5 ms·

To be fair it is a great productivity computer for all fields other than IT.

by Zoon 11y ago

nkw 11y ago
I disagree. I work in a law office. Almost everyone is issued a laptop, desktop, and, if they want, an iPad. iPad is fine for reading documents or e-mail, but awful for actually creating anything. Our office has found the keyboard is terrible, cut and paste is a pain, and people prefer a real filesystem. Nobody in our office does any real work (i.e. writing) with the iPad except reviewing documents while sitting in court or an airplane seat. Everybody I know just treats it like a giant phone.
- derefr 11y ago
  Has anyone in your office tried using an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard? In my experience, it's far less painful. There's a reason Apple Stores carry these[1]: it's just one more (light) bit of padded plastic to drop in your bag, and then you can work on the plane and so on. (If you're at home, I'd recommend using an actual Magic Keyboard if you've got one, but those aren't quite as convenient in portability terms.) [1] http://support.logitech.com/en_ca/product/keys-to-go-ipad http://support.logitech.com/en_ca/product/keys-to-go-ipad
  - nkw 11y ago
    I (and others in the office) have. You are right that a bluetooth keyboard does pretty much solve the typing issue, and using the actual Magic Keyboard over the floppy iPad-specific keyboards gets it significantly closer to the feeling people are accustomed to. Definitely necessary if you are going to be working on a document (or replying to an e-mail with more than a sentence), but for myself there was still a huge productivity barrier by having to go from the keyboard to screen for mouse actions (scrolling, selecting text, hitting a button). The keyboard/trackpad combination allows both typing and mouse actions with minimal movement on the same plane. It sounds a bit lazy or silly, but I found having to pick one's hand up and poke something on the screen was pretty disruptive.
  - cm2187 11y ago
    I'm not sure what the point of having a tablet if it must look and be used like a laptop. The other thing with these keyboards is that when the tablet is held in table mode, you have your fingers on the keys, which is a pain. I tend to agree with the post above. Good for reading, not the right tool for editing.
    - derefr 11y ago
      Because you don't always have to use it like a laptop; most of the time you're not editing, so most of the time you're not using the keyboard. This is the same as, say, people who prefer to use laptops docked to a large screen with an external keyboard and mouse. Most of the time, they can get away without needing all that, which is why they have a laptop instead of a desktop PC plugged into the same peripherals. But sometimes, for an especially heavy-duty task, it's good to be able to temporarily assume the next form-factor up.
      - cm2187 11y ago
        Yes but then you have your fingers on a keyboard when you revert to tablet mode. Unless they leave the keyboard in a suitcase.
        derefr 11y ago
        Right, that's what I meant. You set aside time as "productivity time" where you get the keyboard out of your bag; once you're done, you pack it away. Works well for me (fiction writer), but might not work for people whose workflows involve constant distraction.
- massysett 11y ago
  I'm surprised you issue them desktops; why not a laptop with a docking station?
  - chmars 11y ago
    There's no such thing as a docking stations for MacBooks. (There are USB docks but they cannot really compete with real docks as they are available for PC notebooks. And Apple does not sell an external Retina screen either.)
    - jsjohnst 11y ago
      I disagree. There are a number of options here, but my personal favorite is the Belkin TB2 dock. Plug in two cables (power/TB) and I have three external screens, wired keyboard, multiple USB3 plugs, gigabit Ethernet, and a decent audio line out. If you prefer something exactly like a dock where no cables are involved being plugged in manually, there are several solutions available. Henge Docks, Landing Zone, and BookEndz are some examples.
    - jsjohnst 11y ago
      Also, Apple may not sell them, but it's definitely possible to connect a 4K external display that's HDPI (aka Retina, minus marking speak).
      - jsjohnst 11y ago
        "marketing" speak.
    - mturmon 11y ago
      A Thunderbolt dock is very functional for a laptop. You can hang a large display, keyboard, backup storage, and wired ethernet off the dock and just plug in two cables -- Thunderbolt and power. Various OS niceties make it work well.
- chmars 11y ago
  I'm with you. A major pain is that mails cannot be added to be iOS version of our CRM … on the Mac, we have Mail.app integration.

