8 ms·

As someone who worked on the iPad v1, I can tell you, it was a product built in search of a problem. It was going to compete against the, then, growing Netbook

As someone who worked on the iPad v1, I can tell you, it was a product built in search of a problem. It was going to compete against the, then, growing Netbook market. Steve Jobs thought Windows was going to win that market and hastily threw a team together to answer for it. However, during several all-hands, no one except SJ seemed even remotely excited about the product. "These things will probably sell in the educational market or something." "Developers will always surprise us, they will come up with use cases for us." During development Amazon was proving that people wanted E-Book readers. So when it was clear the iPad didn't yet have a coherent story from Apple, iBooks was thrown together at the eleventh hour and then SJ went on the attack against Amazon to push back against the growing Kindle market. And then Windows 8 happened! People asked Apple (And Tim Cook), will we see touch-screen Macs? And instead Apple trapped itself in a corner by doubling down that the iPad was going to forgo running full macOS because something about people not wanting to touch their laptop screen. So here we are, a product that launched without a vision, and then hamstrung by ego. It's true that people who love their iPads, LOOOVE their iPads. So it's a nice product. It's definitely well made and I love reading the news on mine. It's a great device to travel with, for sure, yet I agree with Gruber, this thing will never flourish outside of the niche markets its found itself in.

