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Hmmm. Most people I know who own iPads have had them end up as rather expensive children's toys.
by constantlm 10y ago
Hmmm. Most people I know who own iPads have had them end up as rather expensive children's toys.
- g051051 10y agoMine's not a children's toy, but it's almost useless now. Once they stop updating iOS for a device, it's pretty much game over. Many apps have stopped working due to the developers making mistakes and publishing incompatible updates. Just about the only app I can still use is NetFlix.
- rimliu 10y agoBut it takes about five years to stop releasing iOS updates for particular device.
- simonh 10y agoIt's almost always because the device doesn't have enough RAM to support the new OS update.
- brians 10y agoThat's part of what I'm disappointed about today: no RAM bump for the 9.7 Pro, and not clear whether the plain iPad is at 1 GB or 2.
- jessaustin 10y agoThen that's good news for those who own the current model, isn't it? It will take longer for their tablet to obsolesce via OS update.
- g051051 10y agoThe 1st generation iPad was released April 2010. The last version of iOS for that hardware was iOS 5.1.1, released May 2012. That's just barely 2 years later, not 5.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago>> developers making mistakes and publishing incompatible updates If Apple thinks your device is old enough to end support (and Apple's pretty good at pushing updates for old devices for quite a while) why would devs keep trying to support you (when the app probably only cost $1-2 and 5 years have passed).
- sbov 10y agoWhy are the only two options devs supporting them or their app breaking? I have software that is close to 20 years old that is both unsupported and still works.
- k-mcgrady 10y agoIf you don't update the app and don't update the OS there's no reason it shouldn't continue working. You update the OS and you run the risk of deprecated API's getting called.
- g051051 10y agoConsidering that the app store allows device and os specific versions to coexist, there's no reason that requires a dev to break an old game. When it happens, it's typically because the dev made an error and added a feature but incorrectly claimed it was compatible with older ios or device versions.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago>> the app store allows device and os specific versions to coexist It does? How does this work (I'm an iOS dev but been out of it for a little while so genuinely curious)?
- g051051 10y agoI don't know the implementation specifics. But I can go out to the app store on my old iPad and download older versions of my apps. The problem is when the older version was updated incorrectly and is incompatible with my device/iOS version.
- CoolGuySteve 10y agoI taped my now updateless and painfully slow iPad 3 to my kitchen wall facing the counter. It's got a web browser for recipes, can play YouTube, and can play music via Bluetooth to my stereo. It's pretty great for that use. I regret not having thought of it before.
- _jal 10y agoI still have the first-gen iPad. The batteries barely hold a charge, but it works otherwise. Even though it is comparatively heavy, I still really like the build quality.
- scarface74 10y agoI have a first generation iPad. I rediscovered it about four months ago after I moved. I reset it and could download and use older versions of Netflix, Hulu, Plex, and a few other video streaming devices. I even used a version of Google Drive to read PDFs. The battery lasts about 5-6 hours for video playback. Apple lets you redoenload older compatible versions.
- ghaff 10y agoMy dad still uses my iPad 1 that I gave him. Best present (for me) ever :-) My dad and computers never got along. To my way of thinking, it's pretty pokey but he uses it all the time still.
- EugeneOZ 10y agoMy daughter loves her iPad Pro (12.9) and I hasn't regret single minute about money spent - awesome thing for a kid.
- simonh 10y agoI use mine every day. It's turned my 2 hour train commute each day into wonderfully valuable time. I've written many thousands of words on it and thousands of lines of code. When I was job hunting last year I did several coding exercises on it in Pythonista. It's one of the most productive computers I've ever owned. Although Sid Meier's Starships is sucking away a bit of my time lately.
- icantdrive55 10y agoWhat apps do you use to program? I'm too lasy to look it up. Sad--I know. I wouldn't mind front-end programing on my iPad 2, but found it tedious years ago. I remember thinking this will not work--for real work.
- Terretta 10y agoWorking Copy + Textastic
- defined 10y agoGreat apps. I use them all the time.
- simonh 10y agoPythonista. It has a syntax-highlighting code editor, integrated visual UI builder, a slew of third party Python modules baked in and a thriving community. There is also now a Python 3 compatible version. You can even use the share sheet from another app to send files to Pythonista and select a script to process the file.
- anjc 10y agoUsing an iPad (with external keyboard) to even type a simple document is an exercise in masochism. Fair play if you enjoyed it, but something like a Surface makes far more sense for these types of uses.
- leggomylibro 10y ago
- kalleboo 10y agoI use mine as a rather expensive video player
- coldtea 10y agoDepends on the line of work and the hobbies of most people one knows. Given my line of work and hobbies, the iPads are very appreciated tools. For the average soccer mom or Joe Sixpack, not so much. At best they'd surf the web and social media on them.
- paulcole 10y ago>At best they'd surf the web and social media on them. This is a major part of many people's lives. I'm sure even the proletariat you sneer at appreciate their iPads.
- throwanem 10y agoIndeed. They're better Facebook machines than a netbook or a phone, and are heavily used as such.
- coldtea 10y ago>I'm sure even the proletariat you sneer at appreciate their iPads. Who said otherwise? I wrote that for some people's use cases they are capable to be used and appreciated as tools -- which is what the parent contested. They can be totally fine and appreciated web browsing machines for the average person, but that's a different thing that being tools (with the "productive"/"pro" element inherent in the term).
- Thriptic 10y ago> For the average soccer mom or Joe Sixpack, not so much. At best they'd surf the web and social media on them. In my eyes this is where the device actually shines. Simple content consumption.
