Except in this metaphor, the "ebike" has en engine as powerful as a new "landcruiser", and attachment points that could allow quickly/easily adding extra seating or cargo capacity. That such a thing seems absurd illustrates how poorly the metaphor fits.
The only reason that "iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work" is because Apple chooses to limit them.
I have a laptop which I only rarely use as a laptop - it moves between being connected to external monitor/keyboard/mouse in an office to being connected to external monitor/keyboard/mouse at home. I could get an iPad with a faster processor (my laptop is a few years old), that could connect to the same peripherals. The only reason it couldn't replace my laptop is because I can't run the same software on it.
Now, I understand why this is so. MacOS (or any other desktop OS) would not work at all well on a tablet interface, it would take a lot of work to make it work well, and those changes would make it less well suited to desktop use. Look at Windows 8, when Microsoft tried moving their desktop OS towards something that could also work on a tablet (or phone), and how unpopular those changes were. But that doesn't mean I have to like it (or wish iPads weren't so locked down, so I could run a different OS anyway even if Apple wouldn't support it).
Let’s not pretend that Apple could come up with some sort of dual windowing system (or just dual boot) scheme. We’re not limited by drive space anymore.
> The only reason that "iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work" is because Apple chooses to limit them.
That’s their choice to make. As consumers it’s on us to make the right choices. What the author wants is a laptop not an iPad if they want a general purpose computing device
The article is just a way to poke the giant that is Apple just like we used to when we wrote Micro$oft
They’re both called Pro (iPad Pro and MacBook Pro) but thermals, RAM, etc are different.
I think it’s fair to say an iPad Pro and a MacBook Air should be capable of similar-ish things, and that iPadOS could have way more “power” features. Eg a terminal app to start with. But I’m not sure iPad Pros can really replace MacBook Pros.
It's really a fundamental design limitation of iOS/iPadOS (same thing, let's face it).
It's ground-up a super efficient, wonderful media consumption platform. It's really good for media consumption, like so much so it's kind of a problem. So I think the metaphor still fits, in that sure the ebike has a crazy engine but the tires don't have the contact patch to make the engine nearly as useful.
The problem is the UI is absolute trash for real work. I'm sorry, I know you can bolt stuff onto it to make it kinda usable, brilliant minds are doing their best, but I absolutely want to chuck the device across the room doing the most trivial work on it.
They could make it into MacOS, they don't, and they won't because they make way more money on these devices when they're used for media consumption.
The new land cruisers are actually really weak compared to the old ones.
> the formerly beefcake Landcruiser went from a beastly guzzling v8 in 2021 to a weaker v6 in 2022-2023, and now, in 2024, a weak 2.4L supercharged 4-cyl sipper.
> iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.
Video conferencing work: iPad + Center Stage unmatched for portability, audio quality, integrated cellular modem.
Writing work: iPad with hardware keyboard and single app mode for distraction-free writing, ergonomic screen mount.
SSH work: iPad has unmatched HiDPI 4:3 screen real estate
Video editing work: Lumafusion usability with M4 rendering speed, $30 one-time fee unlike subscription alternatives.
3D planning or design: vertical industry apps for iPad Pro Lidar sensor that is absent from competing tablets.
Source: decade on iPads as primary device. Secondary device: Lenovo /w Linux sidecar VMs accessed from iPad.
After Apple enables hypervisor API for Linux VMs on iPad, Lenovo sidecar budget can be redirected to iPad storage.
This is exactly right. I hate seeing so many people say that iPads aren’t for “real work”, because it’s being hugely dismissive of the real work plenty of people do every day. You don’t have to be writing a compiler for it to count as “real work” FFS. Just because it’s not suitable for your work, it doesn’t mean that the work other people do on it isn’t real work.
Yeah I don't think I've found a good substitute for vector art.
There's stuff for more expressive creative raster art with procreate, I think the capacity is there to deliver a good experience here but the first one to do it will have to solve a few problems relating into a more professional workflow and take on quite a bit of risk seeing as the consumer base (most companies) probably don't issue iPads to their employees. There's very little incentive to this when their consumer is content with existing tools.
An iPad is an interesting device. It has many uses where it is indispensable, but most of them are unknown to most people.
I often see a sound engineer with an iPad on music gigs. The form factor allows you to walk around the room and adjust the sound easily to tame resonances and such.
It’s not so good for typing text or programming, but where it makes sense to have a portable slab of screen that works reliably there is probably an app that does it.
