Jean-Louis Gassee doesn't know who an iPad is for, and thinks you don't either

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 58
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    I don’t use my iPad it write a cabinet submission (laptop connected to a external display would be weapon of choice, but I do fix it up on the ipad if travelling at the time), although I suppose an ipad it could do that, but why bother? Work at one stage tried to get us to use surface devices as the main work device, but they sucked as a laptop and sucked as a tablet in comparison to an ipad, and everyone gets a HP dragonfly (nice and light but the battery life sucks) or a dell latitude (sucks) while those doing a lot of field work also gets an ipad or an iPhone pro max. At work the only thing I can’t use an ipad for easily is accessing files through the MS server directories, but that seems to be a combination of apple really needing to further fix file management and a by product of the profile work puts on the device. I can do it through Citrix but I hate it. SharePoint access no problem.  but I do use it for practically everything else.

    • disaster event field work and reporting (this is a really, really big deal, the ipad is the absolute best for this purpose). Anything remote form or export filling an pad is ideal,  Some staff prefer a great big phone,  but I like the extra real estate.
    • image processing
    • Any work on the bus on the way home (hate bringing out the HP dragonfly for that)
    • Emails
    • editing docs and photos
    • pdf document viewing and annotating (much better than a laptop btw for this)
    • On the morning commute reading all the major newspapers I subscribe to before I get to work, and getting a jump on emails.
    • Visiting appleinsider in the browser

    At home I use it to sort out and pay all my bills, all my personal emails, do a bit of streaming if Mrs Entropy and daughters are watching a k drama (why, I ask you, why? They don’t even speak Korean) and general web browsing.  We are also doing renovations and extensions to our house. The builders use iPads (and we do too) for the idea and design work, progress reports, contracts etc.

    Little miss entropy uses her iPad Air with Apple Pencil 2 for practically anything university lecture or study related (mechanical engineering). All her lecture notes, etc are made on iPad and stored in one drive, and she uses the digitised version of her textbooks. She studies using a mix of iPad and laptop (laptop for notes/ lecture presentations, writes all her study notes on iPad, where she might also annotate lecture presentations). Must admit it uses a lot less paper and carting of text books than back in the day). She is not unusual, the majority of kids seem to do it. Laptops and writing pads aren’t cool to bring out in the lecture anymore apparently. 

    So yeah, I think an iPad is pretty versatile. It isn’t a total replacement for Phones (of course) or laptops. Truck vs a decent car analogy. Tim Apple and Jean-Louis Gassee are both wrong that it is meant to be a computer replacement. But it can do a lot of things better than a laptop. 

    Written on a geriatric 10.5 inch IPP.
    edited November 2022 kiltedgreensphericmattinozFileMakerFellerwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 22 of 58
    The iPad is a great device for people who don’t have an understanding of desktop operating systems, i.e.  grandma and grandpa or people who don’t use tech.  For example, my aunt who is in her 80s who did not necessarily grew up with technology as a part of her life, could not find her way out of a macOS or Windows desktop environment if she was tasked with paying a bill online or taking a photo or sending an email, however her iPad makes this more accessible to her. I think that is one of the types of user the iPad is designed for.

    FileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 23 of 58
    I have been using StageManager since getting my day 1 M2 iPad Pro 11 inch. I love it. I use it extensively, and the more I do the more I appreciate its design. My M1 14 inch MacBook Pro now mostly sits idle. This guy has no idea what he is talking about.
    kiltedgreenwatto_cobra
  • Reply 24 of 58
    darkvader said:
    JLG is right. 

    I mean, it's the perfect device for playing solitaire.  It's not good for much of anything else outside of a few niche applications like medical check-in stations.

    It's not a phone.  It's not a computer.  It's this weird thing that just isn't good for much, and it always has been.
    Nonsense, of course. It is certainly a computer - it does about 100% more computing tasks than the original Macintosh did. 

    We use ours every day. Love the Magic Keyboard with trackpad too. I’m on it right now. 

    My senior citizen parents use them daily as well, much easier than their old desktops which we retired. iPads only for them now. 
    edited November 2022 FileMakerFellerwilliamlondonwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 25 of 58
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I would attribute some of the flattening of iPad demand to be the result of iPhones getting increasingly larger. When the iPad was first introduced the iPhone 4 and then 4s were diminutive compared to the first generation iPad. A Plus sized or Max sized iPhone can legitimately fill in as sub-mini or mini tablet in a pinch, and especially when equipped with plenty of storage. I have no problem reading an ebook or PDF on a Max size iPhone, whereas doing so on a iPhone 4/4s would be a constant source of eyestrain. 
    edited November 2022 FileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 26 of 58
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    techconc said:
    hmlongco said:
    From my perspective, the primary reason that iPad sales are down is that once you have an iPad you're good for quite a few years. The things last forever and that's not much a new model can do that an earlier version can not.

