This article should be flagged as [Opinion]. It makes no sense to me. If someone needs a full computer, then buy a computer. If they want a tablet, then buy a tablet. Why is the lack of the tablet being a full computer a flaw agains the tablet?
The success of the iPad is *because* of Apple's methodical, calculated evolutionary plan.
It's clear that Apple is moving iPad as a desktop replacement. As today, and even with iPad OS 16, still behind as a laptop replacement. The evolutionary plan that you mention is making iPad a better device as laptop replacement, but still far behind compared a device like the Surface Pro.
People on tech sites keep asking for that, but I wonder if it’s really that big a deal. I mean considering that most Win and Mac systems only have one user id on them.
Missing from the iPad is programming applications. The problem is any user who bought the iPad for consumption has a machine incapable of developing programs on.
By programming I mean running programs like R, or a database like PostgreSQL. Such programs are really not that much different from Word, Excel, KeyNote,
Biggest missing feature is multiple users. I can buy a surface or MBA and various family members can use it. IPad is tied to a single one of my kids appleid.
That is never going to happen as it would cost Apple too much in lost revenue....
People on tech sites keep asking for that, but I wonder if it’s really that big a deal. I mean considering that most Win and Mac systems only have one user id on them.
The lack of multiple user accounts on iPad is entirely the result of Apple's purposeful design for the role the iPad is intended to serve, which is a truly personal device that's entirely dedicated to a single user. The human-machine interaction model for the iPad is really no different than that of the iPhone or iPod Touch. Early on some folks disparaged the iPad as "just a jumbo sized iPod Touch." To some extent that's exactly what is was and still is today. Of course things the iPad brings to the table like a much larger screen, usable speakers, cellular connectivity, really big battery, large storage, etc., are game changers in terms of the types of apps you could run on the iPad versus iPhone or iPod Touch. As iPhones have bulked up some qualities more appropriate to iPad have migrated to the iPhone, just like some Mac apps have migrated to iPad as the iPad has increased in capability.
But still ... if you view the iPad as an iPod Touch or iPhone on steroids you'll kind of see where it is firmly rooted.
Implementing multiple user support on iPad would be far less trivial than most people think. It's far more than just allowing multiple user names and passwords. On a multi-user system everyone would need their own desktops, app collection, content collection, private storage, plus individual control over most of the things in Settings, including login credentials, Face Id, Touch Id, email accounts, iCloud accounts, etc. Plus you'd need an administrator to manage users, user permissions, system wide settings, etc. But still, this is still nothing that's outside of the realm of what Apple's dev teams can do in their sleep. The iPad hardware could handle it without doubt. The real question is ... Is this really something you really want to do on an iPad? Would you do it on an iPhone? It definitely breaks the single person hyper personalized intentional design of the iPad.
With the iPad Pro pricing approaching and even exceeding the same price territory as MacBook Air and even lower end MacBook Pros, if you're perpetually disappointed with what the iPad Pro and iPadOS offer - why are you not jumping over to the stellar MacBook Air (M1 or M2) or a lower end MacBook Pro? It may be time to remove your saddle from your miniature horse and move it over to a full size horse. Adding leg extensions to the mini horse isn't going to make it a big horse.
People on tech sites keep asking for that, but I wonder if it’s really that big a deal. I mean considering that most Win and Mac systems only have one user id on them.
The lack of multiple user accounts on iPad is entirely the result of Apple's purposeful design for the role the iPad is intended to serve, which is a truly personal device that's entirely dedicated to a single user. The human-machine interaction model for the iPad is really no different than that of the iPhone or iPod Touch. Early on some folks disparaged the iPad as "just a jumbo sized iPod Touch." To some extent that's exactly what is was and still is today. Of course things the iPad brings to the table like a much larger screen, usable speakers, cellular connectivity, really big battery, large storage, etc., are game changers in terms of the types of apps you could run on the iPad versus iPhone or iPod Touch. As iPhones have bulked up some qualities more appropriate to iPad have migrated to the iPhone, just like some Mac apps have migrated to iPad as the iPad has increased in capability.
But still ... if you view the iPad as an iPod Touch or iPhone on steroids you'll kind of see where it is firmly rooted.
