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).
> 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!?"
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.
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
That's why I am still using iPad Pro from 2018. There is nothing in their new iPads that is interesting to me. I don't think I'll upgrade unless any of the following happens: (1) the iPad dies (2) it stops getting any updates and cannot install any apps (3) it can rust Python/Rust/Go/vscode natively at raw performance, without all those stupid, unnecessary sorcery just to make things run at a fraction of real hardware power.
They are solid for audio production too, with a lot of fairly powerful DAWs. (Like AUM or Loopy Pro.) you can even connect MIDI instruments from other apps into the DAW and then play them with a connected midi controller, add USB audio interfaces for multitrack recording and live performances, etc.
Or it can be a glorified PDF reader for sheet music (with a nice pencil to boot)… and it’s also great for drawing.
They’re very powerful devices. Sure, iOS is limited, with poor multitasking workflows. But you can still write very powerful apps for iOS.
My Samsung tablet replaced my dead netbook, it is perfectly fine for the occasional computing needs I had during travel, that I originally bought the netbook for.
I get to watch hardware accelerated videos, that the Linux distros on the netbook never managed to after Flash was gone never managed to get VAPI working.
I get to play games, designed for Android, without needing to translate Windows/DirectX on the go, because studios can't be bothered to port Android/NDK into GNU/Linux.
I get to read ebooks and take notes with the pen.
The detachable keyboard is good enough for short sessions of writing documents, sheets, travel planing, playing with shader code, python and C# development snippets on the go.
I am an avid iPad Pro user (on #3) but it took me making a concerted effort to unlearn over three decades of my understanding of what a computer is to me, my old standby app favorites, and to be willing to force myself to use the new instead of leaning on the comfortable old. Prior to that I’ll admit that it was an entertainment device. Now it can basically serve all of my computing needs.
What caused me to make the switch is the portability, battery, immediacy, and cellular option. For me it provides the utility of a smartphone and laptop, but with a better form factor
I hated it at first but its use quickly became second nature. Caveat here is I no longer write code or require total configurability into the bowels of the machine…and to date, for me, I haven’t found a computing task that I need or want to do that it cannot handle.
I see visual artists and musicians having some decent use cases for them. Everyone I know who has an iPad that isn’t one of these professions is usually using it as an expensive portable streaming device
I use mine all the time for taking notes, keeping up with my calendar, and just for staying organized in general. The Apple Pencil is so smooth and natural.
While I think everyone has more than covered the contents of the article, the title is rather ridiculous in itself.
(Note original title in source: "Hardware locks us in Apple's and Microsoft's monopoly cages")
> Microsoft won't let users upgrade their older boxen to Windows 11.
OK but this does not put you in a cage with your older devices. Windows 10 machines are still general computing devices (or personal computer / PC). Eventually, the blocked upgrades will mean the consumer has to choose between installing Linux or buying a new PC.
That's a very different choice from what you have as an iPad owner (if it's your only device.) And as others have pointed out, buying that device was a choice. Arguably misinformed if you thought it was a PC when it is, in fact, a closed-source and locked down tablet.
You mention a Surface Go - so OK you know what a "tablet" that is designed to be a convertible between laptop and tablet looks like and how it works. But just because Microsoft did that, and Apple kind of advertises the iPad that way, doesn't meant Apple and Microsoft put you in the same cage. In fact, they are quite the opposite!
To address that original "monopoly" title - in fact again I think the opposite is happening. Microsoft "forcing" you to purchase something new because you can't "upgrade" to Windows 11. Well actually it drives some people to Linux or Apple. And it's software that is responsible for the issue, not hardware. No wonder you changed the title, but it still doesn't work with your article.
>> Will we still have just three operating systems to choose from - of which only two are really suitable for a worker's desktop?
Such an intriguing statement. Firstly there are at least 5 major operating systems in play (windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS and Android. ) Plus a lot of "minor" ones (BSD etc), and any number of tiny ones.
