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> An iPad pro with Apples keyboard, is more useable for most common day users than most windows based laptops. Do you think a young novice user with such an iP

> An iPad pro with Apples keyboard, is more useable for most common day users than most windows based laptops. Do you think a young novice user with such an iPad, rather than a windows or mac laptop, would be as likely to develop a more advanced computer skillset? iOS seems easier for common users because it's more regimented, but I wonder if that same trait might leave less room for creative exploration of the machine itself. I can't say I have a lot of experience using iPads, so I'm curious what others think.

irrational 7y ago
We have a desktop computer, a few laptops, and a few iPads. I've never seen any of my kids (elementary school age up to college age) try to creatively explore the machine itself. I'm a programmer and I've even tried to interest them in programming. Nope. All they are interested in is Facebook, Instagram, and other web pages. If it doesn't take place in a browser windows, they have no interest. But, they aren't even interested in web development! A computer is just a tool. They have no more interest in looking under the hood than they do tearing apart the engine of a car to see how it works. As long as the car gets them from A to Z, that is all that matters. If it breaks, well, that is someone else's job to fix.
AlanYx 7y ago
I think that's the biggest lost opportunity of the iPad. I read through Alan Kay's Early History of Smalltalk [1] essay recently, and the level of applications young teenagers were developing with the rudimentary hardware is truly astonishing. The iPad is not facilitating that type of thing for the most part, but it also arguably goes in the opposite direction, encouraging a highly siloed, app-centric view of computing where users have even less direct agency over data. [1]: http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/ http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/

irrational 7y ago

We have a desktop computer, a few laptops, and a few iPads. I've never seen any of my kids (elementary school age up to college age) try to creatively explore the machine itself. I'm a programmer and I've even tried to interest them in programming. Nope. All they are interested in is Facebook, Instagram, and other web pages. If it doesn't take place in a browser windows, they have no interest. But, they aren't even interested in web development! A computer is just a tool. They have no more interest in looking under the hood than they do tearing apart the engine of a car to see how it works. As long as the car gets them from A to Z, that is all that matters. If it breaks, well, that is someone else's job to fix.

AlanYx 7y ago

I think that's the biggest lost opportunity of the iPad. I read through Alan Kay's Early History of Smalltalk [1] essay recently, and the level of applications young teenagers were developing with the rudimentary hardware is truly astonishing. The iPad is not facilitating that type of thing for the most part, but it also arguably goes in the opposite direction, encouraging a highly siloed, app-centric view of computing where users have even less direct agency over data. [1]: http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/ http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/