And the keyboard cases actually make it worse because you delude yourself into thinking it makes it better, when it does not.
When I was given my iPad I didn't want to buy a keyboard case. But sometimes I need a keyboard. I happened to have an extra Apple Wireless Keyboard, and it works fantastically. Wireless. Full-sized. And it's only slightly larger than the 9" iPad. I just throw them both in my bag.
iPads have decent keyboard cases now. I considered getting one to replace my laptop last month but decided against it because it's not really viable for coding yet.
I think the iPad is the single most polarising product in the Apple ecosystem. I think the 'not a computer' marketing is pretty well judged. For many people it really can't replace a laptop, but for others like me it's so much better than a laptop could ever be due to the form factor and the situations I can use it in.
When writing this I wrote some phrases like "It's just not good at many of the tasks people use laptops for", then had to try and rewrite that a few times. The thing is there are a whole slew of tasks that sound like they are the same, but how and where you do them makes a huge difference. How you do them on an iPad is completely different to how you do them on a laptop, and that breaks some people's work flow or simplifies and streamlines otherwise very painful work flows for others. I use my iPad heavily for writing and scripting, but I do a lot of that on the train or in all sorts of ad-hoc situations where a laptop would be a real nuisance. Hence I don't use a keyboard case either. It works for me but absolutely would not work for a lot of others.
The iPad by virtue of its form factor, sucks for typing anything longer than a short message. You can't hold it comfortably like a smartphone, or place it on an unsturdy surface like a laptop. Everything about the typing experience on an iPad feels distinctly second class.
This is a problem for a computing device because writing is a pillar of human culture and economy. A device that places writing second is a device that has excluded itself from vast swathes of what people use computers for.
iPads are good at many thing that involves passive consumption, or drawing using the Pencil, or pressing buttons, etc.
I have an iPad and it complements my laptop well - I use it for reading music. The iPad is not a failure. But it's also not replacing my laptop. It is an accessory to it. I'm sure that Apple, a company that sold me both devices, is ecstatic about that.
But I don't want a keyboard on the device all the time, else I'd have bought a notebook.
So I can use it the vast majority of the time without having a keyboard attached. And I can make edits or small additions to my novel from anywhere in addition to all the other things that I do, the vast majority of which aren't typing-heavy. Then when I want to sit down and focus on writing for a long time, I put it in the keyboard dock or use a wireless keyboard.
If all you ever want to do with the device is to type your novel, yeah, just get a notebook instead, it'll be better for you. Which is fine: they still exist and nobody that's buying an iPad is buying it only to type their novel on the thing.
Nice editorial. I have gone back and forth on this topic with myself for awhile. I finally caved and bought a pre-order Notion Ink Adam that I recently sold. I used that money and purchased an Asus Transformer with keyboard dock and an iPad2 with the goal to return my least favourite. Every time I see a 10" keyboard I get excited and think how great it would be to have - so light and portable. I always drop back down from the high once I use the keyboard and remember how bad they all are.
I find my tablet (read iPad) is great for consuming content while laying around. I don't think they are quite as awkward to use as the author suggests, at least for me. However, I agree that at times when I want to be more productive it frustrates me and I always move to my laptop or desktop to actually get 'er done.
Another usage for me is that they are great for kids in the car.
I have a beefy desktop, 13" laptop, iPad2 and iPhone4. If you held a gun to my head and said I had to give one up I would, without hesitation, hand over the iPad.
My parents bought an ipad and then paid $100+ for a keyboard case, they use their ipad like a laptop - even though that's not really the intention of the ipad whereas it is with Surface
I have tried several different iPads over the years and I have never found them to be useful in any way. A laptop is superior in every situation for me.
Also the M1 MacBook Air was on sale many times for $700. That's less than $100 more than your iPad Air + keyboard.
I was going to post a text-heavy reply to you about that, but I decided not to. Essentially, my family got an iPad 4 and bluetooth keyboard case. A few years later, when Apple was prepping for their iPad Pro and positioning tablets as desktop replacements, I found that the work that I did was much easier on the iPad than it was on the Mac Mini (quad-core) that we had, including doing text editing and stuff of the sort.
Personally, if someone put an ARM laptop in front of me with a workable, non-spyware OS, I would take it in a heartbeat.
As a student, the compromises people are willing to make in order to own an iPad are amazing to witness. While this is anecdotal evidence, iPads are becoming notetaking devices, with such cases being pretty common. In other cases, people are struggling and bringing Apple Wireless keyboards, and pairing them with their iPad via bluetooth. In these situations, it doesn't matter how appropriate the device is. These users have an "iPad or nothing" attitude.
Ever since the first iPad there have been cases that have added a keyboard. But, I don't think that most people that have an iPad have an external keyboard for it. So this may be evidence that some people want a small laptop with a simple OS.
But given that Apple has sold more than 60 million iPads without keyboards makes me think that the current design is working just fine for most people.
> Just think about it on an airplane. I could load it up with movies and watch for an entire flight, thanks to the iPad's excellent battery life. Of course, because of the lousy keyboard I can't use it in place of a laptop, so I would have to carry the iPad and my MacBook. How is it that, for years, I've pined for a lighter laptop, and now I'm considering carrying an extra pound-and-a-half just to watch videos on an airplane?
Or, don't. The iPad goes with you into the seat. Apple's wireless bluetooth keyboard goes in your carry-on, and stays there until the hotel room desk where you might actually do some typing. The rest of your business trip, the iPad lets you reference things, make minor edits, show Keynote on a VGA projector, and keep up with email and news.
(And for printing at the client's location, you do the same thing with your iPad you do with your "real" laptop: email the client the file for them to print because their IT won't let your laptop see their printer queue.)
Using an iPad (with external keyboard) to even type a simple document is an exercise in masochism. Fair play if you enjoyed it, but something like a Surface makes far more sense for these types of uses.
I haven't seen them either. But I don't make my purchase decisions on whether other people have them. I only know my own use case.
My boss, a marketing director, uses an iPad Pro w/keyboard case. It serves no purpose for him besides email and PowerPoint, which makes sense when you don't even have mouse input. Yet we would consider him a 'serious user' because he takes it with him everywhere.
Is this better in any way than just using a Mac? iPad is just as powerful as a MacBook Air, and costs about the same. But with the keyboard/trackpad case, it's thicker, heavier, and less ergonomic. And the workflow becomes useless when, for example, you don't have internet connection.
When I was given my iPad I didn't want to buy a keyboard case. But sometimes I need a keyboard. I happened to have an extra Apple Wireless Keyboard, and it works fantastically. Wireless. Full-sized. And it's only slightly larger than the 9" iPad. I just throw them both in my bag.
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