Discussion on:

Bye bye MacBook, hello iPad: Why I'm taking the tablet

Is it true that MANY others can say "bye bye" to their Macbook? Are there even SOME? Has THIS AUTHOR even said "bye bye" to his Macbook?

I like Dropbox. I use it already so it's great that it works on iPad, but it doesn't automatically work with other apps, right? Can you explain? I can VIEW on the iPad any file in Dropbox but only if it's one of the standard docs? And I can't edit it. For instance, to edit a text file I have to get a text edit app. I've got one that works on a particular folder in Dropbox, but the file HAS to be in that folder, and if it's in another folder the app can't reach it? Right? How about fixing that? Does Android offer ability to work with files?

..if you select a document (say a word .docx), and look in the upper right corner for the open-in icon (box with an outgoing arrow). Then select your app. In my case, I just opened a .docx document in Pages without a problem, and I can edit to my heart's content. When I'm done I can print the document to a wirelessly connected printer, or email the altered file back to myself as a Pages document, or PDF. or even as a Word Doc. Sorry, but I don't have any TXT files on DropBox to test with as I never use TXT documents. Excel will open in Numbers and works just fine.

Again, get to know how to use the iPad and you might find it's more productive (or in this case you might be more productive) than you think.

Oh, good work, again, Bart, for making the decision to actually enter the discussion.

Again, now that you are on topic, thanks for the instructions. I'll check it out.

And, no, I'm not wrong again: you may notice those little things called "question marks". We use those to indicate a QUESTION which is DIFFERENT from something else that we like to call a STATEMENT.

Do you know anything about Android? Someone told me Android has a better paradigm for files? Do you actually know anything about that and want to talk about it (objectively)?

And as before, I'd love to know if it is just the rubber ducky you've stopped using now or have you stopped using your laptop as well? Vulpine seems to be claiming that he no longer has a laptop, but I've yet to see his reply detailing what kind of work he does.

I am a photographer
I am a writer
I am an independent computer consultant

That's when I'm not commenting on these boards.

So I've just followed your instructions and found those options are not available with the apps that I've currently got. Yup.

That brings up another issue: how do you manage selective synching?

With file management interface on my other Macs I can move files that I want to work on into and out of Dropbox, so that I don't have to pay for Terabytes in the cloud.

Synching seems painful. I want to just have access to all my files if I need them. For instance, also I currently don't have videos synched with iPhoto because there's not enough space on the iPad, and I only keep last 6 months of photos, because again, not enough space.

You use the $29 proprietary camera connection kit, of course!

... but if you'll pay attention to available information, that connection kit is no longer necessary--it's wireless.

Two of my larger customers allow no wireless data transfer at all, over VPN or not. When the files change, I get an overnight shipment of DVD or thumbdrive.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying I don't have the choice.

Sounds to me more like your client is the one with the problem, though. I understand the need for security and the iPad can meet most clients' security needs to a general extent. Even the US Government and others are using iPhones and iPads in the field.

Your client has... the physical shipment can be intercepted, disks copied, nobody will ever know.

But the probability of such going undetected is so low as to approach zero.
* The client uses tamper-evident packaging, and
* Fedex might take issue with your lack of faith in their physical security procedures.

And, knowing what I know, I'm more worried about an MITM compromising the VPN than I am that a single package can be picked out of the millions Fedex handles every day, compromised, then returned to the system undetected.

You get your photos to the iPad by either wirelessly transferring them from some networked device (including your own computer, or perhaps even the camera directly if it has the capability), or you use the Apple Camera Connection Kit, that let's you use SD cards and USB drives with the iPad. Not much different than any other computer (except most computers don't come with wireless sync capabilities by default).

'When you use the iPad a bit, you will start to understand why you don't need to plug it in USB as a drive or do other stupid things, that archaic software and platform designs required you do in order to be productive.'

In what way do you see the camera connection kit as not being just another USB device that archaic software platforms forces you to plug in.

But please don't edit the essence of the quote.

You may use USB with the iPad, but you don't have to. Single word, big difference.

For the time you will plug in the USB drive, write data, remove it, then plug it in the other device, copy data, remove it - you will have transferred the data over the theoretically "slower" wireless network.

If you don't know how to do something, this does not mean normal people don't.

The archaic interfaces are stupid because given the choice to use what is available today, normal people will use the more convenient and productive method - which happens to not be the legacy.

I've lost data to hard drives that failed without warning, hard drives of almost every kind from spinning disk to solid state and these so-called thumb drives. Now my data is automatically synched between my desktop, my phone and my tablet and I don't even have to tell any of them to "start"; they just do it.