But assuming he meant mainstream desktop machines, let's focus on Windows, Mac and Linux. I can only assume the "not suitable for workers desktop " means Linux. Now lots of techies use Linux for desktop, and there are lots who say it could be used as a general desktop, but it hasn't gained much traction there.
Linux of course reigns on the server, with Windows Server also strong.
Indeed you see this "choice of 2" (with sometimes a distant 3rd) in pretty much all hardware spaces. iOS and Android. Windows and Mac. Windows and Linux. PS5 and Xbox.
Notice how it starts first with the function - what the machine is designed to do. Then the mainstream coaleses around 2 players. But often with other minor alternatives.
This approach works well. We don't need 5 desktop OSs to choose from. Or 5 servers. Or 5 tablets.
I think there's a difference between Microsoft refusing to support completely operational hardware for their new OS, and Apple not adding extra features / support into a pre-existing product just because the underlying tech is now more powerful.
It sounds weird, but going OS #1 -> OS #2, you don't expect your hardware to impact it from a computer point of view. But going from iPad #1 -> iPad #2, why would it all of a sudden have a completely different OS and support when iPad #1 is even still receiving updates?
We've reached the age where you need 16GB ram to even keep some tabs open on Mac + Windows, and in terms of versatile computing and gaming I think cloud-based Linux really is the answer. Once it comes time for my next gaming computer upgrade, I'm pretty confident with just using a game streaming platform vs. paying $500 for a new graphics card + anything else (since my current MB doesn't support Windows 11...). Same goes for coding, just connect the IDE to your dedicated cloud box and away you go, all the power and scale you could ever need from $10/mo and up.
In my attic is a Dell PowerEdge T320 - it used to run VMware. That got as far as ESXi 6.5 and then it went out of support completely by VMware.
Last year I migrated all my VMs to Proxmox. I have two RAID volumes on it, so I moved the lot to the second volume, wiped the first one and installed Proxmox on it. I migrated the VMs over to QEMMU and binned the second volume (save power!)
The real point of this diatribe is that my attic server is fully supported once more by the OS vendor(s). They give a shit about me - Debian and Proxmox. Perhaps you might contrast that with your discussion about Microsoft and Apple's approaches to hardware and systems support.
Add a Bluetooth keyboard, & then the two being separate products becomes a farce.
I love the new MacBook Air's looks, but I can't help but constantly imagine how much better it would be as a detachable, or as a 2-in-1 convertible.
The thing is, the laptop is just a bad format period. Ideally you don't want to be looking just above where you type: good ergonomics requires distance between those two. An elevated tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard is a far far better option.
But Apple has these market segments that prevent actual good from being possible.
People really need to just accept this. Apple might market the ipad as being a laptop replacement, but their actions is that it clearly isn't and won't be at least any time soon.
> What we see today is the outcome of almost two decades of design choices that have only recently started to accommodate keyboards and external pointing devices.
?? I've been using an iPad with folio keyboard for close to a decade and first party apps have always had fantastic support. Even third party is usually pretty good. I don't think the author here has any idea what they're talking about.
I admin 150 Windows machines, have set up Linux servers, TBH I am not religious about OS, though Android is my least favorite.
I recently got an iPad Air and a MacBook Air 15 to replace older devices (2018 & 2012). The MacBook is lighter and has better battery life than the iPad with Magic Keyboard, wasn't expecting that!
My biggest frustration with iOS is how it abstracts & hides away file system access. Especially for producing music across multiple apps I find it much easier on a Mac, same for any programming. Not to mention the dongle-mania for connecting peripherals! An iPad's just an overgrown phone at heart.
And...IME iOS doesn't have the same true realtime low latency performance as OSX. I have been able to flog Mac laptops, iMacs & desktops right up to the edge for audio/video production (Logic, iMovie, FinalCut, Ableton Live) and they'll absolutely keep up (within limits like reasonable audio buffer latency settings for complex projects). While iOS can definitely have audible glitches, especially with multiple apps open.
