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Comment by pseudocomposer | Hacker News Reader

I agree with your first paragraph.

For your second, I think you don’t understand why people buy/use iPads. First off, I don’t really know anyone who uses an iPad mini for anything productive (other than as a test device). A 7-9” screen is just not useful compared to a 13” iPad for things like Sidecar or reading sheet music in live performances. The 7-9” screen being an unfolded phone doesn’t change this.

A folding iPhone could eat the iPad mini, but that’s never been a cash cow for Apple or something power users cared about - it’s more of an “iPod touch” for kids. (And frankly, the Switch 2 kind of obsoletes it.) The thing that would eat 13” iPads’ lunch is something more like Apple Vision.

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Weirdly enough, the iPad Mini is probably the iPad most used for work. The size & weight are perfect for many scenarios. Pilots, warehouses, and field work of all sorts.

For me personally, it's my travel machine. I've done all sorts of things with it on the road. From SSH to using Photoshop to make some last minute edits. It (barely) fits in my pockets so I don't even need a bag for it. Probably my favorite machine ever at least in terms of form factor.

Screen size does seem to be a personal choice. For me, I've always liked small screens for portability. I'm the weirdo who actually got work done on the first gen Asus EEE PC and didn't mind it. But I can understand that wouldn't be for everyone.

The iPad Mini form factor with cell connectivity is pretty great when you're travelling light.

My normal international travel load-out is a backup smart phone + an 8" LTE tablet with eSIM + bluetooth keyboard. It's about as minimal as I can get while still having a real keyboard and functional screen size to handle travel logistics.

My folding phone has completely replaced my ipad pro (which was my favorite device until now)

> I don’t really know anyone who uses an iPad mini for anything productive

I guess you don't know many pilots? :)

What do pilots use them for?

747_getting_started.pdf

so_you_want_to_be_a_pilot.epub

Pilots use iPads for all of the charts and checklists. Even having two iPads (one as a backup) is much lighter and thinner (and easier to update) than the paper copies it replaces.

Electronic flight bag, contains all the information a pilot needs.

This is the app they use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ForeFlight

Phones replaced computers for most people, so I think folding phones can replace tablets.

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