Fr0styMatt88 7y ago
I still remember people saying that the iPad was just going to be a big iPhone and what is the point? I NEVER understood this. I was one of those people that was immediately excited about the iPad. Being able to lay back in bed and casually browse the web, read magazines, watch movies, play games? On something with a decently large screen, decent battery life and something that wasn't bulky? PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY!!!! It really surprises me to hear that there wasn't much excitement inside Apple for it. I now have the first generation of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and it's just about always in my bag with me. I do think it's a shame you can't really develop apps ON the device. I'm glad the OS is getting more capable with the direction they're taking, so who knows? We might get Xcode one day :)
- beatgammit 7y ago
  Eh, I'm still not particularly excited about iPads or tablets in general. Tablets are awkward, to the point that I prefer: - my phone for casual reading and watching (6" max) - my Kindle for longer reading sessions - my laptop for mobile productivity and gaming - my desktop for serious work/gaming We mostly use our tablets to distract our kids, especially for long road trips. My wife has started using a tablet for drawing in lieu of a desktop drawing tablet, but that's about as close to "real" use of a tablet that we have. It works out really well for some people, but I just don't see it.
  - sjy 7y ago
    If you own multiple tablets in addition to a Kindle, a laptop and a desktop computer, I’d say you are significantly more excited about tablets than the average tablet user.
- nwallin 7y ago
  I use an old shitty netbook for this. I prefer that to my Nexus ... 7? tablet for three primary reasons. The screen naturally holds itself at whatever angle I set it. If I'm just casually watching a video in bed, I can put my hands back under the covers where it's warm. It has a keyboard. So the other half of the time, when I'm interacting with the machine in a meaningful way, input is way easier. There's an entire other world of stuff to do with a full fledged OS. Programming, Steam games, the works, it's all there. I haven't bought another tablet. It's not really better at anything than my phone.
  - Polylactic_acid 7y ago
    I had the 2012 nexus 7 when I was in school and I loved it. Used it all the time for just about everything including insane use cases like programming. Then I got my first phone in about 2014 and didn't really have much of a use for the n7. Its just like a phone only slightly bigger but less portable and no 4g. Since then I haven't been interested in a new tablet and it looks like the entire Android tablet scene died.
enneff 7y ago
I was excited when the iPad was first released, bought one, and to my surprise I found I didn't have any regular use for it, and sold it. I still think they're very cool devices—in particular the latest iPad Pros are gorgeous—I just wish I had some use for them that wasn't already covered by my computer, phone, or TV.
- unixfg 7y ago
  I've seriously considered making my iPad my only mobile device. The lines are blurred by having a large phone, though. The 11" is so great for reading, my poor kindle only gets attention when I see the big dead battery image on it :(
schuke 7y ago
My mother had been vowing to learn to use a computer for more than a decade before the iPad. Of course she was never able to turn one on. But when she had an iPad she just kept using it.
- tonymontainya 7y ago
  This is something I've noticed. People in my life who don't "work" with computers—as in their primary use for a computer is to consume media—love their iPads.
prpl 7y ago
Kids love iPads/tablets - more than just for education. They love fortnite on them, they love youtube on them. A 3 year old can use an iPad. Sure - they can use phones too, but tablets will be the first computer for kids for a long time, until they start to reach for phablets when they are teenagers (or, as a society, we reject screen time below a certain age)
- VvR-Ox 7y ago
  As someone who grew up with real computers it really hurts and saddens me to read this. Kids also love sugar but it damages their brains and bodies.
TheKarateKid 7y ago
> “Developers will always surprise us, they will come up with use cases for us." Well, they did. iPads are now replacing POS registers and kiosks. Although a part of me dies when I see iPad Pros being used for this, because it’s so powerful and capable yet being used as a big touch monitor.
- kllrnohj 7y ago
  I'm sure taking on Windows CE was exactly what was meant by that quote :p
- Descon 7y ago
  We have an iPad pro at work & a piece of me dies thinking that such a powerful device will never run anything but iOS.
  - freepor 7y ago
    You realize that one of the reasons the device feels so powerful is that it runs iOS. A 5x specified Mac Pro doesn’t have the feel of the iPad.
    - nannal 7y ago
      Lets not get caught up unduly, any light OS would perform as well on the hardware, there's no magic between iOS and the ipad hardware.
      - signal11 7y ago
        The level of polish and integration between hardware and software with Apple is almost “magical” imho. Or at least very praiseworthy. Compared to typical Windows laptop trackpads or most Android phones’ janky scrolling, Apple does a much better job getting better performance out of their hardware.
      - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
        > there's no magic between iOS and the ipad hardware. I love hacker news for these gems. Lmao.
hsitz 7y ago
From Gruber you get that "this thing will never flourish outside of the niche markets its found itself in"? That's far from what he was trying to say. From his concluding paragraph: "[G]reat though it is in so many ways, overall [the iPad] has fallen so far short of the grand potential it showed on day one. To reach that potential, Apple needs to recognize they have made profound conceptual mistakes in the iPad user interface, mistakes that need to be scrapped and replaced. . . " How you get "never flourish outside of niche markets" from that, I have no idea.
freepor 7y ago
Amazing how much better vision Jobs had than anyone. From your comment looks like the entire senior team at Apple were nonbelievers.
terpua 7y ago
this so called niche product produced $6B in one quarter or about $24B a year, which constitute a fortune 500 (global) company! so give me a nice, niche product company any day! https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/ https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/
VvR-Ox 7y ago
I just recently bought a used iPad that still got the iPadOS update and what I noticed is very ambivalent. PRO: - The device is light, has a nice screen and good sound. I can use it to read documents that need color, watch videos and browse the web all in one device with acceptable performance - The battery has enough capacity for the pad to work for days without recharging - You can use pencil 1 as an input device (I would not have bought one without support for pencil) CON: - While apps like browsers (Safari, Firefox) look like the desktop versions they are just poor copies without the full potential. Without Add-On's my browsing experience is very limited in comparison to the experience on my computer - No Adobe Suite like many people wanted it while you can run Apps like the real PS on a surface - No native terminal, seriously? I live in a terminal and e.g. consume news via newsbeuter - Support for USB thumbdrives and mouse have just been added recently while competitors allowed much easier access much earlier. This "walled garden" feeling diminishes the experience a lot for me. I hoped for the iPad to be more like "a real PC/Mac" and this is one of the major reasons I never bought an early model or a new one. My dream iPad would be more like macOS because as someone coming from Linux it feels already "walled" enough for my taste. I have another major concern but that is based on the evidence about consumption, climate change etc. and of course Apple itself can probably not do much about it (can they?): What happens to the device when it is obsolete (e.g. no major OS updates and security patches)? It would be really awesome if they would open up to after market solutions to reduce waste and keep their products running so one can install linux on it. I know this is a wild dream in a world that is driven by maximizing profit. Let dreamers be dreamers ;)
- neuronic 7y ago
  > as someone coming from Linux it feels already "walled" enough for my taste Not criticizing at all, genuinely curious: what do you want to accomplish on an iPad that is prevented by the walled garden?
  - Cu3PO42 7y ago
    Not OP, but I also have some quarrels there. For example, I can—to my knowledge—not use my preferred keyboard layout [0] on an external keyboard. NEO does not come built-in and I haven't found any way to add new layouts except by replacing built-in ones on a jailbroken device. This more or less kills the device for me that requires any significant amount of writing, including tasks it would otherwise be perfectly suitable for, such as replying to a bunch of emails, brainstorming some ideas, or writing reports. I also wish it were a more capable development machine without resorting to hacks such as ssh-ing into a server or accessing VSCode through the browser. I previously had a Surface 3 and for some light work on the go it was good enough, but I cannot be bothered to replicate my setup using a mixture of apps that might work now, but break when some requirement changes. All that said, I'd buy another iPad if this one broke. It's by far the best digital writing experience I've ever had and even if I only use it for note taking, it's still money well-spent to me. But it could be so much more. [0] https://neo-layout.org/ https://neo-layout.org/
mbrameld 7y ago
They're pretty ubiquitous in aviation! I started flying helicopters a couple years ago and almost every pilot I know has one loaded with ForeFlight that they use both for mission planning and then strap to their knee for the flight. The flight school I went to even includes a new Mini in their PPL course. They give a pilot a ton of functionality that would cost tens of thousands of dollars to replicate with certified avionics.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ellis0n 7y ago
Thanks you for iPad v1. iPad hardware has made possible Animation CPU software. I'm developer and I love iPad as development tool. iThink future for iPad is comming soon... https://twitter.com/acpustudio https://twitter.com/acpustudio
raldu 7y ago
The best use case that I have found for an iPad for is that of a “personal computer,” that is, a computer that is entirely personal without any business. Use the “Pro” laptop only for professional work and coding, and use the iPad only for anything else that falls into that “personal” categories of newsletters, mail, shopping, gaming, entertainment. As a traveling remoter, that radical separation of two contexts has brought a great peace of mind. You can surely sit back comfortably with your iPad for personal stuff, while work asks for you sitting seriously on a desk with your laptop: no blurry lines. So in my opinion, that “curious” category that falls in-between “mobile” and “laptop” is nothing more than “personal computing” itself! Isn’t it what that “revolution” has been all about, anyway?