But I take the iPad out of the house much more. I think Apple could add touchscreens to laptops without destroying iPad sales, but I don't want them to iOS-ify OSX completely.
I don’t know if the author realised they proved Apple’s point: they have paid money for an ipad but they will pay more money for an m4 macbook air anyway.
Author has not tried WSL - its pretty amazing on windows and is the designated cage breaker for Windows. I run nearly everything inside WSL and all apps runs faster!
Thanks to Windows security not scanning files inside WSL, the laptop fan doesn't start spinning up when doing I/O intensive work. Can actually rest the laptop on my lap without wincing.
WSL is fine for some purposes. It just never got better.
I just wiped my 4-year install on my work thinkpad for direct Linux after wrestling with WSL2 which broke in numerous ways in every update:
- WSLg is a pile of crap, and it feels like no development was done on it after it was initially released. It is so easy to crash the display server. It still does not resume from sleep reliably. Anything that quickly opens windows or does any sort of automation (like selenium/cypress tests) are prone to breakage.
- Networking works until it doesn't. Sometimes updates break DNS. Sometimes the bridged networking just fails.
The second problem here is why I finally threw in the towel. I could not get networking working reliably in the VM after a routine Windows update. Everything feels completely hacked together.
I know a lot of people who don't own laptops/desktops at all. None in their household. They simply use their phone for everything and a few have tablets, especially the people with kids. If you go to a holiday resort and go for dinner you'll find that 90% of the kids in that place have a tablet with them. If you take "PC" as meaning "Personal Computer" I think Jobs was right. People still need a 'real' computer for work but personal computing for the majority of people is simply content consumption, ordering stuff on the web, and communicating with people and they can do all that easily on a phone or tablet.
Why did the author buy Microsoft and Apple devices and expect them to deliver their customization needs?
If I would attempt something like this today, I'd probably buy a used Microsoft Surface tablet from ebay and install Archlinux(ARM) on it, with Plasma Mobile and KDE. In the worst case I log out and log in again after I unplugged the device from its peripherals. And in second worst case I just use its mobile attachable keyboard with it.
I guess that was the dream behind the purchases of pinephones and pinetab devices back then, which were too underpowered in terms of CPU and GPU for it.
I’m personally not interested in a mishmash laptop-tablet thing. You end up with a thing that is either good at one and not the other or a thing that is bad at both.
The reasons this article cites are likely why so many of my peers, myself included I have switched to "home servers" to gain any sort of freedom. It's sad that it had to come to this, but for any device that's meant to fit into pocket or move around it's simply not efficient for our kind of consumer to have any control over the design process
I think there was a thread on Reddit recently, where the thread starter had been forced to use his iPad for work a whole day. The user concluded (paraphrasing) "its like replacing a truck with a small sedan. Sure you can still haul many of the same things, but it will require a lot more work and trips back and forth"
“Hey why doesn’t this tablet designed for “pro” web browsing replace my workstation?”
I’ve actually seen this sentiment so much from apple “pro” users. They seem to think that because the os feel is similar that it should just work the same. It’s the equivalent of expecting a gaming laptop to perform as well as a PC.
M2 has so much power, it's got more CPU power than Mac's which still do their job perfectly well, like my sister's old MacBook Pro, which she uses for design work.
Back in the 90s John C Dvorak wrote an article calling a Mac a Cuisinart. It was a criticism of Apple that they had created an appliance, not a general purpose computer. Granted the guy hated Macs at the time, but I think it’s a reasonable way to describe an iPad.
Apple experimented with the iPad head to head with was also experimenting with the 12” MacBook retina which was only 12 lb.
If you want something iPad size with a first class keyboard and mouse experience there might not be a better remote terminal than the 12” MacBook (sans touch screen) compared to the iPad
The iPad is in a kind of gray landscape because it is not phone and it is not a Mac but they are treated special like the iPhone so they can put any greed-based limitations they want instead of it becaming a general computer.
"Do not buy something for a promise of what it 'could' do, but what it can currently do." I forget who said this, but you just need to follow this rule and you won't have this problem anymore.