    So most people who think they need one, or have a use case for one, already have one and won't need another one for a long, long time.

    I also think the M1/M2 Air has moved into the iPad's space as well. Small, lightweight, powerful, a long battery life... and the ability to run many iPad apps.
    Agreed.  iPads are great and basically maintenance free.  They seem to last forever.  Honestly, of all 3 device categories (iPhone, iPad and Mac), I enjoy the iPad the most.  It's perfect for media consumption and even does well at gaming.  The iPad is a great class of device.  There are those who "get it" and those who don't. 
    Yup. My 2017 iPad Pro got bent and cracked in a bag a few weeks ago, and I’ve been using the 2014 iPad Air 2 as backup until it gets replaced. It’s a little sluggish occasionally, and the battery is slightly wonky, but it works just fine. 

    The only reason it needed replacing was compatibility with the pencil (I use it to write sheet music, among other things).
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 27 of 58
    JLG is a bit over the top on this but there’s a nontrivial kernel of truth in what he said.

    It sounds like some folks make full use of an iPad Pro for artistic purposes, and that’s great. Others make great use of a regular iPad or iPad Air for gaming and content consumption, and that’s great too. 

    But for me, it feels like apple is close but not quite there for what I want. I’d be fine to use an iPad for games /consumption (I have a 13” a10x iPad Pro and use it for that), but I don’t need the super high end camera array. For games/consumption I just need a larger screen iPad Air.

    OTOH, I can also imagine using a ‘pro’ iPad, but then I’d need more Mac-like functionality, esp the ability to compile code from command line (data science purposes). Current iPad Pro has serious hardware capes but software is too restrictive. 

    Maybe in another two years apple will get it right (for me) 
    sphericFileMakerFellermuthuk_vanalingamdarkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 28 of 58
    darkvader said:
    JLG is right. 

    I mean, it's the perfect device for playing solitaire.  It's not good for much of anything else outside of a few niche applications like medical check-in stations.

    It's not a phone.  It's not a computer.  It's this weird thing that just isn't good for much, and it always has been.
    darkvader said:
    JLG is right. 

    I mean, it's the perfect device for playing solitaire.  It's not good for much of anything else outside of a few niche applications like medical check-in stations.

    It's not a phone.  It's not a computer.  It's this weird thing that just isn't good for much, and it always has been.
    You can’t be serious or you’re clueless, or both.
    williamlondonwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 29 of 58
    The iPad (all ages and stages) is a brilliant form factor for alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) for a wide range of people with disabilities.  I’m of an age when Dragon Dictate and the associated hardware cost $20,000+ and needed a hospital cart with 4” wheels to cart it around.  

    Environmental controls work pretty well on the phone, as long as you have good vision and good small motor control in your hands, and Siri and Alexa respond well even when tucked into a pocket. 

    The iPad form factor is great for nautical navigation, replacing bulky field manuals, and not getting crushed on the tray table when an airline passenger in front us of slams his seat back (try that with a laptop).

    My one wish is that the iPad would run full OS versions of software like QuickBooks (the QB ‘air’ version s**ks, IMO), but I have a feeling that we’re getting there. 

    Mariner
    edited November 2022 FileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 30 of 58
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    charlesn said:
    Some of the commentary here is utterly and hilariously clueless--individuals who see no use for an iPad themselves and thus conclude that it's useless for almost everyone.
    This is one of the most common of the myriad human failings: The inability to recognize that oneself is not everyone and everyone is not you.

    Every single person on the planet is different from every other person. People are not widgets coming off an assembly line. Sure we have basic physiological similarities, but the brain, that big mutated brain is the spoiler here. In my 65 years on this rock I can safely say that far too many humans don't get this concept, or just stupidly refuse to accept the reality of it. Your personal perception of almost anything is not the perception of others. So the iPad seems dumb to you - fine. If you then assert that it therefore must be dumb for all, and thus must not exist - well then, who is the dumb one now?

    FileMakerFellerthtwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 31 of 58
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Despite the naysayers at the time, I understood why iPad had a place in Apple's lineup when the iPad was first introduced.  It had a lot of potential.  But it's been more than 12 years and the iPad has not evolved where it matters most -- the OS and UI.  

    Just as macOS improved over the years -- compare macOS today versus System 3.2 running on a  Mac128 -- so too the operating system on iPad should have improved beyond what we have today.  This is really why I've not bought an iPad since my 3rd gen 2012 model.  I've long thought about it, but what's held me back is the software side, not the hardware.  The hardware is amazing.  But the software holds it back from being practical TO ME.  I couldn't care less if it is practical to other people.  I don't really care if all the rest of you in this forum live and breath iPad.  And that's only fare.  You buy something based on how well it serves YOU, not based on how it serves everybody else or based on the fact there have been 500 million iPads sold.  Yes, all other people can be wrong and you alone can be right when it comes to YOUR buying decisions!