Exactly. The author is “using it wrong”. The iPad is an appliance much like the phone is. Get a MacBook Air and call it a day. The article is clickbait at best because everyone knows iPadOS is not as open as macOS.
To be fair, "theregister" is a big hint that you're going to be opening unsubstantiated clickbait 50% of the time (rising to 90% if it's relating to Apple.)
Absolutely. The entire "article" insults the reader by expecting him to believe such a stupid premise, or makes the author look stupid. Nobody who wants to do stuff at the command line would seriously buy a TABLET, especially not one from Apple.
That’s a revealing comparison: a largeish chunk of SUV owners really would be better off with a cargo e-bike. Lots of people on the road every day driving solo in an SUV with nothing more than some grocery bags in the trunk. They could be riding a cargo e-bike, saving a ton of money, and having a better time.
According the author of the article he seems to consider 'real' work is any work the requires "terminal windows, root access, and the ability to type "python" to get into a REPL".
Man. I thought you were joking, then I read the article. Yeah, I will never spend so much on an iPad. It's not even the same OS. I don't know why anyone would think an ebike compares to a Land Cruiser.
I dunno why anybody thinks a computer with a 10 core CPU, 10 core GPU, 16GB of RAM and a TB or two of storage is "an e-bike".
None of the machines I do the work that pays my salary exceed those specs. Apart from the 16GB of RAM none of my work machines meet any of the other specs.
If Apple would let me plug a couple of HDMI screens and a keyboard and mouse into a iPad, and let me run macOS (or even Linux) on it, it'd be a more capable development machine that any I've ever used.
Perhaps this metaphor doesn’t work in the US, where heavy vehicles are incentivised by regulation & most population centres rely on car transport.
But only a few people really benefit from a full featured Toyota land cruiser. The value added of additional features not available in more affordable cars (or transport options) is low relative to the cost of other uses of the same cash.
Given the ability to make a trade off for a cheaper option that meets the core transport needs without paying the premium for the features they won’t really use (or the user doesn’t value for the price they have to pay), most would probably go for the cheaper option (rapid transit or smaller more fuel efficient car).
Same can be said for many features on laptops not already found on tablets.
I’m not sure if you’re referring to software engineering specifically or all workflows that require computers, but I don’t think it’s that silly for most other professions to use tablets more once they provide more specialised workflows.
For example, I recently went back to university and I find it easier to do revision on my iPad using the pen tool, the second best option is pen and paper but that has limitations, the 3rd is computer but that has input limitations.
It may not include everyone, but I don’t think it’s so silly to think iPads and tablets will play a more prominent role in the Office in the future. That said it’s possible this will never include software engineers due to the workflow being highly dependent on features that may never be available on iPads or tablets.
I have to agree here. I do a lot of written work and thinking still. If I put my “lowest common denominator user” hat on, the iPad seemed like an obvious choice to throw all this at as it has a reasonable “paper” implementation. Cue buying an iPad Pro, Noteful and using the files app to replace reference books and physical notepads.
It just didn’t work. There are so many constraints and it’s not just the software but the fact it has only one screen. I need about 4-5 iPads to be equivalent and that’s not even remotely practical or possible.
This is notably not unique to the iPad. No tablet would be good for this work.
As for the generic computing stuff it’s not even good for consuming content - the screen is too shiny. If you add a keyboard case to it you might as well buy a MacBook Air.
> iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.
But are they? Because of the hardware, or because of the restricted operating system?
Most of my work is connecting to other things. With modern devices, it's not as much the hardware, as it is the restricted operating system and closed ecosystem that would limit me. That, and maybe my eyesight...
"My decade-old and very well-travelled Toyota Land Cruiser finally died, and I bought a Land Cruiser that has the exact same body and engine but with a different steering wheel... the engine also has a limiter applied to it that prevents offroading and driving faster than 20mph.
Now imagine the ebike was built on the same basic frame and had the same engine. I'd be pretty annoyed if there was some little part in there restricting its use.
This was all over the place. The article itself seemingly bares no relation to the headline. Replacing your laptop with a tablet and then complaining that the tablet cannot do the same things as the laptop was a slightly interesting take in 2010. The iPad has now been around for 15 years. A tech journalist being surprised it doesn't have a terminal with root access at this point is baffling.
I remember about a decade ago setting up an iPad Air as my main driver for work (coding mostly). I got it to work by SSHing into a VPS to use Vim w/ a bluetooth keyboard.