Implementing multiple user support on iPad would be far less trivial than most people think. It's far more than just allowing multiple user names and passwords. On a multi-user system everyone would need their own desktops, app collection, content collection, private storage, plus individual control over most of the things in Settings, including login credentials, Face Id, Touch Id, email accounts, iCloud accounts, etc. Plus you'd need an administrator to manage users, user permissions, system wide settings, etc. But still, this is still nothing that's outside of the realm of what Apple's dev teams can do in their sleep. The iPad hardware could handle it without doubt. The real question is ... Is this really something you really want to do on an iPad? Would you do it on an iPhone? It definitely breaks the single person hyper personalized intentional design of the iPad.
With the iPad Pro pricing approaching and even exceeding the same price territory as MacBook Air and even lower end MacBook Pros, if you're perpetually disappointed with what the iPad Pro and iPadOS offer - why are you not jumping over to the stellar MacBook Air (M1 or M2) or a lower end MacBook Pro? It may be time to remove your saddle from your miniature horse and move it over to a full size horse. Adding leg extensions to the mini horse isn't going to make it a big horse.
Guess what - the multi-user support demand is there even for the budget iPad, not just the iPad Pros. Not every home has 3-4 iPads, but definitely 3-4 smartphones are present in every house depending on the number of family members. If you are not convinced with this statement, think about the number of active iPhones (about 1 billion) vs active iPads (few hundred millions) in use.
iPads are shared with family members, unlike smartphones (iPhones or Android phones) which are used by individuals only. And therein lies the difference between iPad usage Vs smartphone usage and the demand for this feature.
People on tech sites keep asking for that, but I wonder if it’s really that big a deal. I mean considering that most Win and Mac systems only have one user id on them.
The lack of multiple user accounts on iPad is entirely the result of Apple's purposeful design for the role the iPad is intended to serve, which is a truly personal device that's entirely dedicated to a single user. The human-machine interaction model for the iPad is really no different than that of the iPhone or iPod Touch. Early on some folks disparaged the iPad as "just a jumbo sized iPod Touch." To some extent that's exactly what is was and still is today. Of course things the iPad brings to the table like a much larger screen, usable speakers, cellular connectivity, really big battery, large storage, etc., are game changers in terms of the types of apps you could run on the iPad versus iPhone or iPod Touch. As iPhones have bulked up some qualities more appropriate to iPad have migrated to the iPhone, just like some Mac apps have migrated to iPad as the iPad has increased in capability.
But still ... if you view the iPad as an iPod Touch or iPhone on steroids you'll kind of see where it is firmly rooted.
Implementing multiple user support on iPad would be far less trivial than most people think. It's far more than just allowing multiple user names and passwords. On a multi-user system everyone would need their own desktops, app collection, content collection, private storage, plus individual control over most of the things in Settings, including login credentials, Face Id, Touch Id, email accounts, iCloud accounts, etc. Plus you'd need an administrator to manage users, user permissions, system wide settings, etc. But still, this is still nothing that's outside of the realm of what Apple's dev teams can do in their sleep. The iPad hardware could handle it without doubt. The real question is ... Is this really something you really want to do on an iPad? Would you do it on an iPhone? It definitely breaks the single person hyper personalized intentional design of the iPad.
With the iPad Pro pricing approaching and even exceeding the same price territory as MacBook Air and even lower end MacBook Pros, if you're perpetually disappointed with what the iPad Pro and iPadOS offer - why are you not jumping over to the stellar MacBook Air (M1 or M2) or a lower end MacBook Pro? It may be time to remove your saddle from your miniature horse and move it over to a full size horse. Adding leg extensions to the mini horse isn't going to make it a big horse.
Guess what - the multi-user support demand is there even for the budget iPad, not just the iPad Pros. Not every home has 3-4 iPads, but definitely 3-4 smartphones are present in every house depending on the number of family members. If you are not convinced with this statement, think about the number of active iPhones (about 1 billion) vs active iPads (few hundred millions) in use.
iPads are shared with family members, unlike smartphones (iPhones or Android phones) which are used by individuals only. And therein lies the difference between iPad usage Vs smartphone usage and the demand for this feature.