I'm guessing you haven't heard of the Eye-fi SD memory card? Easy to tie to phone or tablet or laptop/desktop. Again, completely wireless. In fact, with the iPad the Eye-Fi sends to the iPad and the iPad automatically (you can disable) sends those same images to your desktop through the "cloud" no matter how far away it is. Now you don't even have to worry about losing your SD card and all the captured images in a card swap any more.

Hello? "those of us who've just started using tablets". It's because I've just bought one that I've suddenly found out: hey, this isn't a computer; it's a PHONE.

I can't afford to purchase one for myself on the possibility I may find it useful. It doesn't help that I don't trust web-based storage and am unwilling to pay for a cellular connection for it.

" The iPad is more like a phone than a computer."
A phone!!???
Do you know what a phone is?
It's purpose is to make phone calls. Period. Anything beyond that is just bells and whistles!
The iPad is much, much, much closer to a computer than it is a phone. If you had made this statement two or three decades ago they would have locked you up. Especially considering how many things the iPad can do that computers couldn't do well back then.

are negligible. Both have processors, both have RAM, both have local storage, both can connect to remote devices.

Other than that? Not much at all.

Today, the difference between an 'phone' and 'computer' is that the phone can make calls, of the kind the computer cannot make. That is, if the device can make calls via anything different than VoIP, it's an 'phone'.

Otherwise, you find computers about anywhere you look today. In all sorts of equipment, that traditionally did not need one -- just because some things are done cheap with computer, than without.

So, for example, the difference between the iPhone (a phone) and the iPad (an computer) is that the iPhone contains unique hardware that lets it make 'phone calls'.

The 'processor', RAM, local storage etc.. do not define 'computer'. There have been 'computers' without those parts as well, at least not in the traditional sense of these names -- but it is understandable, that not many know or remember them. Yet those kinds of computers still exist, even today.

I can make telephone calls from my corporate netbook, which has an embedded air card. The management software allows me to make voice calls from my laptop using the local cellular network and a USB headset.

So the netbook changes from computer to phone, then back again when I disconnect the call.

As I said, the differences are negligible. The only addition to the smartphone relative to the computer in its traditional configuration are the audio circuitry required for integrated voice communications–microphone, speaker, and D-A/A-D converter–and the firmware to support it.

I've pointed out, and others have also replied, to indicate specifically the kinds of activities that are either unavailable or restricted on an iPad / smart phone. You have not responded to these comments so your reply is empty and not very useful.

You're dismissing the fact that on a global scale, non-smartphones are still far ahead of smartphones in usage. A cellphone is a device to make phone calls, and some cellphones have capabilities which make them cross-over as being a limited computer. Any good smartphone today can outperform the majority of home computers sold in their infancy.

The point is, if you are going to call an iPad a 'phone', it is terribly misleading terminology. It's almost like calling a motorcycle a car.

Smart phone. Unfortunately the iPad can't actually make phone calls so it's not even a phone.

... before you make comments about them. While I don't argue that they are limited compared to full out computers like laptops and desktops, they are still highly productive, some more so than others. The discussion of which tablet is best will be a long-running one, but they all have at least similar capabilities--again some moreso than others.

The discussion in this article is how the tablet has replaced the laptop for the author by simply offering better mobility and better usability while on the road than a laptop while he still has his desktop to perform his heavy-duty work; he simply no longer needs his laptop. This is the same kind of reasoning I have read and seen with many other people who used to carry laptops everywhere. The tablet has become a convenient supplemental tool to the desktop that simply doesn't need to be kept as rigidly synched as a laptop to keep up with the data you're working with.

I did. That's why I posted. But I was surprised, because as soon as I started using it I realised why it wouldn't be much help. If I was to write the article that would be my prime focus: the limitations; what it can and CAN'T do. But no-one seems to be willing to write on that.

It can't replace a desktop computer or a laptop that is used as a desktop. Beyond that, please tell us exactly how limiting it is to YOU. This isn't hysteria, it's merely an attempt to glean facts and individual needs compared to the overall usability (nor non- if that's your view) of tablets in general.

Meanwhile, it seems that tablets have become extremely useable to a significant population; some strictly as entertainment devices, for others, productive as well. It serves as both for me.

Then why is the article called "bye bye" Macbook? I'm not saying I don't like an additional iPad, but clearly it's not "bye bye laptop". That's whay I'm saying. Those of us who ran out in hope have had their hopes dashed and when we sober up we realise there's a fair amount of hysteria of how the iPad will replace laptops. No. It won't. Not yet anyway. Hello? You are in AGREEMENT with me, ok?

