Whenever we get a new models of iPad, we get multitude or reviews and opinion-pieces that all have the question: “can the iPad truly replace my laptop?”. The new iPad pros we just got were no exception. I was just reading an excellent essay by Craig Mod on this very topic, when I started to really think about this. He does love his iPad, but feels that it has shortcomings that need to be resolved, especially when it comes to the software, before it can replace a laptop. And sure, things could always be better.
Just to note, this post is not as much to refute his comments and thoughts, his essay just made me think about this situation. And I will be just talking about iPads here, because honestly: who cares about Android-tablets?
It seems to be when reviewers are saying things like “iPad can’t replace my laptop”, they are approaching this from the wrong angle. I mean, they obviously already have a laptop, with software, workflows and tasks that have been honed over the years to work in specific way that works for them. Then they try to remove the laptop from the equation, taking the software with it, drop in an iPad and see “does this replace my laptop”. Well, if you go about it like that, no it will not. Or at very least, you will be fighting against the system all the time. Hell, it would be painful for Mac-user to switch to Windows, or vice-versa, of course it would be even more painful to switch to iOS, that is even more different, with different hardware as well.
What I feel the iPad and it’s status as the “future of computers” is about is to cater to the paradigm shift we have experienced in the last 10 years or so. For massive number of people, their phone is their main computer. 15 years ago, the amount of “computing” that was done by end users, was overwhelmingly done on devices we would recognize as “traditional computers”. But today I bet that most of the computing is done on phones. For many people, traditional computers seem like anachronism. And it’s those people iPad is targeting. It’s just like their phone that they are already using all the time, just more so.
And sure, there are still some low-hanging fruit (relatively speaking) that could be fixed on iPads to make it work better for everybody. One complaint is that if you want to write software, you need a traditional computer. So port Xcode to iPad. That would take care of lots of complaints. Maybe move some of the functionality to cloud (code hosted on Apples server, where it’s also compiled), so it could run well on iPad. Or how about actually supporting things like USB memory-sticks? Robust keyboard navigation? So yes, there are things to be done. But it’s doable, and fixing just couple of issues would solve most issues people currently are facing.
Another issue is third-party software. Software-developers need to treat the iPad as a powerful workstation it is. We are getting there, but it is taking time. Next year one major hurdle is crossed when Photoshop for iPad ships. the benefit of that is twofold: it brings to iPad a genuine hi-end piece of software that is used for “serious business”, and it shows to people and other companies that yes, you can have hi-end software on the iPad. Software-companies: Photoshop for iPad is coming, what’s your excuse for not shipping your software for iPad? Because your software is a precious snowflake?
But I do feel that some of the common complaints directed at the iPad are misguided. One common complaint is that you can’t have two copies of an app running side by side. For example, two copies of text-editors so you could compare two documents. This begs the question: isn’t this up to the app-makers to fix? I’m typing this on my iPad using Ulysses. Why should I be running two copies of Ulysses if I wanted to compare two documents? Why couldn’t Ulysses support opening two (or more) documents at the same time? So I would have one copy of Ulysses running, with it showing more than one document? One issue we do have is that if you run several apps using split-view, you can’t share an app among different views. So if you have Safari and Mail sharing one view, you can’t have Mail and Photos share another view. But again, that seems like a fixable thing.
I have a feeling that when we get iOS 13 next year, it’s going to be a big step forward for iPad. Don’t ask how I know, it’s just a hunch. But we are at the point where iPad-hardware is insanely good, with promises of “future of computing” ringing in our ears. It’s time we have operating system and software that is as far along as the hardware is.
As a sidenote: I find those articles that ask “can iPad replace a laptop”, to be quite annoying, as we all have different wants and needs. For many, iPad has already replaced a laptop. And for many many more, it complements a laptop. There is no universal answer to the question “does iPad replace a laptop”. The answer, as usual, is “it depends”. There is no universal computing solution that is the perfect solution for everybody. I’m annoyed when people try to make their personal wants and needs the universal truth that needs to be catered to.
Some might say that the real question is “does it do everything a laptop does?”. Well, kinda. But then again, it’s a different type of device. Does laptop do everything iPad does? Mostly you can do the same things on both devices, but you do them in a different way. Which way you prefer, is a personal opinion. But the actual things that you really can’t do on an iPad are getting few and far between.
Lumisade 