After about of month of stubbornly working like this, I finally admitted it was just a shittier MacBook Air, and that I preferred the keyboard, touchpad, and form factor of the laptop much better. I also don't care to have a touchscreen laptop. There was even an 11" MBA which is just as portable as a tablet (more so if you're carting around a bluetooth keyboard).
I think I was just trying to find a use for a tablet, and there simply wasn't any for me. I haven't bought a tablet since... although it's hard to get a phone that isn't as big as a tablet these days.
Google Pixel tablet now has a Debian Linux terminal VM that is isolated from the host Android OS. Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. They could restore that functionality in 2025 to compete with Pixel tablet, which has weaker hardware.
I don't understand the resistance to understanding this point littered all over this thread.
Yes - an iPad is a different form factor than a desktop. That doesn't excuse crippling a powerful general purpose device by taking control away from the owner.
---
Here is an alternate example:
My Jeep is in the shop, I need to pick my kids up from their friends house, but the last mile is a dirt road.
My minivan isn't ideal for that, but it'll almost certainly work. Except... the manufacturer has locked it down via GPS so that the second I leave roads paved to their satisfaction, the accelerator stops working.
---
That's the fucking hostility of Apple. It's not that the device can't. It's that they won't allow it.
And folks... buckle the fuck up because this road is JUST getting started. We are going to witness a complete and total war on general purpose tools. No one is going to let you use their tool unless they're extracting rent from you.
One time purchases, ownership, novel use? Fuck that noise. Pay them your rent. The company store is thirsty.
The author's thoughts don't make sense, though. He's expecting a locked-down tablet appliance to suit the same needs and use cases as a laptop running a general-purpose OS. Or at best, he's not expecting that, but is at least complaining about it, which feels a little pointless.
He can get what he wants by buying a new Mac, as he suggests. It's not like what he wants doesn't exist. He's just complaining that some other random product doesn't do what he wants, even though it's not designed to. Pointless.
I guess this kind of article always gets attention, but they always seem so stupid to me.
A thing exists that I don't want.
I could:
(1) ignore the thing; or
(2) complain that the thing isn't something I want
(1) seems so obviously the right thing to do. This goes double when the thing you do want does, in fact, exist.
But, no, the internet opts for (2). I guess complaining just feels good, even when it's about something that has zero actual effect on you (or on anyone, even).
If ignoring the thing would work then people would do that. The problem is not that anti-consumer products exist along side pro-consumer products. It is that anti-consumer products out compete pro-consumer products to the point that all that remains (within reasons) are anti-consumer products.
There are market reasons for this behavior. Asymmetric information in markets (lemon markets), true cost obfuscation, hidden terms, platform capture, manipulations in form of anti-patterns, monopoly behavior, to just mention a few of the very large ones.
How would ignoring the ipad not have solved OP's problem?
They could have just replaced their old macbook with a new macbook.
Not that there's anything wrong with trying something new, IMO. But if you do so without doing any research, and it turns out to not be what you expected, there's nothing to complain about. Hopefully OP just returned the ipad and got a macbook upon realizing their mistake.
You seem to be suggesting something deceptive is going on here, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of that.
This article seems a little ranty, but you could definitely be forgiven for thinking that iPads are general-purpose computing devices. There aren't any hardware limitations, and for years (haven't checked the last year or two), Apple was heavily advertising them as being just that, especially with keyboards and other add-ons. If you weren't intimately familiar with the goings-on, had brand loyalty from a MacBook that previously did what you wanted, and only spent an hour or three of research (a few hundred dollars of your time, or a 10-30% tax on this upcoming purchase) after seeing those ads, an article about how you were swindled would be appropriate.
I don't particularly care for the limitations Apple puts on iPads. Instead, I have a Windows Surface that I use to mostly as a laptop and occasionally as a tablet. That being said, Apple has a 14 day return policy [1]. If you feel swindled, which should be immediately obvious, just return the device.
Are you seriously making the argument that writing to effect change is a waste of time? People do (2) because they want things to be different, and given enough writers, the needle may eventually move. Today, there's a lot more iPad-should-be-open sentiment than there was a few years ago, even from long-time Apple pundits and fans. Regulation is also quickly catching up.
The author literally just bought the wrong device for their needs.
Probably 95% of people who own computers do not need root access and should not have it, possibly ever. The iPad is a great device for all the people who need what it offers. It's an amazing graphical tablet, it's a cheap way to watch movies and play games, and it's an amazing system to use while standing without a desk (e.g., for retail and outdoor situations). All of these use cases have nothing to do with gaining root access.
