Hacker News Reader

Comment by BadassFractal | Hacker News Reader

Who's the demographic for the iPad? Is there one?

My iPad is relegated to being either an eBook reader or a Spotify player for my bluetooth speaker. Can't really be bothered to use it for anything else, the iPhone 7 plus is more than enough for most other tasks. Also can't see it becoming relevant for any sort of serious creative work with applications like Lightroom, Photoshop, Movie editors etc, those are all super shortcut driven once you become a power user and have to crunch through a ton of work.

View on HN

I'd say the demographics is huge since it is so broad. Anyone consuming content online is essentially a target. Gaming as well.

The demographic is huge, an insane number of tablets have been sold and are being used. I'd estimate over 50% of the people I know have a tablet at home, and most definitely more have a tablet but not a PC, than vice-versa.

The whole 'problem' with tablet sales is not that they are not useful or convenient, but that current models are actually so useful and convenient there is no reason to upgrade. I would only consider this a 'problem' if you are trying to sell tablets, from a user perspective it's actually a good thing.

The fact that tablets cannot comfortably do many things a laptop or PC can has been obvious to me from day one, they are complementary devices where the tablet is primarily a more convenient/more comfortable device for many things, but not suited at all for others. Convertible/hybrid laptops may seem to follow naturally, to unify all use cases in a single device, but personally I'm not sold on this idea. I'd guess the demographic who really wants a full PC-like experience typically doesn't mind having separate devices that are best at a subset of tasks, instead of one device that's merely 'ok' at all of them. At least I know I don't mind...

"consuming content online" is such a broad advertising term it becomes pretty much useless if you bring in other devices in the discussion.

So what is the actual demographics here?

You'd at least need to have more money left then most of the above mentioned demographics. You'll also need to be prepared or willing to use an apple system. It's very likely that you already have at least one other Apple device that you already use to "consume content online". Which brings us back to the question that appears often here:

Why do you need another one?

My ex wife won one and gave it to me. I use it in the kitchen(I'm a head chef).

I watch Al Jazeera news, listen to music and do my monthly stocktake on it. Occasionally I'll send an email etc.

It suits my needs as I don't have room for a laptop(I can stiff the iPad on the shelf when I get busy and still hear my music), I can do basic Excell input(I designed the sheets on a PC though).

In my mind it's a support tool, not a primary tool.

Do you use a mouse and keyboard with the iPad? I've tried to use an Android tablet for anything other than a media player and web browser and everything took far too long (only using a mouse). Even to write a long email I could go downstairs, power-up my computer, type, send, power-off the computer, and return upstairs faster than I could on my tablet.

I do agree tablets are great support tools. For watching videos, music, and email (reading) they are great.

Not really, although I do avoid doing anything intensive KB wise. My stocktake is just inputting numbers, and then return, over and over. To format the document, I do that on my PC.

Typing on the pad is a major pain in the arse honestly, partially because it is an older unit, and every update requirea more processing power to do the basics.

Off-topic: do you have any advice for a programmer thinking of becoming a chef? And: do you have any ideas for (mobile) apps that would make the life of a chef easier?

Aside from don't? Haha.

My normal goto response is, unless you have a passion for fine dining, go do something that makes money, and just host dinner parties.

Realistically though, two things. A) knife skills, learn them, though google, YouTube and practice. They will be your best asset. It will take years. There is no shortcut to experience here, but there are shortcuts to mediocrity.

B) there is nothing wrong with not remembering everything. Read up on every style of cooking and each technique, so if you are rushed you will know the basics, but there is too much to remember - don't be afraid to google how to search a specific thing. Eg roasting times for different types of meat. I looked it up tonight, I don't roast that often, so I don't remember the general times for each type of meat, there is nothing wrong with double checking your memory haha.

(Bonus?) C) once you get to my level)executive chef), don't be afraid to learn or listen, I have learnt more in the past 12 months than I would have thought possible, due to meeting chef's with an amazingly different outlook on things.

Edit:

Mobile apps? Not really, there isn't a stack overflow for chef's, or any major resource center, just Google. (I am working on this with another chef :-p)

Thanks for the amazing response and advice given (I realize I'm a beginner still in A) and B), and perhaps C) to some extent :)).

I do have a passion for fine dining but I'm not sure if I would be able to handle the pressures of working in a professional kitchen. I do think it would be a more rewarding profession compared to programming in a corporate environment which has become a chore.

I think I may go with your advice of developing my skills as a hobby!

I should have phrased my last question better- I was wondering if as an Executive Chef and technology enthusiast you can think of ways a mobile app (or technology in general) could aid a team of chefs in a professional kitchen? (developing something like that would be a pretty amazing experience).

I am working on an app(tie in with a cook book I'm writing), but that's aimed more at non chef's.

The issue with anything for chef's is the kitchen is hot, wet with lots of oils and liquids going around. Most devices don't last too long haha.

For non service related items, there are quite a few for execs to help control costs and work flow, it's a fairly well supplied area to be frank.

Good luck with the cook book! I'm sure it is hard work nowadays with so many chefs publishing.

In the kitchen, something like an Amazon Echo may work?

Commercial kitchems are very noisy, hell as soon as I turn on the extraction fans - without cooking anything, I think it would struggle. Plus during service everyone is too busy to even think of non-absolutely necessary talking.

My grandma uses it for Internet shopping, email via Mail app, and banking via an app. She no longer has a computer. The security model is much better for her.

But a Chromebook probably accommodates the same use case and is cheaper than an iPad.

(My mom uses an iPad as well for similar purposes.)

But how often is she going to upgrade it?

I for one love the idea of a durable product with a long usable life span. But Apple investors might disagree.

every 3-4 years. but there are a LOT of grandmas without iPads yet! haha

Reply on news.ycombinator.com