Apple's marketing team must be so good if they can convince HN users that an iPad is a suitable replacement for a "real" computer. No one who knows what a terminal or root access even means should be fooled by this.
iPad is a product segment, its not really comparable with legions of windows 10 machines not getting windows 11, which is vastly the same operating system as 10 with TPM2 and secure boot becoming hard requirements.
Yeah it sucks apple doesnt give you root access to your tablet. And it does suck that microsoft wont let us upgrade our PC's. But they are different unique variations on sucking for largely different reasons.
iPads have always been this way, right? They're an appliance, and only a computer in the technical sense. Did the author just learn how to program and he wants a terminal now?
Mark has worked in the technology industry since the late 1980s, and has contributed to all manner of products, from dial-up modems to 3D graphics including co-inventing VRML.
As a person who just entered the latter ecosystem as a matter of peer compatibility, after 10 years of Linux, it's miserable and I wish I could go back to what you have. Even with how blighted X86 feels, it feels even worse to have a computer that couldn't do what you wanted to and has the audacity to complain at you that it knows better and you shouldn't be able to alter certain parts of it
This is pathetic, just get literally any laptop u want.. have one made up if u want, and put linux on it.
apple-heads have some sort of bizarre stockholm syndrome thing going on.
The mental gymnastics they do are insane. I guess that's what comes from decades of buying the same components as everyone else, but in a shiny box with a shit OS and a 4X markup.
Yet, another I've bought a tablet but should have bought a laptop to replace my old laptop "article". It's not ready, why apple does it like this we don't know... but pretending that we don't know it despite talking about it for 10 or more years is disingenuous and fails the debate at hand.
My life would clearly be better if all of my non-programmer non-technical family members and friends, young and old had a terminal and unix user levels exposed to them…
This was one of the reasons I bought into the recent Raspberry Pi 5 tablet the Pilet on Kickstarter --- I'm hoping it, or a Raspberry Pi connected to a Wacom One or Wacom Movink 13 will work as a general-purpose device.
"My decade-old and very well-travelled Toyota Land Cruiser finally died, and I hoped my new-ish ebike could replace it."
How that article sounds. I don't care how fancy they make them, iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.
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).
> iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work.
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.
I needed a machine just to sketch some UIs in figma. I was going to get a Chromebook but my wife insisted on the iPad.
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.
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.
If you're an artist who draws, I think they're serious computing devices.
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.
I see them more than laptops among actual people out in the world doing real work. Phones, too.
[edit] non-office-workers, I mean.
> iPads are just unserious computing devices for real work
At the risk of invoking no true Scotsman, I think you need to define 'real' work.
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.
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.
> real work
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.
> 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...
How do you figure? The compute is serious, it is using a real CPU.
Make that "two-decades-old" at least for a Land Cruiser ;-)
"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.
I think Toyota should remove the limiter."
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.
[dead]
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.
It’s not “being surprised,” it’s being frustrated with the user hostile decisions of a multi-trillion dollar profit maximizing machine.
15 years later, still can't open it, still don't own it.
The register and ars technica have essentially the same relation to truth as the onion.
I am very puzzled. Apple has locked you in a cage because you bought an iPad to replace a MacBook? What is the cage, and why weren’t you the jailer?
I mean the author explains his thoughts in the article, you should read it again.
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.
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.
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!?"
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.
Rants == clicks.
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.
Ugh. Yeah. Why post it here?
Tablets and phones are for consumption, not production. End of story. This person just wrote some clickbait to generate some ad revenue.
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.
> Android over IOS.. access to my files
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.
What's wrong with terminal on Android? I'm regularly using Termux and it works. Don't use ssh there, but it offers to install openssh for me.
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.
> 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.
>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.
>Will we still have just three operating systems to choose from - of which only two are really suitable for a worker's desktop?
That's going to go down poorly with the Linux enthusiasts
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.
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.
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.
The connection is these vendors are artificially restricting users from running the software they want on their own hardware.