Heck, I don't even think most of my development tasks on a real desktop computer involve elevating into root privileges. I'd sure like the ability to but if it was taken away from me I'm not sure it would affect me all that much.
"I don't consider any system without root access to be a real computer. So anyway, I decided to buy a Roku streaming box as my main computer and it sucks! What's wrong with the world today!?"
Some folks seem to be in the fashion that everything with a CPU can get a monitor and a keyboard attached to it, regardless of the original design purpose.
You are literally adding even less value than the article by commenting on how a supposedly useless article is useless.
And I don't agree. Those of us who know that markets have network effects and who believe that open computing is a value for humanity and closed systems opposite understand that it is value for new readers to know that things could be better, so as to steer at least some of the consumer choice away from these toxic, disposable products.
I dub the distinction between a tablet and a laptop fake. Tbh they are running the same hardware. I started with Android and first things I did on my phones was to install terminal and ssh. Later it became impossible, because of the changes that were being imposed by Google ("for the sake of my safety").
What I valued Android over IOS was to have access to my files (like DVD-dumped futurama) that I could watch on them (I did it before it was trendy, before netflix came into phones, moreover before the data transfer got so cheap I could watch a whole movie and not pay through my nose).
On IOS it was possible though with VLC - I had to upload there my movies using HTTP server (yes - server had to be on a computer).
And then it began! You cannot listen to free spotify on your tablet the same way you got it on your laptop - you have to install an app and it will impose on you different limitations. HEY! This is the same thing as my laptop! HOW CAN YOU TELL!??? AH MY BROWSER WEASELED ME OUT?
so apparently I've witnessed a new device category being born. Not a mobile, not a laptop. Which has neither the rights and obligations of real computer nor of the mobile phone. It is something new (A TABLET) and will not let me handle my photos on it as I could handle them on my phone, it wouldn't let me browse pages as if this was laptop (even though I put it in the orientation the same as my laptop had) etc. etc. It caused me a lot of pain, as at that time me working at the bank, I had some limitations on the network, and I wanted to buy something on my iPAD, but the pages would detect me being "A TABLET = MOBILE DEVICE" and showing me different, broken versions of pages I wanted to navigate.
Don't most browsers have a "Desktop site" option you can turn on to tell websites you want the desktop version? It seems weird to blame your device for websites' bad decisions, especially when your device goes out of its way to allow you to force websites to correct their mistake.
Apple eventually surrendered and exposed a file system via the "Files" app, but it's woefully neglected. Google is adding Debian Linux VM to Android, hopefully Apple will come to their senses and re-enable VMs on iOS, even if it's buried in Accessibility settings to avoid scaring non-technical users. Until then, iOS users have iSH (syscall emulation) CLI to slowly run Alpine Linux and manipulate files.
> MY BROWSER WEASLED ME OUT
iOS Safari has a setting to send desktop/MacOS User Agent string, but cloud services have a range of techniques for device fingerprinting.
I don't understand these articles, they've stumbled upon what many of us have known which is that the iPad just doesn't feel the same as a Macbook laptop. The iPad just doesn't suit what they need, some people it does suit them better, others not.
They could've just gone back to the Macbook and left the iPad for others, but felt the need for an article.
I was telling people back in 2012 that whilst the iPad is a shiny new thing, it doesn't fit the bill like a laptop and subsequently our staff wanted both laptops and iPads once they realised that.
There's a lot of loose connections and frustrations in this article whereby the Surface Pro not being able to upgrade to Windows 11 being another source of issues, whilst this also impacts Desktop users it still wouldn't fix the keyboard and trackpad issues.
If you like the Macbook and its functionality, keep buying a damn Macbook then. Apple didn't lock you into anything, you tried to use a different Apple product in the same way you use your Macbook and found out they're not designed to work that way.
It would be more accurate to say that they are designed not to work that way. In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled.
The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you.
I think we need to look at this in terms of what was the stock product originally designed to do, as opposed to with unlimited skills and expertise what COULD I do with this general purpose computer that most others wouldn't be doing.
A Macbook is a laptop, an iPad is a touch screen tablet. It doesn't matter how much I COULD rip it apart and reshape it, they were originally intended to be used differently. Buying one and expecting it to function the same way as the other is fine, but if it doesn't who is to blame.
I could buy a hatchback to travel and sleep in, but I'd probably need to buy a caravan and perhaps replace the engine to tow it and add a tow bar. Whereas I could just buy a caravan. Complaining I can't convert the hatchback into a capable van is beside the original point.
> In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled.
The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you.
