I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later

Re:I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later by reaperducer on Monday January 27, 2020 @01:42PM (#22162399)

Since iPads support Bluetooth HID, it seems like it would be possible to create a Soli-type device that works with existing iPads.

Slide a wireless keyboard and mouse next to a tablet and it should become my desktop computer.

That's very close to what the iPad is now. I often sit in a coffee shop and read magazines on my iPad. Then when I'm ready to do some work, I just prop the iPad up on a table with its cover and turn on an old Bluetooth keyboard I keep in my bag.

E-mail on the left side of the screen. ssh on the right side with the Prompt app. Bang, it's 90% of what I use my desktop computer for.

I've heard that iPads support a Bluetooth mouse now, but I don't have any personal experience with it. I haven't heard anything about trackpads.

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Re:I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later by naravara on Monday January 27, 2020 @02:27PM (#22162829)

This is purely personal preference and probably not reflective of the overall market, but to me the big disadvantage of the iPad is that, as long as it's only running iOS, I still always feel like I need to own a "real" computer to do "real" work on.

The Microsoft offering is inferior as a tablet and inferior as a desktop OS (again subjective opinion), but it lets you have both a tablet and a laptop form factor without needing to own two units of hardware.

In a lot of ways it feels kind of like when I first switched from Windows to Mac back in the early 2000s. I knew that for 98% of stuff I do with a computer, OS9 (and then OSX) was perfectly fine. But the hassle of doing any of the other 2% kept me locked in. Making the jump from OSX to iOS feels the same way. The apps all seem to be 90% of what I need without issue, another 8% okay enough for now, and then 2% just unworkable. (And then there is the nightmare of trying to use many regular old websites on mobile these days with all the unresponsive scripts and ad cruft they carry.)

I'd love it if Apple could figure out some kind of bridge for iOS workloads to meet this, similar to how Parallels or BootCamp can let you get by with those 1 or 2 Windows things you still needed to do after switching. Maybe just let the iPad remote into my Mac at home if it has internet or have it run some kind of stripped down, emulated version of OSX.

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Re:I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later by reaperducer on Monday January 27, 2020 @02:41PM (#22162969)

but to me the big disadvantage of the iPad is that, as long as it's only running iOS, I still always feel like I need to own a "real" computer to do "real" work on.

To me that sounds perfectly normal and reasonable. A tablet is not a desktop. A desktop is not a tablet.

People complain that they cannot use their tablets to do desktop work, but somehow never complain that their tower doesn't travel well to the coffee shop.

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Re:I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later by ascagnel_ on Monday January 27, 2020 @01:58PM (#22162552)

> I've heard that iPads support a Bluetooth mouse now, but I don't have any personal experience with it. I haven't heard anything about trackpads.

They do, but it's emulating a fingertip (for accessibility), not a proper mouse cursor. It was neat to play around with for a little while, but not something you'd want to do over a longer term.

iPads will also work with Apple's Magic Touchpads (the standalone units), but they must be connected via USB, and the same finger-emulating touchscreen caveat applies.

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Re:I won’t buy an iPad: ten years later by hsitz on Monday January 27, 2020 @02:07PM (#22162648)

I use both a bluetooth mouse and keyboard regularly with my iPad. I'm not sure what you mean by "not something you'd want to do over a longer term". Using the mouse is most definitely preferable to raising my hand to the iPad screen and pointing with my finger. Having said that, no, it doesn't feel as nice as real mouse or trackpad on a laptop or PC. But for the use case of having iPad on a stand and using it like a "real" computer (i.e, with keyboard and mouse), the current state of iPad mouse is at least usable, and preferable to having to physically touch the screen.

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