It's not a matter of being convinced or not. Apple designed the iPad as a single-user personal device to its core. Until they deviate from that design that's what it will be. There are no technical reasons keeping Apple from changing iPad to be a multi-user device. Apple probably thinks that offering the base iPad (and to a less extent the mini) at such an affordable price/performance point allows more family members to buy individual iPads.
I think a lot of families are sharing iPads by sharing one set of iCloud and log-in credentials. This is a dangerous way to handle the situation because it expose that single account to manipulation by any family member. I think Apple could provide a much better way to do this without resorting to the full blown multi-user system from Macs. They could have a Family iCloud+AppleId account that has some type of inherent sandboxing determined by the head of family. Apps like Messages and Mail may not even be available but if everyone already has phones not having them individually available on the Family iPad is no big deal. Or maybe Apple can come up with a way to temporarily login to Messages or Mail ay a user level, which is actually already available via the iCloud web interface.
People that currently share an iPad with multiple family members should probably create an AppleId for a virtual family member that is a child of the real head of family rather than sharing a fully credentialed AppleId with everyone in the family. Use the virtual family member for the AppleId and iCloud account on the shared iPad. Tell everyone to use the web or their iPhone for personal communication.
Apple can most definitely make any of this work but only if they redefine the role of not only iPad but also iCloud and AppleId. Otherwise, they will have to bring over all of the multi-user baggage from the Mac.
That wish list is coming from a bunch of developers. Not the much larger community of regular users. Side loading of apps? Really? That’s the last thing consumers need.
On the contrary, installation of software from any source of the user's choosing is a CRITICAL feature if the iPad has any chance of ever being taken seriously as an actual computer, or really anything more than a toy.
Really? Not my take. I use my iPad Pro as "more than a toy". I've found all the software (even technical, terminal, etc.) I need in Apple's App Store.
This article is written as if Apple doesn't have any ideas for the iPad themselves and are just grudgingly following the demands of tech media.
I get that sense as well.
It may be a shock to some folks to know that Apple actually knows how to build a fully functional desktop/laptop operating system that has everything that is being requested. It's available today and it's called macOS. The iPad was never intended to be just another form factor device capable of running macOS. As great as macOS may be, it's still very much rooted in being an operating system layered on top of a piece of industrial machinery that requires the user to adapt to its needs, not the other way around. People are not born with a notion of files growing on trees or burying personal documents and photos in deep hierarchies of folders. The PC paradigm and many of the UI interactions are based on getting the user to conform to the needs of the machine, or at least to conform to artificial paradigms created by operating system programmers, in some cases, many decades ago. Calling industrial machines that require trained humans to operate "personal computers" was wordplay and a total croc.
The iPad was intended flip the script on the relationship between people and computers. The iPad attempted to make a version of a computer that conformed to the needs of the person who owns it without bringing along the industrial baggage. When a person writes a letter they just pick up a piece of paper and start writing. When they are done they put it back down on the desk, or maybe slide it into a drawer or a file cabinet. They may turn on some music at the same time, or pick up a newspaper or magazine. I doubt many people are going to lay out 16 magazines on their desk at the same time, alongside the partially completed letter to grandma.
These are probably not perfect analogies, but I believe the original intention of the iPad was to remove as much of the machinery and claptrap that we've had to conform to in order to use computers effectively from a computing device centered around serving our more personal needs. Calling even the original iPad a consumption-only device is disingenuous and narrow minded. It's always had a built-in ability to produce personal and sharable content including documents, drawings, schedules, reminders, inventories, and other such content. Being considered a "production" or "work" tool doesn't have to involve industrial-scale content creation, application development, movie editing, etc. Planting a shrub in my yard is productive, but I don't need a backhoe or excavator to do it, just a hand shovel.
Final point - the iPad never was intended to replace traditional, or what I'd call "industrial based computers with trained human operators." As pointed out in the article, Apple isn't trying to merge iPad and Mac. They may have touted the notion that the iPad could in some cases replace the need for an industrial computer for some folks. But merging one way or the other, including putting a version of macOS on the iPad, would effectively destroy either iPadOS or macOS.