So you also blame Microsoft or Samsung for not letting you do this on an xbox or some fridge with a screen?:)
I'm not even a Linux "enthusiast". I simply find Windows to be a terrible product and Linux to be a better product. I simply use the least terrible option.
Unfortunately many people rely on proprietary software packages that don't run on Linux, such as Microsoft Office, the Adobe Creative Suite, and other desktop software tools that serve various niches like CAD, music, video production, desktop publishing, etc. There are often FOSS alternatives that run on Linux, but sometimes these alternatives have shortcomings that hinder adoption, such as lacking necessary features, having imperfect file format compatibility with proprietary file formats, having a less intuitive UI, etc.
With that said, the desktop Linux ecosystem has come a long way over the past 20 years that I've been following it, and I think desktop Linux serves the needs of people who are not reliant on the Windows and Mac ecosystems.
Even if the alternatives were just as good or better, their workflow is likely entirely different. Different keystrokes, different ways of doing everything, slightly different quirks than the "brand name" software.
I like some of the Linux alternatives more than the "brand name" software, but I don't work in media or document creation. If I had all the keystrokes for Adobe Premiere memorized, it would be a pretty tough sell for me to drop that to move to something like Lightworks or something.
I've been using Linux for a good 25 years. In that time, I've gone from having to tinker endlessly to get things working in a basic manner on a desktop machine, to running on a laptop with essentially no tinkering, and fewer issues cropping up than most of my Windows- and macOS-using friends complain about.
Sure, if you require a piece of software that can't run on Linux, then you're stuck wherever you are. Otherwise? ::shrug::
As former Linux enthusiast, I am alright with it, I rather game, watch hardware accelerated videos, got access to the tools I need, and I need to reach out for GNU/Linux, can always start a VM.
I mean, unless you work in software or extremely high-budget movies, Linux is a pretty tough sell.
A lot of the "mainstream" apps simply do not exist on Linux. LibreOffice isn't so bad, but most people simply want Microsoft Office. Lightworks is decent software, but most people want Adobe Premiere. Gimp is alright but most people want Photoshop, etc.
This isn't to say that Linux software "worse", I actually like Lightworks more than Premiere, and there are some applications that are competitive with the "brand name" applications like Krita, but "having good software available" is only half the battle. People get used to certain workflows, and if Linux doesn't support that workflow most people aren't going to think it's worth it to switch over.
I do work in software, and I run NixOS, and I like it a lot, since programming tools on Linux are generally very good (especially if you work in server-land like I do). I'm just saying that I don't really blame people who don't want to switch over.
LibreOffice is pretty bad. It doesn't tend to hold up past very basic use, and that use case has long since been taken by Google Docs. For serious work - e.g. legal services word processing, or many accounting workflows - LibreOffice doesn't hold a candle to Excel and Word.
The problem with desktop Linux software is that it generally doesn't have the demands put on it that would push it to develop competitively, so it tends to get stuck spinning in circles for decades. LibreOffice Writer isn't really a competitor to MS Word - it's more of a bloated Wordpad. Ditto The Gimp, etc. It's just not there.
Heck, that's going to go down poorly with those who will correctly point out that not only are there a gazillion Linux desktop environments which equates to a lot more than 3 "operating system" choices ("Linux" is just the kernel and a set of included/bundled/related technologies) but that there are also other systems you can daily drive like FreeBSD that aren't even Linux.
I don't understand how the author managed to connect iPads running a toy operating system with Microsoft's serious business operating system not being supported on older hardware.
Readit News
How that article sounds. I don't care how fancy they make them, iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.
The only reason that "iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work" is because Apple chooses to limit them.
I have a laptop which I only rarely use as a laptop - it moves between being connected to external monitor/keyboard/mouse in an office to being connected to external monitor/keyboard/mouse at home. I could get an iPad with a faster processor (my laptop is a few years old), that could connect to the same peripherals. The only reason it couldn't replace my laptop is because I can't run the same software on it.
Now, I understand why this is so. MacOS (or any other desktop OS) would not work at all well on a tablet interface, it would take a lot of work to make it work well, and those changes would make it less well suited to desktop use. Look at Windows 8, when Microsoft tried moving their desktop OS towards something that could also work on a tablet (or phone), and how unpopular those changes were. But that doesn't mean I have to like it (or wish iPads weren't so locked down, so I could run a different OS anyway even if Apple wouldn't support it).
They don’t because it would hurt macbook sales.