Fr0styMatt88 7y ago

I still remember people saying that the iPad was just going to be a big iPhone and what is the point? I NEVER understood this. I was one of those people that was immediately excited about the iPad. Being able to lay back in bed and casually browse the web, read magazines, watch movies, play games? On something with a decently large screen, decent battery life and something that wasn't bulky? PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY!!!! It really surprises me to hear that there wasn't much excitement inside Apple for it. I now have the first generation of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and it's just about always in my bag with me. I do think it's a shame you can't really develop apps ON the device. I'm glad the OS is getting more capable with the direction they're taking, so who knows? We might get Xcode one day :)

beatgammit 7y ago
Eh, I'm still not particularly excited about iPads or tablets in general. Tablets are awkward, to the point that I prefer: - my phone for casual reading and watching (6" max) - my Kindle for longer reading sessions - my laptop for mobile productivity and gaming - my desktop for serious work/gaming We mostly use our tablets to distract our kids, especially for long road trips. My wife has started using a tablet for drawing in lieu of a desktop drawing tablet, but that's about as close to "real" use of a tablet that we have. It works out really well for some people, but I just don't see it.
- sjy 7y ago
  If you own multiple tablets in addition to a Kindle, a laptop and a desktop computer, I’d say you are significantly more excited about tablets than the average tablet user.
nwallin 7y ago
I use an old shitty netbook for this. I prefer that to my Nexus ... 7? tablet for three primary reasons. The screen naturally holds itself at whatever angle I set it. If I'm just casually watching a video in bed, I can put my hands back under the covers where it's warm. It has a keyboard. So the other half of the time, when I'm interacting with the machine in a meaningful way, input is way easier. There's an entire other world of stuff to do with a full fledged OS. Programming, Steam games, the works, it's all there. I haven't bought another tablet. It's not really better at anything than my phone.
- Polylactic_acid 7y ago
  I had the 2012 nexus 7 when I was in school and I loved it. Used it all the time for just about everything including insane use cases like programming. Then I got my first phone in about 2014 and didn't really have much of a use for the n7. Its just like a phone only slightly bigger but less portable and no 4g. Since then I haven't been interested in a new tablet and it looks like the entire Android tablet scene died.

enneff 7y ago

I was excited when the iPad was first released, bought one, and to my surprise I found I didn't have any regular use for it, and sold it. I still think they're very cool devices—in particular the latest iPad Pros are gorgeous—I just wish I had some use for them that wasn't already covered by my computer, phone, or TV.