Otherwise refer to my earlier post. The whole operation of an iPad is slow and awkward. Copy and paste requires repeated re-tries. If I want to manage multipel document sources from word processing documents, PDFs, web, text and other apps and put it together in another place it's going to be really hard. For some operations you have to search around for 5 minutes with various gestures and locations until you discover the app doesn't support the operation. You can't maintain a set of files on the device and expect to be able to manipulate them with all your apps.

... as a mobility device. They're heavy. They require heavy supplemental devices (power brick, spare batteries, etc.) and in the long run become quite bulky--as large in some cases as a typical business persons' carry on for an overnight assignment. You can't even carry a change of clothing unless you stuff all that into a medium-sized suitcase or carry more than one bag. (The idea was for mobility--grab and go. A laptop just doesn't let you do that any more.) Probably one of the greatest examples of the "grab and go" concept is when Steve Jobs, Tim Cook and a number of Apple personnel were in a meeting discussing a supply issue. Cook said, "Somebody needs to go over there (China) to figure out the problem." Ten minutes later, Tim looked at a specific executive and said, "Why are you still here?" That individual walked out the door, rode over to the airport and spent the next year in China--not even stopping at his home to pick up clothing or other essentials. That, my friend, is mobility. The iPad or any other tablet, had they been available then, would have made his task just that little bit easier and a heck of a lot cheaper.

In the enterprise this is probably the most common use for an iPad at the moment, but that's a huge step up from using a laptop, especially when you realize all the wiring that had to be done to let you connect your laptop to a projector for presentations. You simply lose the mobility capability that a tablet can offer even there. One minor change and an iPad could use that projector completely wirelessly, allowing you to walk around the stage/table and talk to an individual and still have control of the presentation itself. Your viewpoint is simply too limited when compared to the reality and the potential of a tablet device.

You say you look forward to the evolution, yet you slip into a rant about Apple "throttling" the tablet while completely ignoring the fact that Apple has no control over Android devices which offer the same capabilities and lack some of those limiters--yet have gone no farther than Apple's iPad. Why? Explain to me exactly what evolution is currently being throttled that these devices should already have. Is it a full desktop OS? That's been available for over a decade now with almost no market penetration. Even with a touch-capable version of Windows, tablets simply went nowhere before the iPad showed up; and you can't blame Apple for that because there were Powerbook/MacBook tablets available as well and they simply didn't move. The difference is in the overall paradigm of the thing and as yet most people still don't know even what is possible, much less the overall potential of the form. Science Fiction has predicted such devices for over half a century and we're only barely getting started.

I guess what really upsets me is that you want to turn tablets into a legacy computer rather than a future one. You want to inhibit it to technologies that are growing obsolete rather than pushing it into new paradigms. No, it's not Apple that's throttling the tablet but rather the people who insist it should be something it shouldn't.

I don't get how you can say I'm inhibiting when what I'm asking for is more. There's no point in dumping technologies just because we've been using them for a while. What, do you want the iPad to have no screen? No, we use a screen because it's USEFUL. So why can't I have a mouse with the iPad? That would speed up copy and paste by a factor of 100. Why can't I have access to my files independent of the apps I've got? I don't know, I'm not the interface or OS designer here, but using an iPad feels like drinking a bathtub through a straw and yet everyone is jumping up and down and saying "bye bye laptop". I'm just saying: no, I don't think so. As for Android I'm only quoting what I've been told and I did actually ask a question about that.


I'd just like to see some actual objective evaluation and I wonder why there's no one out there who seems to be able to write a helpful article on iPads with practical information instead of this hysteria about throwing away your laptop because everything's changed. iPad has a long way to go before it replaces my Macbook.

Devices and software are a matter of choice. I can see the author's point of choosing the tablet over a laptop, at least for home use.

I have seen presentations by VMware and Citrix of testing the iPad for enterprises. Enterprises are still using Windows laptops at this time to VPN and connect to Citrix servers.

While Android devices may cost less, there are many flavors just like the Linux base they are built on. Support is still more for do-it-yourselfers.

Except for the Word processing, the PDA (scheduling) apps, and looking for a solution for Excel, it looks like most of the apps are used for leisure.

I think it is ironic however that this is in an Insight CIO column and the author admits that he makes more typing errors now than before. I would think a successful CIO would value his time better.

In order to understand why people think the iPad is an productivity boost device, you need to actually try one. So, don't theorize, just get one and see for yourself.

There are some extremely serious and high quality apps for the iPad and the most weird thing is, that their price is an order of magnitude lower than of similarly capable 'desktop' apps -- even from the same publisher. They just don't cary the unnecessary bloat of the desktop apps.