That's why I am still using iPad Pro from 2018. There is nothing in their new iPads that is interesting to me. I don't think I'll upgrade unless any of the following happens: (1) the iPad dies (2) it stops getting any updates and cannot install any apps (3) it can rust Python/Rust/Go/vscode natively at raw performance, without all those stupid, unnecessary sorcery just to make things run at a fraction of real hardware power.
Voting with my wallet.
I have two iPads Pros. I still can't figure out where I can use them. I realize that they are overpowered entertainment devices for me now.
To buy one device that one can't figure out any use for may be regarded as a misfortune. To buy two looks like carelessness.
-- Lady Bracknell
They are solid for audio production too, with a lot of fairly powerful DAWs. (Like AUM or Loopy Pro.) you can even connect MIDI instruments from other apps into the DAW and then play them with a connected midi controller, add USB audio interfaces for multitrack recording and live performances, etc.
Or it can be a glorified PDF reader for sheet music (with a nice pencil to boot)… and it’s also great for drawing.
They’re very powerful devices. Sure, iOS is limited, with poor multitasking workflows. But you can still write very powerful apps for iOS.
My Samsung tablet replaced my dead netbook, it is perfectly fine for the occasional computing needs I had during travel, that I originally bought the netbook for.
I get to watch hardware accelerated videos, that the Linux distros on the netbook never managed to after Flash was gone never managed to get VAPI working.
I get to play games, designed for Android, without needing to translate Windows/DirectX on the go, because studios can't be bothered to port Android/NDK into GNU/Linux.
I get to read ebooks and take notes with the pen.
The detachable keyboard is good enough for short sessions of writing documents, sheets, travel planing, playing with shader code, python and C# development snippets on the go.
I am an avid iPad Pro user (on #3) but it took me making a concerted effort to unlearn over three decades of my understanding of what a computer is to me, my old standby app favorites, and to be willing to force myself to use the new instead of leaning on the comfortable old. Prior to that I’ll admit that it was an entertainment device. Now it can basically serve all of my computing needs.
What caused me to make the switch is the portability, battery, immediacy, and cellular option. For me it provides the utility of a smartphone and laptop, but with a better form factor
I hated it at first but its use quickly became second nature. Caveat here is I no longer write code or require total configurability into the bowels of the machine…and to date, for me, I haven’t found a computing task that I need or want to do that it cannot handle.
I see visual artists and musicians having some decent use cases for them. Everyone I know who has an iPad that isn’t one of these professions is usually using it as an expensive portable streaming device
I use mine all the time for taking notes, keeping up with my calendar, and just for staying organized in general. The Apple Pencil is so smooth and natural.
While I think everyone has more than covered the contents of the article, the title is rather ridiculous in itself.
(Note original title in source: "Hardware locks us in Apple's and Microsoft's monopoly cages")
> Microsoft won't let users upgrade their older boxen to Windows 11.
OK but this does not put you in a cage with your older devices. Windows 10 machines are still general computing devices (or personal computer / PC). Eventually, the blocked upgrades will mean the consumer has to choose between installing Linux or buying a new PC.
That's a very different choice from what you have as an iPad owner (if it's your only device.) And as others have pointed out, buying that device was a choice. Arguably misinformed if you thought it was a PC when it is, in fact, a closed-source and locked down tablet.
You mention a Surface Go - so OK you know what a "tablet" that is designed to be a convertible between laptop and tablet looks like and how it works. But just because Microsoft did that, and Apple kind of advertises the iPad that way, doesn't meant Apple and Microsoft put you in the same cage. In fact, they are quite the opposite!
To address that original "monopoly" title - in fact again I think the opposite is happening. Microsoft "forcing" you to purchase something new because you can't "upgrade" to Windows 11. Well actually it drives some people to Linux or Apple. And it's software that is responsible for the issue, not hardware. No wonder you changed the title, but it still doesn't work with your article.
>> Will we still have just three operating systems to choose from - of which only two are really suitable for a worker's desktop?