- throwanem 10y agoOr, in my case, a YouTube player comfortable enough to use in bed. I had such plans - a laptop replacement, a smart drawing and writing tablet, a conveniently portable development tool...none of which came to fruition, because the technology wasn't yet there. I'm a little tempted, now, by the iPad Pro and the Pencil. It sure would be more comfortable and convenient to retouch photos that way than with a mouse or a trackpad in Photoshop. But I can hardly justify dropping most of a grand just for that, and the other use cases I no longer have - especially with a 13" rMBP in my satchel, there's really not enough point. That Pencil sure is nice, though.
- criddell 10y agoThe pencil is what will probably push me into buying my first iPad. I've only played with it in the store, but Apple has done something pretty amazing with respect to palm rejection. I haven't really looked yet, but if there's an art class app that guides you through drawing exercises, I think I would take the leap.
- doodyhead 10y agoNot an app but I found this awesome: http://drawabox.com/ http://drawabox.com/
- criddell 10y agoThat looks exactly like what I want. I never really researched it before because the last thing in the world that I need is another thing to dedicate time to. I swear if I could afford to be retired today, I could keep myself busy for the rest of my life with stuff like this. My Dad retired a couple of years ago and I think he's bored much of the time. It drives me crazy.
- throwanem 10y agoCall it a historical irony: those in the generation which can afford to retire have generally built their lives so closely around their work that, without it, they can find nothing to do; meanwhile, those of us who have plenty of ideas for how we'd spend such a vast amount of economically secure free time will mostly never be able to afford it.
- jps359 10y agoIf I had a dollar for every time I've seen a kid at a restaurant playing on their IPad while the family eats...
- artursapek 10y agoIt's a depressing trend isn't it?
- natch 10y agoSo terrible... what would you do, not allow children to have fun?
- liotier 10y agoI teach that the meal is the moment when fun can be had through social interaction. I entirely ban communication and entertainment device at the meal table. But then I'm French, so I don't know what the custom generally is in the USA - from my experience there I understand that the daily family meals are not considered such a sacred ritual but I only have anecdotal samples.
- natch 10y agoThanks for the perspective; nicely put.
- mozumder 10y agoIf you can't raise kids that can tolerate boredom, you're doing something wrong.
- macintux 10y agoI much prefer it when the kids are running around the restaurant engaging other customers.
- lotsofpulp 10y agoI would say almost my entire family bought numerous iPad Minis just for the Facetime ability. We have non English speaking 90 year olds who loved how easy it is to Facetime great grandkids and it really is worth it (used to be only $300). It really did make it super easy to keep in touch over 4 different continents around the world.
- mikeash 10y agoUnless the people you know are somehow representative of the userbase as a whole, this doesn't really mean anything.
- kilon 10y agoMy iPad mini I use for watching videos and video tutorials and reading PDF documents and of course surfing the web . I play games on it but it's definetly not a toy for me. I don't like working on laptops and mobile devices , I am more than happy working on an iMac with a gorgeous 27 monitor , a real keyboard , mouse and Wacom.
- natch 10y agoNot expensive considering the better quality of the educational and fun apps and content available on the platform. I'm a firm believer in the value of gaming and learning... it's a priority. That aside, as an adult I'm still using my iPad every day.
- Someone1234 10y agoiPads are absolutely fantastic for children, not even kidding... Between Guided Access and Restrictions, I can hand an iPad to my two year old and not have to worry. Plus then throw on high quality children's apps (most of which are educational) and YouTube Kids, and you have a wonderful platform for children. Parents could do much worse than to hand their kids an iPad. Certainly can be more engaging than throwing them in front of a TV for the same period (not that either TV or an iPad is a substitute for one on one play time, but sometimes adults need a break too).
- snuxoll 10y agoAnd with a $329 price-point it's pretty easy to justify, especially if a $30 case can do a decent job at protecting it from drops. There's a ton of quality educational games on mobile platforms, my daughter loves playing stuff with the PBS Kids characters on her Fire HD but I get really tired dealing with all the arbitrary restrictions that get added by FreeTime (absolutely NO in-app purchases, even if an adult would authorize them - she has a few games with ads that I simply cannot remove because of this). I've been wanting to get an iPad for her instead for a while, but if I'm spending more than the $140 it cost for the Fire I'd like to get a "full-sized" tablet anyway - so the new iPad hits a sweet spot for me personally.
- isolli 10y agoAny children's app recommendations?
- pjc50 10y agoLots of sibling comments are defending their iPad use cases, but how many of them could be replaced by cheaper tablets? I'm quite happy with my Linx 7" Windows 8 tablet that cost £50. Real Windows, runs Steam, plays Flash and so on; micro-HDMI out, headphone jack and single USB port just like the really expensive Macs. It's made of plastic and has near-zero durability, so probably only a toy for careful children.
- noir_lord 10y agoI bought an ipad Mini 2 for testing (insert sweary rant about mobile safari here) and expected to not get on with it. It's become a small but important part of my digital life, My ISP rolled out city wide WiFi so I can use it comfortably at the coffee stall in the market, it's great for research, reading, PDF's, screen is large enough to be useable and the battery life is great. It's the only Apple product I've ever owned.
- jbigelow76 10y agoMy iPad Pro (9.7) has been mostly a media consumption device, as was all other tablets I've owned, but now that my company has moved so much to a SaaS infrastructure (Office 365 and VSTS) the need to not VPN in to work network has made actual productivity with it possible. I think the tide will slowly turn.