I think the real question boils down to - did Apple succeed in making its vision for what the iPad should be something that a lot of people really want to buy? I'd say yes, and especially so with the massive push they've gotten from the iPhone side. But it's not 100% or universal. The allure of industrial computers is as strong as ever. Generations of people born after PCs and Macs became pervasive have acquired the training and skills to operate those machines. They've made the investment and are motivated to continue to leverage their acquired skills not only in their work but in their personal life. I feel that way at some level too, just like I very much miss driving a car with a manual transmission. At least with Apple I feel like I have the best of both worlds. The Mac and macOS is still around and as exciting and challenging as ever, but so is the iPad, which I vastly prefer for things that are more personal and more immediate and needing a bigger screen than what the iPhone makes available.
I think iPad is growing toward being a viable laptop replacement,
but in a way that is unique to what the iPad is. This article does a good job of explaining
If you ask me, that unique way is not good at all compared to a full desktop OS.
And that's exactly the point - the iPad never intended to be a full desktop OS. It is a tablet. Get over it. If you want a full desktop OS, get a macOS, Windows, Linux, etc., laptop or desktop, not a tablet!
From the article, "We love to utilize tools like Clean Shot X to make amazing screenshots on macOS or Bartender to control what we see in our Menu Bar, but those can't exist on iPad."
What does Clean Shot X do that the built in screen shot utility does not? Screen shots are screen shots.
Really - they want an app (Bartender) to manage what's on the Menu Bar, on a device that doesn't have a menu bar?!?!?!?
Comments
By programming I mean running programs like R, or a database like PostgreSQL. Such programs are really not that much different from Word, Excel, KeyNote,
That is never going to happen as it would cost Apple too much in lost revenue....
But still ... if you view the iPad as an iPod Touch or iPhone on steroids you'll kind of see where it is firmly rooted.
Implementing multiple user support on iPad would be far less trivial than most people think. It's far more than just allowing multiple user names and passwords. On a multi-user system everyone would need their own desktops, app collection, content collection, private storage, plus individual control over most of the things in Settings, including login credentials, Face Id, Touch Id, email accounts, iCloud accounts, etc. Plus you'd need an administrator to manage users, user permissions, system wide settings, etc. But still, this is still nothing that's outside of the realm of what Apple's dev teams can do in their sleep. The iPad hardware could handle it without doubt. The real question is ... Is this really something you really want to do on an iPad? Would you do it on an iPhone? It definitely breaks the single person hyper personalized intentional design of the iPad.
With the iPad Pro pricing approaching and even exceeding the same price territory as MacBook Air and even lower end MacBook Pros, if you're perpetually disappointed with what the iPad Pro and iPadOS offer - why are you not jumping over to the stellar MacBook Air (M1 or M2) or a lower end MacBook Pro? It may be time to remove your saddle from your miniature horse and move it over to a full size horse. Adding leg extensions to the mini horse isn't going to make it a big horse.
iPads are shared with family members, unlike smartphones (iPhones or Android phones) which are used by individuals only. And therein lies the difference between iPad usage Vs smartphone usage and the demand for this feature.
I think a lot of families are sharing iPads by sharing one set of iCloud and log-in credentials. This is a dangerous way to handle the situation because it expose that single account to manipulation by any family member. I think Apple could provide a much better way to do this without resorting to the full blown multi-user system from Macs. They could have a Family iCloud+AppleId account that has some type of inherent sandboxing determined by the head of family. Apps like Messages and Mail may not even be available but if everyone already has phones not having them individually available on the Family iPad is no big deal. Or maybe Apple can come up with a way to temporarily login to Messages or Mail ay a user level, which is actually already available via the iCloud web interface.
People that currently share an iPad with multiple family members should probably create an AppleId for a virtual family member that is a child of the real head of family rather than sharing a fully credentialed AppleId with everyone in the family. Use the virtual family member for the AppleId and iCloud account on the shared iPad. Tell everyone to use the web or their iPhone for personal communication.
Who do you think you are speaking for?
What does Clean Shot X do that the built in screen shot utility does not? Screen shots are screen shots.
Really - they want an app (Bartender) to manage what's on the Menu Bar, on a device that doesn't have a menu bar?!?!?!?