Such an intriguing statement. Firstly there are at least 5 major operating systems in play (windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS and Android. ) Plus a lot of "minor" ones (BSD etc), and any number of tiny ones.
But assuming he meant mainstream desktop machines, let's focus on Windows, Mac and Linux. I can only assume the "not suitable for workers desktop " means Linux. Now lots of techies use Linux for desktop, and there are lots who say it could be used as a general desktop, but it hasn't gained much traction there.
Linux of course reigns on the server, with Windows Server also strong.
Indeed you see this "choice of 2" (with sometimes a distant 3rd) in pretty much all hardware spaces. iOS and Android. Windows and Mac. Windows and Linux. PS5 and Xbox.
Notice how it starts first with the function - what the machine is designed to do. Then the mainstream coaleses around 2 players. But often with other minor alternatives.
This approach works well. We don't need 5 desktop OSs to choose from. Or 5 servers. Or 5 tablets.
> Or 5 tablets.
Two would be nice. Pixel (7) Tablet with GrapheneOS was a good start, but V2 was cancelled. Lenovo Yoga x86 is higher price tier.
I think there's a difference between Microsoft refusing to support completely operational hardware for their new OS, and Apple not adding extra features / support into a pre-existing product just because the underlying tech is now more powerful.
It sounds weird, but going OS #1 -> OS #2, you don't expect your hardware to impact it from a computer point of view. But going from iPad #1 -> iPad #2, why would it all of a sudden have a completely different OS and support when iPad #1 is even still receiving updates?
We've reached the age where you need 16GB ram to even keep some tabs open on Mac + Windows, and in terms of versatile computing and gaming I think cloud-based Linux really is the answer. Once it comes time for my next gaming computer upgrade, I'm pretty confident with just using a game streaming platform vs. paying $500 for a new graphics card + anything else (since my current MB doesn't support Windows 11...). Same goes for coding, just connect the IDE to your dedicated cloud box and away you go, all the power and scale you could ever need from $10/mo and up.
In my attic is a Dell PowerEdge T320 - it used to run VMware. That got as far as ESXi 6.5 and then it went out of support completely by VMware.
Last year I migrated all my VMs to Proxmox. I have two RAID volumes on it, so I moved the lot to the second volume, wiped the first one and installed Proxmox on it. I migrated the VMs over to QEMMU and binned the second volume (save power!)
The real point of this diatribe is that my attic server is fully supported once more by the OS vendor(s). They give a shit about me - Debian and Proxmox. Perhaps you might contrast that with your discussion about Microsoft and Apple's approaches to hardware and systems support.
"cloud-based ... is the answer", please, I hope not.
Why would you trust everything on somebody else’s computer?!
Yes? The iPad is a "content consumption" device. With the exception of a few graphics workflows, you're better off with a laptop/desktop.
Add a Bluetooth keyboard, & then the two being separate products becomes a farce.
I love the new MacBook Air's looks, but I can't help but constantly imagine how much better it would be as a detachable, or as a 2-in-1 convertible.
The thing is, the laptop is just a bad format period. Ideally you don't want to be looking just above where you type: good ergonomics requires distance between those two. An elevated tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard is a far far better option.
But Apple has these market segments that prevent actual good from being possible.
People really need to just accept this. Apple might market the ipad as being a laptop replacement, but their actions is that it clearly isn't and won't be at least any time soon.
> What we see today is the outcome of almost two decades of design choices that have only recently started to accommodate keyboards and external pointing devices.
?? I've been using an iPad with folio keyboard for close to a decade and first party apps have always had fantastic support. Even third party is usually pretty good. I don't think the author here has any idea what they're talking about.
I admin 150 Windows machines, have set up Linux servers, TBH I am not religious about OS, though Android is my least favorite.
I recently got an iPad Air and a MacBook Air 15 to replace older devices (2018 & 2012). The MacBook is lighter and has better battery life than the iPad with Magic Keyboard, wasn't expecting that!