To be fair it is a great productivity computer for all fields other than IT.

by Zoon 11y ago

To be fair it is a great productivity computer for all fields other than IT.

nkw 11y ago

I disagree. I work in a law office. Almost everyone is issued a laptop, desktop, and, if they want, an iPad. iPad is fine for reading documents or e-mail, but awful for actually creating anything. Our office has found the keyboard is terrible, cut and paste is a pain, and people prefer a real filesystem. Nobody in our office does any real work (i.e. writing) with the iPad except reviewing documents while sitting in court or an airplane seat. Everybody I know just treats it like a giant phone.

derefr 11y ago
Has anyone in your office tried using an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard? In my experience, it's far less painful. There's a reason Apple Stores carry these[1]: it's just one more (light) bit of padded plastic to drop in your bag, and then you can work on the plane and so on. (If you're at home, I'd recommend using an actual Magic Keyboard if you've got one, but those aren't quite as convenient in portability terms.) [1] http://support.logitech.com/en_ca/product/keys-to-go-ipad http://support.logitech.com/en_ca/product/keys-to-go-ipad
- nkw 11y ago
  I (and others in the office) have. You are right that a bluetooth keyboard does pretty much solve the typing issue, and using the actual Magic Keyboard over the floppy iPad-specific keyboards gets it significantly closer to the feeling people are accustomed to. Definitely necessary if you are going to be working on a document (or replying to an e-mail with more than a sentence), but for myself there was still a huge productivity barrier by having to go from the keyboard to screen for mouse actions (scrolling, selecting text, hitting a button). The keyboard/trackpad combination allows both typing and mouse actions with minimal movement on the same plane. It sounds a bit lazy or silly, but I found having to pick one's hand up and poke something on the screen was pretty disruptive.
- cm2187 11y ago
  I'm not sure what the point of having a tablet if it must look and be used like a laptop. The other thing with these keyboards is that when the tablet is held in table mode, you have your fingers on the keys, which is a pain. I tend to agree with the post above. Good for reading, not the right tool for editing.
  - derefr 11y ago
    Because you don't always have to use it like a laptop; most of the time you're not editing, so most of the time you're not using the keyboard. This is the same as, say, people who prefer to use laptops docked to a large screen with an external keyboard and mouse. Most of the time, they can get away without needing all that, which is why they have a laptop instead of a desktop PC plugged into the same peripherals. But sometimes, for an especially heavy-duty task, it's good to be able to temporarily assume the next form-factor up.
    - cm2187 11y ago
      Yes but then you have your fingers on a keyboard when you revert to tablet mode. Unless they leave the keyboard in a suitcase.
      - derefr 11y ago
        Right, that's what I meant. You set aside time as "productivity time" where you get the keyboard out of your bag; once you're done, you pack it away. Works well for me (fiction writer), but might not work for people whose workflows involve constant distraction.
massysett 11y ago
I'm surprised you issue them desktops; why not a laptop with a docking station?
- chmars 11y ago
  There's no such thing as a docking stations for MacBooks. (There are USB docks but they cannot really compete with real docks as they are available for PC notebooks. And Apple does not sell an external Retina screen either.)
  - jsjohnst 11y ago
    I disagree. There are a number of options here, but my personal favorite is the Belkin TB2 dock. Plug in two cables (power/TB) and I have three external screens, wired keyboard, multiple USB3 plugs, gigabit Ethernet, and a decent audio line out. If you prefer something exactly like a dock where no cables are involved being plugged in manually, there are several solutions available. Henge Docks, Landing Zone, and BookEndz are some examples.
  - jsjohnst 11y ago
    Also, Apple may not sell them, but it's definitely possible to connect a 4K external display that's HDPI (aka Retina, minus marking speak).
    - jsjohnst 11y ago
      "marketing" speak.
  - mturmon 11y ago
    A Thunderbolt dock is very functional for a laptop. You can hang a large display, keyboard, backup storage, and wired ethernet off the dock and just plug in two cables -- Thunderbolt and power. Various OS niceties make it work well.
chmars 11y ago
I'm with you. A major pain is that mails cannot be added to be iOS version of our CRM … on the Mac, we have Mail.app integration.