    Look, I am happy with my iPhones and Macs.  For now, I really don't need an iPad in the mix.  But if ever Apple made the iPad OS strikingly different and more powerful than today on the SOFTWARE side, then I will be taking a close look at a possible buy.  And when it comes down to it, that's really what matters.  Sometimes change is good.  Let's root for change, not for a continuation of the status quo.


    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 32 of 58
    For my, my iPad is a great media consumption device, web browsing, email, shopping tool, Google Earth viewer, Wikipedia reader, light game and great at taking notes with the Apple Pencil.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 33 of 58
    I sit down all day, every day. In front of a desk for work, on the couch in the evenings. For the desk, 27" iMac does the job nicely. For the couch, I can use either a laptop or an iPad but most of the time I'm watching the TV while playing games on my phone. I was gifted an iPad Pro a few years ago and have found that my preferred use case is LinkedIn Learning; on the couch or perhaps in bed if I have trouble getting to sleep.

    If I was walking around a lot it would be a different story - the iPad has much greater utility in that situation, and most highly mobile users have a different set of needs than highly immobile users such as myself. Smartphones are for incidental computing needs, desktops and laptops are for deliberate computing needs, tablets are... well, it's still being worked out, but I would argue they are devices that overlap both the other classes - a hybrid that is rarely better for a given situation but flexible enough to do the work of either. That's why you don't need a combination laptop/tablet; you're compromising the ability of the tablet to deal with incidental tasks and compromising the capabilities of the laptop at the same time.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 34 of 58
    The iPad is a great device for people who don’t have an understanding of desktop operating systems
    That is my sense too...

    That and the stylus and touch functionality seem a more intuitive and visceral experience rather than the more technical keyboard, mouse and macOS...

    Has iPad become 'the computer for the rest of us'...? 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 35 of 58
    JLG has totally lost his mind as the iPad rules the tablet market today.  They are relatively inexpensive and very powerful.
    The iPad rules the tablet market today.  (Education, Medical practice, Information Technology, Television and News).

    It's sad to hear this from the Be Inc CEO and maker of  the eVilla.
    Many years ago, JLG's Be Inc worked with Sony to produce the eVilla.
    Sony had to buy back the few units that were sold as it was a total failure.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBuiRpYw6LA


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 36 of 58
    The iPad is the for the “all-a-rounders”… like me. Hobbyist in video, but not a full time video pro. Hobbyist in music production, but not a full time musician. Dabble in art, but not an artist. You get the picture. It’s the best of all worlds in this regard.  If you have some specific task, you’re most likely using that task for your livelihood. And you’d probably be using a laptop anyway.  
    jony0
  • Reply 37 of 58
    jingojingo Posts: 117member
    I value my iPad very greatly, so my response to Gasée is "absolute humbug!" I use an iMac 27 in my home office, and anything less would simply not do the job. I totally don't understand why anyone uses a laptop in an office setting. 

    I have my iPhone for calls and light duty app stuff, but beyond that when I am out of the office I use my iPad, and it is a fantastic tool in meetings and when I need to catch up on email or anything else where a larger screen than my iPhone is required. 

    I can see that for some people a laptop is great when out of the office, but the iPad is more portable and more flexible and suits me just fine.

    Why do people like Gassee feel they need to proclaim in the way that they do? He is diminishing himself in my eyes (he is after all a flawed genius) by not appreciating that not everyone feels like he does, and some value their iPad very highly. Let them, please!
    watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 38 of 58
    Only several million iPad owners know for sure.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 39 of 58
    1.  If Gassee was any good at running Apple, he'd still be running Apple.  
    2.  iPad lineup is IMHO approaching "Performa" vibe... they need to ditch the Air, and keep a model under $300 and feature-match the iPad and Mini.
    3.  Were it not for my network duties and managing a lab, I would not have a laptop.  So yes, an iPad can be your daily driver, and durably so. 
    4.  His truncated sales chart shows a developing market that has turned into a mature market.  Yawn.  
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 40 of 58
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    I don't understand why we put so much weight on these "ex-Apple" people, as if they have more insight, judgement and knowledge than the current people working at Apple? Typically these commentators either have an agenda (clicks, etc) or a bone to pick, or their powers of insight and vision are not as impressive as they think. 

    I trust Apple to make great decisions, and their long term vision, bc they have an amazingly fucking consistent track record of doing so. 
    williamlondondewmewatto_cobra
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