That’s their choice to make. As consumers it’s on us to make the right choices. What the author wants is a laptop not an iPad if they want a general purpose computing device
The article is just a way to poke the giant that is Apple just like we used to when we wrote Micro$oft
I think it’s fair to say an iPad Pro and a MacBook Air should be capable of similar-ish things, and that iPadOS could have way more “power” features. Eg a terminal app to start with. But I’m not sure iPad Pros can really replace MacBook Pros.
It's ground-up a super efficient, wonderful media consumption platform. It's really good for media consumption, like so much so it's kind of a problem. So I think the metaphor still fits, in that sure the ebike has a crazy engine but the tires don't have the contact patch to make the engine nearly as useful.
The problem is the UI is absolute trash for real work. I'm sorry, I know you can bolt stuff onto it to make it kinda usable, brilliant minds are doing their best, but I absolutely want to chuck the device across the room doing the most trivial work on it.
They could make it into MacOS, they don't, and they won't because they make way more money on these devices when they're used for media consumption.
> the formerly beefcake Landcruiser went from a beastly guzzling v8 in 2021 to a weaker v6 in 2022-2023, and now, in 2024, a weak 2.4L supercharged 4-cyl sipper.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43031218
here's a nickel to buy a real computer, as they say
After Apple enables hypervisor API for Linux VMs on iPad, Lenovo sidecar budget can be redirected to iPad storage.
I thought it could sure handle that use case, I quickly checked there was a figma app. I was expecting some quirks.
A day later I returned it. Turns out that figma app for iPad can only "view" designs, not create them!
I feel like there's a very narrow market for iPads. I'm surprised they still sell.
There's stuff for more expressive creative raster art with procreate, I think the capacity is there to deliver a good experience here but the first one to do it will have to solve a few problems relating into a more professional workflow and take on quite a bit of risk seeing as the consumer base (most companies) probably don't issue iPads to their employees. There's very little incentive to this when their consumer is content with existing tools.
I often see a sound engineer with an iPad on music gigs. The form factor allows you to walk around the room and adjust the sound easily to tame resonances and such.
It’s not so good for typing text or programming, but where it makes sense to have a portable slab of screen that works reliably there is probably an app that does it.
An artist who draws might consider iPads to be serious drawing devices.
To be fair, "theregister" is a big hint that you're going to be opening unsubstantiated clickbait 50% of the time (rising to 90% if it's relating to Apple.)
(Also Pesce has been banging the "ipads should be computers" drum for a while - e.g. https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/23/apples_got_a_good_thi...)
Pfff, downvoted by the author, twice, no doubt...
[edit] non-office-workers, I mean.
At the risk of invoking no true Scotsman, I think you need to define 'real' work.
None of the machines I do the work that pays my salary exceed those specs. Apart from the 16GB of RAM none of my work machines meet any of the other specs.
If Apple would let me plug a couple of HDMI screens and a keyboard and mouse into a iPad, and let me run macOS (or even Linux) on it, it'd be a more capable development machine that any I've ever used.
But only a few people really benefit from a full featured Toyota land cruiser. The value added of additional features not available in more affordable cars (or transport options) is low relative to the cost of other uses of the same cash.
Given the ability to make a trade off for a cheaper option that meets the core transport needs without paying the premium for the features they won’t really use (or the user doesn’t value for the price they have to pay), most would probably go for the cheaper option (rapid transit or smaller more fuel efficient car).
Same can be said for many features on laptops not already found on tablets.
I’m not sure if you’re referring to software engineering specifically or all workflows that require computers, but I don’t think it’s that silly for most other professions to use tablets more once they provide more specialised workflows.
For example, I recently went back to university and I find it easier to do revision on my iPad using the pen tool, the second best option is pen and paper but that has limitations, the 3rd is computer but that has input limitations.
It may not include everyone, but I don’t think it’s so silly to think iPads and tablets will play a more prominent role in the Office in the future. That said it’s possible this will never include software engineers due to the workflow being highly dependent on features that may never be available on iPads or tablets.
It just didn’t work. There are so many constraints and it’s not just the software but the fact it has only one screen. I need about 4-5 iPads to be equivalent and that’s not even remotely practical or possible.
This is notably not unique to the iPad. No tablet would be good for this work.
As for the generic computing stuff it’s not even good for consuming content - the screen is too shiny. If you add a keyboard case to it you might as well buy a MacBook Air.
Almost always stated by nerds who are unable to fathom people do things with devices they don’t.
I know people running their entire business from iPads. Last I looked running a business is real work.
But are they? Because of the hardware, or because of the restricted operating system?
