The Day the iPad Became the Mac | Hacker News Reader

The Day the iPad Became the Mac

one37.net

17 pointsONE3714 comments

In my household there are two iPads, two Mac's and three PC's (I am a professional software developer, and my girlfriend loooves her apple products). So I have used all of them pretty extensively.

The reason I have not used my iPad for serious work (As in, developing software, writing my documents, checking e-mails) has nothing at all to do with the storage available on it.

With my PC (Or even a Mac) I can do all the stuff I want to do on a Mac (given that I can replace the OS on the Mac with linux, as Mac OS is a bit too much of a (my personal opinion remember) toy for serious work other than writing, photoshop or any other artsy productivity). And I can do it all on my PC as well.

The reason the iPad pretty much solely as a reading device these days is simple. Its form factor and user interface suck (again, only my opinion). It is when I can install any software I want on it without being held back by the app store. The day it becomes professional is when I can load any music, files or documents onto it without the need of secondary software (iTunes). It is when I can actually do work on the iPad without feeling constrained by the display and size of the device.

It is when the device and its operating system stop feeling like a "gosh apple is cool" kind of advertisement/toy/gimmick.

That blog post read like the rant of a overzealous apple fan fawning over the newest apple product. What about extra space changes it towards being a professional-grade machine today when we have almost unlimited cloud storage at our disposal?

Absolutely nothing.

> Mac OS is a bit too much of a (my personal opinion remember) toy for serious work other than writing, photoshop or any other artsy productivity

I've read a few comments that say the same but I've never understood why. What serious work do you do that OS X isn't good enough for or what does it not do well?

Yeah, I don't get it either. I find OS X is my preferred environment for hardcore dev; I have the best of many worlds - terminal, multiple desktops, browsers, text editors, word processors, spreadsheets, email - I consider that pretty serious work.

At least in my area, people start out programming on a Mac, get tired of the endless workarounds they need to do the most basic Unix development, then just set up a Linux VM. Then, when it's time for a new laptop, they just buy a Thinkpad.

sigh

Form factor MATTERS.

I definitely envision a day where we only have one "computer" and whether that's used as a handheld, tablet, wall projection, or professional workstation just depends on where you choose to "throw" the IO (with all apps responding appropriately).

But we're not there yet. A 128GB iPad does not bring us closer to the true hardware and software changes we'll need to make this happen.

The author says he can do "almost" anything he does on the iPad. Clearly he has no need for a general purpose computing device, then. Doesn't sound like he needs to (or can) type fast. No file system. Minimal, restricted connectivity to the outside world.

Anyone who thinks the iOS iWork apps are in any way remotely close to their desktop equivalents has blurred vision, the most likely cause of which is staring at an iPad screen, deciding to read something instead of smashing your head against the wall trying to do work on it.

The iPad is beautiful to look at. My 2 year old loves it, so it's totally crapped up with sticky stuff. I don't really have any use for it; the Air is superior in almost every way that matters.

So they upgrade the storage, and suddenly the post-PC era as predicted by the prophet has cometh.

I thought in the post-PC era we store data on transient clouds with unlimited storage. Oops.

More money for Apple as people will have to purchase extra iCloud storage to backup their iPad.

Yeah, I'll buy this the day I can run Xcode on my iPad.

I see this as a defensive move against Surface Pro.

I don't see it - the Surface Pro is a x86 machine (i.e., it runs almost all of your favorite old apps), with a laptop-class spec sheet, a real digitizer (for creative types), and what is for all intents and purposes a desktop OS. You can even plug your printer, mice, and pretty much any USB device into it, just like you do on your laptop.

The Surface Pro is in actuality closer to a laptop than what comes to mind when we think of tablets.

The iPad has doubled its storage size - good news to many with lots of content no doubt, but I don't see how it gets it closer to the "laptop in all but form factor" ideal of the Surface.

If the iPad offered a keyboard, & OS X - you would see it be a very popular device very very fast. It would canabilize their laptop sales almost completely.

I see this as the first step in that direction.

The pen is optional. I won't say much about Windows 8, but there is no denying that the Surface has an awesome physical feel.

That day will come the day we can install and run XCode at the same time we create an Excel Macro, all in an iPad.

Additional storage is not enough to make a professional tier iPad that qualifies as a full-time workhorse device.

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