My biggest frustration with iOS is how it abstracts & hides away file system access. Especially for producing music across multiple apps I find it much easier on a Mac, same for any programming. Not to mention the dongle-mania for connecting peripherals! An iPad's just an overgrown phone at heart.
And...IME iOS doesn't have the same true realtime low latency performance as OSX. I have been able to flog Mac laptops, iMacs & desktops right up to the edge for audio/video production (Logic, iMovie, FinalCut, Ableton Live) and they'll absolutely keep up (within limits like reasonable audio buffer latency settings for complex projects). While iOS can definitely have audible glitches, especially with multiple apps open.
But I take the iPad out of the house much more. I think Apple could add touchscreens to laptops without destroying iPad sales, but I don't want them to iOS-ify OSX completely.
I don’t know if the author realised they proved Apple’s point: they have paid money for an ipad but they will pay more money for an m4 macbook air anyway.
Author has not tried WSL - its pretty amazing on windows and is the designated cage breaker for Windows. I run nearly everything inside WSL and all apps runs faster!
Thanks to Windows security not scanning files inside WSL, the laptop fan doesn't start spinning up when doing I/O intensive work. Can actually rest the laptop on my lap without wincing.
WSL is fine for some purposes. It just never got better.
I just wiped my 4-year install on my work thinkpad for direct Linux after wrestling with WSL2 which broke in numerous ways in every update:
- WSLg is a pile of crap, and it feels like no development was done on it after it was initially released. It is so easy to crash the display server. It still does not resume from sleep reliably. Anything that quickly opens windows or does any sort of automation (like selenium/cypress tests) are prone to breakage.
- Networking works until it doesn't. Sometimes updates break DNS. Sometimes the bridged networking just fails.
The second problem here is why I finally threw in the towel. I could not get networking working reliably in the VM after a routine Windows update. Everything feels completely hacked together.
Remember Jobs coining the phrase "Post PC era". Good times.
There was a period of about two, maybe three years where you saw nothing but tablets outdoors.
Now it's very rare for me to see someone tapping away at an iPad out in the wild, all I see are laptops.
I know a lot of people who don't own laptops/desktops at all. None in their household. They simply use their phone for everything and a few have tablets, especially the people with kids. If you go to a holiday resort and go for dinner you'll find that 90% of the kids in that place have a tablet with them. If you take "PC" as meaning "Personal Computer" I think Jobs was right. People still need a 'real' computer for work but personal computing for the majority of people is simply content consumption, ordering stuff on the web, and communicating with people and they can do all that easily on a phone or tablet.
Why did the author buy Microsoft and Apple devices and expect them to deliver their customization needs?
If I would attempt something like this today, I'd probably buy a used Microsoft Surface tablet from ebay and install Archlinux(ARM) on it, with Plasma Mobile and KDE. In the worst case I log out and log in again after I unplugged the device from its peripherals. And in second worst case I just use its mobile attachable keyboard with it.
I guess that was the dream behind the purchases of pinephones and pinetab devices back then, which were too underpowered in terms of CPU and GPU for it.
I’m personally not interested in a mishmash laptop-tablet thing. You end up with a thing that is either good at one and not the other or a thing that is bad at both.
The reasons this article cites are likely why so many of my peers, myself included I have switched to "home servers" to gain any sort of freedom. It's sad that it had to come to this, but for any device that's meant to fit into pocket or move around it's simply not efficient for our kind of consumer to have any control over the design process
I think there was a thread on Reddit recently, where the thread starter had been forced to use his iPad for work a whole day. The user concluded (paraphrasing) "its like replacing a truck with a small sedan. Sure you can still haul many of the same things, but it will require a lot more work and trips back and forth"
“Hey why doesn’t this tablet designed for “pro” web browsing replace my workstation?”
I’ve actually seen this sentiment so much from apple “pro” users. They seem to think that because the os feel is similar that it should just work the same. It’s the equivalent of expecting a gaming laptop to perform as well as a PC.