Most of my work is connecting to other things. With modern devices, it's not as much the hardware, as it is the restricted operating system and closed ecosystem that would limit me. That, and maybe my eyesight...
Deleted Comment
I think Toyota should remove the limiter."
Dead Comment
After about of month of stubbornly working like this, I finally admitted it was just a shittier MacBook Air, and that I preferred the keyboard, touchpad, and form factor of the laptop much better. I also don't care to have a touchscreen laptop. There was even an 11" MBA which is just as portable as a tablet (more so if you're carting around a bluetooth keyboard).
I think I was just trying to find a use for a tablet, and there simply wasn't any for me. I haven't bought a tablet since... although it's hard to get a phone that isn't as big as a tablet these days.
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It definitely did not.
Yes - an iPad is a different form factor than a desktop. That doesn't excuse crippling a powerful general purpose device by taking control away from the owner.
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Here is an alternate example:
My Jeep is in the shop, I need to pick my kids up from their friends house, but the last mile is a dirt road.
My minivan isn't ideal for that, but it'll almost certainly work. Except... the manufacturer has locked it down via GPS so that the second I leave roads paved to their satisfaction, the accelerator stops working.
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That's the fucking hostility of Apple. It's not that the device can't. It's that they won't allow it.
And folks... buckle the fuck up because this road is JUST getting started. We are going to witness a complete and total war on general purpose tools. No one is going to let you use their tool unless they're extracting rent from you.
One time purchases, ownership, novel use? Fuck that noise. Pay them your rent. The company store is thirsty.
He can get what he wants by buying a new Mac, as he suggests. It's not like what he wants doesn't exist. He's just complaining that some other random product doesn't do what he wants, even though it's not designed to. Pointless.
He's bought something whose limitations and target demographic are well known.
And then complaining when he hits one of those limitations.
A thing exists that I don't want.
I could:
(1) ignore the thing; or (2) complain that the thing isn't something I want
(1) seems so obviously the right thing to do. This goes double when the thing you do want does, in fact, exist.
But, no, the internet opts for (2). I guess complaining just feels good, even when it's about something that has zero actual effect on you (or on anyone, even).
There are market reasons for this behavior. Asymmetric information in markets (lemon markets), true cost obfuscation, hidden terms, platform capture, manipulations in form of anti-patterns, monopoly behavior, to just mention a few of the very large ones.
They could have just replaced their old macbook with a new macbook.
Not that there's anything wrong with trying something new, IMO. But if you do so without doing any research, and it turns out to not be what you expected, there's nothing to complain about. Hopefully OP just returned the ipad and got a macbook upon realizing their mistake.
You seem to be suggesting something deceptive is going on here, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of that.
[1] https://www.apple.com/us-edu/shop/help/returns_refund
Mac products are especially famous for restricting the users in what in can do in exchange for whatever peace of mind that brings.
If you are going to spend hundred of dollars on a product without doing even a basic research about it, you are 100% responsible of the outcome.
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The iPad is about to reach its 15 birthday.
No one should be forgiven for confusing it with a MacBook.
Probably 95% of people who own computers do not need root access and should not have it, possibly ever. The iPad is a great device for all the people who need what it offers. It's an amazing graphical tablet, it's a cheap way to watch movies and play games, and it's an amazing system to use while standing without a desk (e.g., for retail and outdoor situations). All of these use cases have nothing to do with gaining root access.
Heck, I don't even think most of my development tasks on a real desktop computer involve elevating into root privileges. I'd sure like the ability to but if it was taken away from me I'm not sure it would affect me all that much.
"I don't consider any system without root access to be a real computer. So anyway, I decided to buy a Roku streaming box as my main computer and it sucks! What's wrong with the world today!?"
But they should be able to take it to someone else who can use root access to fix it
The idea that a person should not have any access to be an admin of a physical device that they own is ridiculous
They might not need it, they might not ever use it, but they should absolutely be able to if a situation calls for it
No one really cares about folks extolling the virtues of stuff. They want good, meaty, abuse.
I used to like Mr. Cranky, a lot more than Siskel and Eibert.
Tablets and phones are for consumption, not production. End of story. This person just wrote some clickbait to generate some ad revenue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjmaxCyJBc4
And I don't agree. Those of us who know that markets have network effects and who believe that open computing is a value for humanity and closed systems opposite understand that it is value for new readers to know that things could be better, so as to steer at least some of the consumer choice away from these toxic, disposable products.
