4 ms·

Decent writer looks for a niche that's not occupied and says 'hey this will do'. Then tries to convince us it is all well. It is not -- the emperor is naked. I

Decent writer looks for a niche that's not occupied and says 'hey this will do'. Then tries to convince us it is all well. It is not -- the emperor is naked. I like how Federico does his job but I really don't like 'lets pretend iPad can replace proper computer' approach. Matt Gemmell took the same path recently and it won't end well too.

msh 10y ago
Why not? It will not work for everyone but I think it will for a lot of people.
- swiley 10y ago
  As much as I dislike the iPad there are some people that it is truly better. We tried giving my 90 year old great grandmother a windows 98 machine a looong time ago so she could send email with us but she really couldn't figure it out. We got her an iPad the other year and while she has ended up with it stuck in airplane mode (and a number of other similar problems) a number of times, she now functions with it. (we think this is important because she lives by herself now and still refuses to move down with us.)
stinos 10y ago
I don't know, I kinda like he took a powerful tablet then added enough hardware to make it more computer-like. Never owned an iPad but this looks somewhat appealing (though overpriced) if I'd have the same use for it as the OP. I don't so I'll likely never buy such thing and rather stick with actual computers but still it looks for it works out well and probably 'will do' just fine.
ebbv 10y ago
This is my biggest problem. This article is a really long tutorial on how to make an iPad sorta kinda do the things my Mac already does out of the box. Why? There's never a convincing argument why I would want to do this.
- dasil003 10y ago
  The argument is more app innovation is happening on mobile apps than PCs these days, and the simpler paradigm allows for more concise workflows and you can do a good deal more of your stuff just carrying around a iPad or even from your phone than you can when living in a MacOS world. HN is probably the wrong audience because windows and filesystems are uniquely well suited abstractions for developers who have umpteen workflows and use cases of significant complexity. However observing how huge an improvement an iPad is for my joe-sixpack relatives, I think it's worth exploring the idea of how far can iOS can be taken by power users. I certainly think it could feasibly meet the needs of specific creative professionals like writers, designers or video editors.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >Why? There's never a convincing argument why I would want to do this. Lighter. Longer lasting battery. Dead easy app management. No "blue screens". Apps designed for direct manipulation. No configuration and maintenance hassle or sys-adminy stuff. Works great on a desk, on your lap, on a sofa, on the bed. But best of all: if you're a writer/journalist/etc, and mostly do writing, web, email, reading, IM, etc, it does all you need, and nothing you don't.
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coldtea 10y ago
Any particular sign that he's being deceptive, besides "that wont work for my workload"? >but I really don't like 'lets pretend iPad can replace proper computer' approach. Isn't that irrelevant personal preference? I like that approach, and it could have totally replaced "proper computer" for me (which it does) on trips and elsewhere away from work, if I wasn't also a programmer.
- binaryapparatus 10y ago
  Key word is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance There is at least 80% chance that author decieves himself too. See file management and hardware sections and it should be obvious. In hardware section he buys razer keyboard case just to be able to use iPad more comfortably. See pictures there, if we don't know it is iPad it really looks like a proper laptop. Jumping trough hoops to make something work does not constitute 'iPad Pro is, by far, the best computer I've ever owned'.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    >See file management and hardware sections and it should be obvious. In hardware section he buys razer keyboard case just to be able to use iPad more comfortably. So? The idea behind using the iPad as your main computer is not "touch interaction for everything" but "I like the computing model" (self-contained apps that don't interact through a filesystem, no administration, etc). Obviously you can (and should) still use a keyboard for writing longer texts, a stylus for drawing, etc.

msh 10y ago

Why not? It will not work for everyone but I think it will for a lot of people.

swiley 10y ago
As much as I dislike the iPad there are some people that it is truly better. We tried giving my 90 year old great grandmother a windows 98 machine a looong time ago so she could send email with us but she really couldn't figure it out. We got her an iPad the other year and while she has ended up with it stuck in airplane mode (and a number of other similar problems) a number of times, she now functions with it. (we think this is important because she lives by herself now and still refuses to move down with us.)

stinos 10y ago

I don't know, I kinda like he took a powerful tablet then added enough hardware to make it more computer-like. Never owned an iPad but this looks somewhat appealing (though overpriced) if I'd have the same use for it as the OP. I don't so I'll likely never buy such thing and rather stick with actual computers but still it looks for it works out well and probably 'will do' just fine.

ebbv 10y ago

This is my biggest problem. This article is a really long tutorial on how to make an iPad sorta kinda do the things my Mac already does out of the box. Why? There's never a convincing argument why I would want to do this.

dasil003 10y ago
The argument is more app innovation is happening on mobile apps than PCs these days, and the simpler paradigm allows for more concise workflows and you can do a good deal more of your stuff just carrying around a iPad or even from your phone than you can when living in a MacOS world. HN is probably the wrong audience because windows and filesystems are uniquely well suited abstractions for developers who have umpteen workflows and use cases of significant complexity. However observing how huge an improvement an iPad is for my joe-sixpack relatives, I think it's worth exploring the idea of how far can iOS can be taken by power users. I certainly think it could feasibly meet the needs of specific creative professionals like writers, designers or video editors.
coldtea 10y ago
>Why? There's never a convincing argument why I would want to do this. Lighter. Longer lasting battery. Dead easy app management. No "blue screens". Apps designed for direct manipulation. No configuration and maintenance hassle or sys-adminy stuff. Works great on a desk, on your lap, on a sofa, on the bed. But best of all: if you're a writer/journalist/etc, and mostly do writing, web, email, reading, IM, etc, it does all you need, and nothing you don't.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

deleted 10y ago

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coldtea 10y ago

Any particular sign that he's being deceptive, besides "that wont work for my workload"? >but I really don't like 'lets pretend iPad can replace proper computer' approach. Isn't that irrelevant personal preference? I like that approach, and it could have totally replaced "proper computer" for me (which it does) on trips and elsewhere away from work, if I wasn't also a programmer.

binaryapparatus 10y ago
Key word is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance There is at least 80% chance that author decieves himself too. See file management and hardware sections and it should be obvious. In hardware section he buys razer keyboard case just to be able to use iPad more comfortably. See pictures there, if we don't know it is iPad it really looks like a proper laptop. Jumping trough hoops to make something work does not constitute 'iPad Pro is, by far, the best computer I've ever owned'.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >See file management and hardware sections and it should be obvious. In hardware section he buys razer keyboard case just to be able to use iPad more comfortably. So? The idea behind using the iPad as your main computer is not "touch interaction for everything" but "I like the computing model" (self-contained apps that don't interact through a filesystem, no administration, etc). Obviously you can (and should) still use a keyboard for writing longer texts, a stylus for drawing, etc.