
ricardobeat
That is already supported today.

------
ipodize
Why does this sound exactly like the Ubuntu Edge?

~~~
kennywinker
Because it's not a new idea, just an idea that's time may be coming. Ubuntu is
definitely out ahead on this one conceptually, but iOS devices are inching
their way closer and closer to desktop-class software and performance... by
the time Ubuntu ships something, Apple may already be there.

------
ricardobeat
Reinvent the Motorola Atrix, but wireless. iOS would be much more pleasant to
use, but I don't their strategy is that simple.

------
devx
The article was more or less okay, until he _blew it_ with this:

> More likely, since it’s an iOS device, Apple will call this gizmo an
> iSomething. It will be impossibly strong and light — under a pound — the
> battery will last for days, and it ought to cost $199 for 11-inch and $249
> for 13-inch, but Apple being Apple they’ll charge $249 and $349.

Can he really be that clueless? Does he even realize that even a large iPad is
heavier than 1 pound? How could an iPad-like device with _keyboard_ and a
bigger battery be even lighter?

Also the price makes no sense at all - again because of the extra keyboard and
battery, and also because there's no way Apple would price such a device
_below_ an iPad Mini. That would mean using a processor, RAM and storage that
are even more obsolete than the ones in the iPad Mini.

That's crazy. If anything such a machine would have all of those even better
than the large new iPad 5, and my guess is it would cost $700, while still
maintaining more or less the same amount of profit as a Macbook Air (since the
chip and storage would be so much cheaper than on the Air).

It would also increase Apple's average ARPU, and would bring them higher total
profit and revenue, since these will be cheaper than Air, and Apple will sell
more of them (but fewer than iPads, still).

------
bsaul
i had the exact same thought when talking to a friend about the last keynote.
he told me the 5c was a ripoff and noone would buy it.

i told him he's missed the most important news : productivity apps for free,
and the emphasis on trying to make pads and phones not only reading devices
but content writing devices as well (5s as powerful as a laptop)

And since content editing requires more power and Apple is best at producing
high level computing platforms, that would let them win market shares over
android again (in a "if you can't win the game, change the rules" type of
strategy).

i'm predicting a huge rise in medium prices and features for apps in the next
year. But we'll only be sure when the new ipad is shown. because of its screen
size, it's the only device really capable of providing a true content editing
platform at the moment.

------
signed0
I can't imagine this working over AirPlay, the latency it introduces is pretty
significant (1-2 sec).

~~~
glhaynes
It's more like a fraction of a second, not anywhere near 1-2 seconds in my
experience. That said, I agree, even working with iWork-style apps might not
be ideal. If they're gonna run iWork on TVs, I'd expect the apps to be
executing on an Apple TV.

------
LiweiZ
An interesting point is Apple is more like a consumer product company. The
rules of tech industry have their effects on Apple. However, while completing
in the consumer market, there are other rules as well. Taking different
dimensions in to account could not be a bad idea.

------
pathikrit
What if 10 years from now, you pull up your iPhone 23s and it is more powerful
than the computer you are using now and you simply rest it on your desk and
let your monitors/keyboards connect to it. It acts as a thin layer between you
and the cloud. No PC.

------
tlrobinson
I wouldn't be surprised if future versions of iPhone had a (mini?) Thunderbolt
"docking" port, which can even support external graphics cards
([http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/30/11-macbook-air-owner-
con...](http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/30/11-macbook-air-owner-connects-
high-end-graphics-card-with-complex-thunderbolt-setup/)).

And CPUs can throttle their speed or disable cores depending on desired power
consumption, of course.

Heat dissipation could probably be solved with a metal back plate.

RAM seems like the only major issue for a iPhone-based desktop/laptop. Not
sure if RAM expansion via Thunderbold is feasible.

------
gdamjan1
So, when is Apple going to "invent" the Asus padphone

------
chaselee
Ubuntu Touch

~~~
gfodor
Vapor Ware

~~~
shrikant
[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Install](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Install)

~~~
gfodor
[http://www.ubuntu.com/phone](http://www.ubuntu.com/phone)

can i buy this? no.

------
supergauntlet
So basically what the article says is that apple should make a chromebook?

It could work. A touchscreen chromebook-like could be very attractive to the
end user, especially if you can remove the base somehow and turn it into a big
iPad. It would be like the Surface, except with a good app store.

~~~
smacktoward
No, what the article says is that Apple wants to make a phone that can also
double as a desktop machine by docking it with the appropriate peripherals.
That's a very different approach than Chromebook takes.

~~~
batiudrami
Weirdly this is exactly what Microsoft is doing with their tablets.

iOS is much more hampered in terms of doing 'real PC things' at this point so
Microsoft has a good head start, even though Windows 8 isn't exactly the
epitome of polish yet.