What I valued Android over IOS was to have access to my files (like DVD-dumped futurama) that I could watch on them (I did it before it was trendy, before netflix came into phones, moreover before the data transfer got so cheap I could watch a whole movie and not pay through my nose).
On IOS it was possible though with VLC - I had to upload there my movies using HTTP server (yes - server had to be on a computer).
And then it began! You cannot listen to free spotify on your tablet the same way you got it on your laptop - you have to install an app and it will impose on you different limitations. HEY! This is the same thing as my laptop! HOW CAN YOU TELL!??? AH MY BROWSER WEASELED ME OUT?
Apple eventually surrendered and exposed a file system via the "Files" app, but it's woefully neglected. Google is adding Debian Linux VM to Android, hopefully Apple will come to their senses and re-enable VMs on iOS, even if it's buried in Accessibility settings to avoid scaring non-technical users. Until then, iOS users have iSH (syscall emulation) CLI to slowly run Alpine Linux and manipulate files.
> MY BROWSER WEASLED ME OUT
iOS Safari has a setting to send desktop/MacOS User Agent string, but cloud services have a range of techniques for device fingerprinting.
They could've just gone back to the Macbook and left the iPad for others, but felt the need for an article.
I was telling people back in 2012 that whilst the iPad is a shiny new thing, it doesn't fit the bill like a laptop and subsequently our staff wanted both laptops and iPads once they realised that.
There's a lot of loose connections and frustrations in this article whereby the Surface Pro not being able to upgrade to Windows 11 being another source of issues, whilst this also impacts Desktop users it still wouldn't fix the keyboard and trackpad issues.
If you like the Macbook and its functionality, keep buying a damn Macbook then. Apple didn't lock you into anything, you tried to use a different Apple product in the same way you use your Macbook and found out they're not designed to work that way.
Owners of unmodified M1+ iPad Pros and iPadOS 16.3 can run performant Linux/other VMs, e.g. Linux web server and iOS client.
Owners of unmodified M1+ iPad Pros with iPadOS 16.4+ can very-slowly run Linux/other VMs via UTM emulation.
Owners of jailbroken M1+ iPad Pros can run Linux/other VMs by adding hypervisor entitlement.
It would be more accurate to say that they are designed not to work that way. In modern times, every limited-purpose internet-connected gadget is actually a general-purpose computer that has been deliberately crippled.
The reason you can't run arbitrary software on "your" iPad is because they have locked it down so Apple owns the hardware, not you.
A Macbook is a laptop, an iPad is a touch screen tablet. It doesn't matter how much I COULD rip it apart and reshape it, they were originally intended to be used differently. Buying one and expecting it to function the same way as the other is fine, but if it doesn't who is to blame.
I could buy a hatchback to travel and sleep in, but I'd probably need to buy a caravan and perhaps replace the engine to tow it and add a tow bar. Whereas I could just buy a caravan. Complaining I can't convert the hatchback into a capable van is beside the original point.
So you also blame Microsoft or Samsung for not letting you do this on an xbox or some fridge with a screen?:)
That's going to go down poorly with the Linux enthusiasts
With that said, the desktop Linux ecosystem has come a long way over the past 20 years that I've been following it, and I think desktop Linux serves the needs of people who are not reliant on the Windows and Mac ecosystems.
I like some of the Linux alternatives more than the "brand name" software, but I don't work in media or document creation. If I had all the keystrokes for Adobe Premiere memorized, it would be a pretty tough sell for me to drop that to move to something like Lightworks or something.
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Sure, if you require a piece of software that can't run on Linux, then you're stuck wherever you are. Otherwise? ::shrug::
A lot of the "mainstream" apps simply do not exist on Linux. LibreOffice isn't so bad, but most people simply want Microsoft Office. Lightworks is decent software, but most people want Adobe Premiere. Gimp is alright but most people want Photoshop, etc.
This isn't to say that Linux software "worse", I actually like Lightworks more than Premiere, and there are some applications that are competitive with the "brand name" applications like Krita, but "having good software available" is only half the battle. People get used to certain workflows, and if Linux doesn't support that workflow most people aren't going to think it's worth it to switch over.
I do work in software, and I run NixOS, and I like it a lot, since programming tools on Linux are generally very good (especially if you work in server-land like I do). I'm just saying that I don't really blame people who don't want to switch over.
The problem with desktop Linux software is that it generally doesn't have the demands put on it that would push it to develop competitively, so it tends to get stuck spinning in circles for decades. LibreOffice Writer isn't really a competitor to MS Word - it's more of a bloated Wordpad. Ditto The Gimp, etc. It's just not there.