Hello again? We DID buy one. That's how I found out how limited it is.

One week? Two? A month? Sure, a tablet isn't a full-out replacement for a laptop when that laptop is used as a portable desktop, but it can usually do what you need when you're standing out there in an open field trying to show your client what the project is going to look like, or selling them on a product or service, or whatever else you would have otherwise had to set that laptop down on the hood of your car to do.

Tablets are mobility devices. Tablets are supplemental to desktops. Laptops are desktop clones--desktop replacements. They're not supplemental devices, they're a whole, extra, full-priced computer that may just be surplus equipment in your office.

Oh, ok, the iPad is NOT a replacement for a laptop! Sorry, my mistake, I thought I heard someone somewhere saying they were going to wave goodbye to their laptop. Must have been some hysteria somewhere else.

for me (ran out of room in the subject)

Web browsing.

I never have less than 10 web pages open at a time, unless the browser has not yet been opened after a reboot. Currently I have 2 Chromium web browser windows open, with 28 and 17 tabs open on them, plus I have firefox running with an additional 7 tabs, totaling 52 current browser tabs. I think I once had 125 total tabs open (downloading mods for Oblivion), find me a tablet capable of that.

I have an android tablet and an android phone, and my biggest complaint is that I cannot open an email (say ZDNet tech update today) and fire open 6 or 7 article webpages (in the background) to read later, yes I know of "pocket" (formerly read-it-later) and I have it, although never really got around to using it. the problem is that every link I touch in my mail "has to" open the browser and leave the email app, then I have to wait for the page to connect and start loading before I switch apps back to my email, or "sometimes" the page loads up blank, or even is not there when I get back to the browser (Dolphin Mini, I hate the side panels of Dolphin HD, they always open when I am scrolling if the page is wider than my display). Even worse is when the links open in the same tab (have not seen that in more than 6 months though).

I get a lot of emails suggesting I read this or that article/post on what ever website, I like to open those pages and delete the emails quickly so I have under 10 unread emails as much as possible; however I frequently have 125-150 unread emails to sift through because I spend most of my time on my phone or tablet and not on my laptop or desktop. It is such an inconvenience to manage email links that I just don't bother and ignore those emails till I have time to sit down and read on my laptop or desktop.

Fix that and I'd gladly give up my laptop and use my desktop for file storage and occasional gaming.

Keep in mind that we're really still in the second generation of tablet computing, the big, heavy Windows/Mac tablets of the last decade proving an obvious failure due to lack of software despite their ready power.
Keep in mind that these tablets today still have more power than the first or even second generation desktop computer in both processing capability and available software.

Taking these two factors into account, what you're asking for is not all that far away--possibly as near as within the next three years. Yes, it's true that tablets right now don't work with a windowed format; a goo part of that is that it's simply too small a form factor to even try using windows on the display; we're essentially back to the old 600x800 display capability albeit with much smaller pixels and as such much clearer text and graphics than you could get 20 years ago. Combine this with the touch capability and now you're 'clicking' a 20x20pixel button (or larger) rather than a 5x5 or less, so while reading and viewing and even gaming are pretty easy on these high-res displays, you still have only limited actual working area. Make them as large as a sheet of notebook paper (8 1/2 x 11 for instance) and you could 'scribe' on it as readily as you do a school notebook. The smaller the display, the less effective it is for taking those kinds of notes. If you look at your own laptop or desktop computer, you're using a much, much larger display at the same resolution as that tablet. I have to hold my iPad almost at arm's length to get the same apparent display size as my 24" iMac and the only reason my 20" laps over at full arm's length is that it's wide-screen, not 4:3 format.

We seem to be repeating the old 'computer techie expert VS the end user' mentality that took place in the 80s. The computer tech experts were quite happy using the archaic M-Dos interface... printing on horrible pixelated dot printers. It was the users who bought-into the graphical interface and printed to laser printers that moved things ahead. Once again it seems to be the anti user/ anti Apple mentality who are trying their darndest to keep technology from advancing.

Nobody here who has stated the tablet is not for them has said tablets shouldn't be made.
Nobody here who has stated the tablet is not for them has said nobody should have a tablet.
Nobody here who has stated the tablet is not for them has made any comments denigrating a particular vendor.
And nobody here who has stated the tablet is not for them has suggested that we keep technology from advancing.

Why do those who embrace the new without questioning the need always seem to think that those who do question are "trying their darndest to keep technology from advancing", are "anti-[favored vendor here]", or are just plain Luddites? Are those who embrace the new without question incapable of understanding that "not for me" doesn't mean "against"?