M2 has so much power, it's got more CPU power than Mac's which still do their job perfectly well, like my sister's old MacBook Pro, which she uses for design work.
Back in the 90s John C Dvorak wrote an article calling a Mac a Cuisinart. It was a criticism of Apple that they had created an appliance, not a general purpose computer. Granted the guy hated Macs at the time, but I think it’s a reasonable way to describe an iPad.
Apple experimented with the iPad head to head with was also experimenting with the 12” MacBook retina which was only 12 lb.
If you want something iPad size with a first class keyboard and mouse experience there might not be a better remote terminal than the 12” MacBook (sans touch screen) compared to the iPad
Google Pixels are getting something akin to vm's and wsl. More than dex, but less than full visibility to all of the Android fs.
Termux is a halfway house. It's said this will be better.
Maybe iPad OS will do this too in the future? It feels like an air with a detachable keyboard is close.
> Maybe iPad OS will do this too in the future?
It did in the past, but OS support was removed. Hopefully it will return.
The iPad is in a kind of gray landscape because it is not phone and it is not a Mac but they are treated special like the iPhone so they can put any greed-based limitations they want instead of it becaming a general computer.
"Do not buy something for a promise of what it 'could' do, but what it can currently do." I forget who said this, but you just need to follow this rule and you won't have this problem anymore.
Apple's marketing team must be so good if they can convince HN users that an iPad is a suitable replacement for a "real" computer. No one who knows what a terminal or root access even means should be fooled by this.
iPad is a product segment, its not really comparable with legions of windows 10 machines not getting windows 11, which is vastly the same operating system as 10 with TPM2 and secure boot becoming hard requirements.
Yeah it sucks apple doesnt give you root access to your tablet. And it does suck that microsoft wont let us upgrade our PC's. But they are different unique variations on sucking for largely different reasons.
iPads have always been this way, right? They're an appliance, and only a computer in the technical sense. Did the author just learn how to program and he wants a terminal now?
> Did the author just learn to program
He is the co-inventor of VRML (1994), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pesce. Register bio says:
I'm 10 years in now in not running either Windows or Mac and reading these articles is so uncanny.
As a person who just entered the latter ecosystem as a matter of peer compatibility, after 10 years of Linux, it's miserable and I wish I could go back to what you have. Even with how blighted X86 feels, it feels even worse to have a computer that couldn't do what you wanted to and has the audacity to complain at you that it knows better and you shouldn't be able to alter certain parts of it
What is a computer?
Stop. Buying. Their. Closed. Tech.
And you will be free.
This is pathetic, just get literally any laptop u want.. have one made up if u want, and put linux on it.
apple-heads have some sort of bizarre stockholm syndrome thing going on.
The mental gymnastics they do are insane. I guess that's what comes from decades of buying the same components as everyone else, but in a shiny box with a shit OS and a 4X markup.
Yet, another I've bought a tablet but should have bought a laptop to replace my old laptop "article". It's not ready, why apple does it like this we don't know... but pretending that we don't know it despite talking about it for 10 or more years is disingenuous and fails the debate at hand.
> It's not ready, why apple does it like this we don't know
What is not ready? A tablet today can surely run a full OS without restrictions [0]. Apple doesn't want it, and it's worth talking about it.
[0] https://puri.sm/products/librem-11/
/s
My life would clearly be better if all of my non-programmer non-technical family members and friends, young and old had a terminal and unix user levels exposed to them…
What a fresh and original take!
/s
> Will we have just two mobile OSes?
We already have an alternative. Sent from my Librem 5 running GNU/Linux.
This was one of the reasons I bought into the recent Raspberry Pi 5 tablet the Pilet on Kickstarter --- I'm hoping it, or a Raspberry Pi connected to a Wacom One or Wacom Movink 13 will work as a general-purpose device.
Unfortunately my Pinephone is rather dusty at this point.
You got to be kidding.
Linux is great for developer, that's all.
Everyone else is confused about it.
> Sent from my Librem 5 running GNU/Linux.
Or is that Systemd/Linux?