For the last three years the general consensus by "techies" has been,
* "Tablets are useless"
* "Nobody needs a tablet"
* "Apple is just leeching more money out of suckers"
* "Tablets will ultimately fail"

Ok, so nobody here has specifically made those statements, but many of them have implied as much by their arguments that they are incapable of productive work of any kind and Apple in particular has been the implied, if not stated, culprit. There's a difference between questioning the usability with the intent to learn and questioning with the intent to denigrate. Many, if not all of the anti-tablet statements made even in this thread imply denigration rather than true curiosity. A curious questioner will approach a subject with an open mind rather than flat-out stating "It's not for me." How are you going to know if you don't actually try?

Ok, some of you claim to have tried, but have you really? Or have you tried to use said tablet (no matter the brand or OS) as you use your desktop, without accommodating for the differences with the platforms? Nobody has ever said a tablet will replace the desktop but rather that the tablet can replace the laptop for mobility purposes. Are you going to write a novel at Starbucks? Or are you going to check your email, do a bit of web browsing or maybe do a little anthropological/socialogical observation and study of your fellow espresso drinkers? That big laptop on the table is a very visible, very obvious and usually very clumsy tool for that kind of purpose; a tablet can serve much better and doesn't even need to take up table space if you're with one or two friends/clients. How do you really know it's "not for me" if you insist on using it like a completely different tool? Ten minutes playing with it at the store isn't going to give you a realistic view of how YOU can use it; not even 30 minutes. Approaching it with a closed mind also isn't going to help you any; you're simply going to realize the limitations you're looking for rather than the benefits you're not. None of us knows how it can help you, specifically, but we can offer advice on how it helps us. There's a huge library of software out there for tablets now--specifically but not limited to iOS tablets--finding the one that meets your needs simply requires a bit of research and time. Even I don't know all the apps that are available but between I (a writer, photographer and IT consultant) and my wife (a charity organizer and IT Systems Administrator) we've discovered a lot of apps that are quite useful for our needs.

So the picture's becoming clearer now (as the hysteria fades): no iPad won't replace your laptop, but it may "replace your laptop for mobility purposes". Ok. Let's start a policy document and see how many clauses we need in the definition.

So iPad is great if you are walking around a lot or drinking coffee, but as soon as you want to do some work, it's "hello Macbook" again.

And I don't go to Starbucks either.

What kind of work? Do you mean that you do all your office work in your car with a laptop? Do you mean that you type long novels on the airplane? Maybe you mean you create a complete slideshow presentation while you're sitting in the park. Really, exactly what kind of "work" are you talking about when you say that?

How about that person who is trying to sell a building project to a customer? Is it easier that you keep him in his home or office to show him that presentation, or go to the building site and show him there? That's work, is it not? Yes, the iPad literally can replace the laptop that is used as a mobility device; the laptop itself is only a portable computer, not a mobile one. Why have a desktop and a laptop when most of your "real work" is done at a desk? Until you un-train yourself to believe that a laptop is absolutely necessary for your work, you begin to realize you have two different levels of work which can be served by two different classes of device.

I've used a tablet for all of these, and it was neat.

* Checking email
* Web browsing
* Document editing
* Internet Consumption

But that's as far as it goes. I'm in retail support. I'm the end user tech at the front end of the service chain, the face of my employer to my customers. My primary responsibility is to service and repair the equipment retailers use to sell their products to their customers: computers, printers, scanners, scales, and the associated infrastructure and peripherals. I'm given no choice in what I will use or how I will use it.

At work I have to connect to multiple devices–scales, scanners, thin clients, PCs, switches, hubs (yes, hubs), access points, printers, etc–and interact with those devices. Flashing, configuring, saving, restoring, etc., etc., etc. Many (but not most) of those connections are the same. But the scales and scanners are all from different manufacturers and have different interfaces, connections, and protocols. And some of the network devices require I connect through a console session to establish a TFTP session to transfer data off a CD or DVD. I carry six different interface cables and three different USB-to-something dongles so I can connect those cables to my netbook. Not to mention the standard USB A-B, mini, and micro cables AND the external floppy and CD/DVD drives AND the powered USB hub so I can connect multiple drives if necessary.

The restrictions placed on me are intended to protect my customers and through them, their customers: loyalty data, phone numbers, credit/debit card info, etc. I understand the need for those restrictions and the necessity of complying with them. Perhaps I have not been clear about the need for those restrictions before.

I know a tablet (the iPad in particular) is not for me at work because it simply does not have the hardware interface capabilities my customers' equipment requires and cannot be made to have those capabilities.

End of line.

So trying to claim that a tablet can't serve the purpose for an average user simply because it can't serve YOUR purpose is where we've been arguing all this time.