unixfg 7y ago
I've seriously considered making my iPad my only mobile device. The lines are blurred by having a large phone, though. The 11" is so great for reading, my poor kindle only gets attention when I see the big dead battery image on it :(

schuke 7y ago

My mother had been vowing to learn to use a computer for more than a decade before the iPad. Of course she was never able to turn one on. But when she had an iPad she just kept using it.

tonymontainya 7y ago
This is something I've noticed. People in my life who don't "work" with computers—as in their primary use for a computer is to consume media—love their iPads.

prpl 7y ago

Kids love iPads/tablets - more than just for education. They love fortnite on them, they love youtube on them. A 3 year old can use an iPad. Sure - they can use phones too, but tablets will be the first computer for kids for a long time, until they start to reach for phablets when they are teenagers (or, as a society, we reject screen time below a certain age)

VvR-Ox 7y ago
As someone who grew up with real computers it really hurts and saddens me to read this. Kids also love sugar but it damages their brains and bodies.

TheKarateKid 7y ago

> “Developers will always surprise us, they will come up with use cases for us." Well, they did. iPads are now replacing POS registers and kiosks. Although a part of me dies when I see iPad Pros being used for this, because it’s so powerful and capable yet being used as a big touch monitor.

kllrnohj 7y ago
I'm sure taking on Windows CE was exactly what was meant by that quote :p
Descon 7y ago
We have an iPad pro at work & a piece of me dies thinking that such a powerful device will never run anything but iOS.
- freepor 7y ago
  You realize that one of the reasons the device feels so powerful is that it runs iOS. A 5x specified Mac Pro doesn’t have the feel of the iPad.
  - nannal 7y ago
    Lets not get caught up unduly, any light OS would perform as well on the hardware, there's no magic between iOS and the ipad hardware.
    - signal11 7y ago
      The level of polish and integration between hardware and software with Apple is almost “magical” imho. Or at least very praiseworthy. Compared to typical Windows laptop trackpads or most Android phones’ janky scrolling, Apple does a much better job getting better performance out of their hardware.
    - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
      > there's no magic between iOS and the ipad hardware. I love hacker news for these gems. Lmao.

hsitz 7y ago

From Gruber you get that "this thing will never flourish outside of the niche markets its found itself in"? That's far from what he was trying to say. From his concluding paragraph: "[G]reat though it is in so many ways, overall [the iPad] has fallen so far short of the grand potential it showed on day one. To reach that potential, Apple needs to recognize they have made profound conceptual mistakes in the iPad user interface, mistakes that need to be scrapped and replaced. . . " How you get "never flourish outside of niche markets" from that, I have no idea.

freepor 7y ago

Amazing how much better vision Jobs had than anyone. From your comment looks like the entire senior team at Apple were nonbelievers.

terpua 7y ago

this so called niche product produced $6B in one quarter or about $24B a year, which constitute a fortune 500 (global) company! so give me a nice, niche product company any day! https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/ https://fortune.com/global500/2019/search/

VvR-Ox 7y ago

I just recently bought a used iPad that still got the iPadOS update and what I noticed is very ambivalent. PRO: - The device is light, has a nice screen and good sound. I can use it to read documents that need color, watch videos and browse the web all in one device with acceptable performance - The battery has enough capacity for the pad to work for days without recharging - You can use pencil 1 as an input device (I would not have bought one without support for pencil) CON: - While apps like browsers (Safari, Firefox) look like the desktop versions they are just poor copies without the full potential. Without Add-On's my browsing experience is very limited in comparison to the experience on my computer - No Adobe Suite like many people wanted it while you can run Apps like the real PS on a surface - No native terminal, seriously? I live in a terminal and e.g. consume news via newsbeuter - Support for USB thumbdrives and mouse have just been added recently while competitors allowed much easier access much earlier. This "walled garden" feeling diminishes the experience a lot for me. I hoped for the iPad to be more like "a real PC/Mac" and this is one of the major reasons I never bought an early model or a new one. My dream iPad would be more like macOS because as someone coming from Linux it feels already "walled" enough for my taste. I have another major concern but that is based on the evidence about consumption, climate change etc. and of course Apple itself can probably not do much about it (can they?): What happens to the device when it is obsolete (e.g. no major OS updates and security patches)? It would be really awesome if they would open up to after market solutions to reduce waste and keep their products running so one can install linux on it. I know this is a wild dream in a world that is driven by maximizing profit. Let dreamers be dreamers ;)

neuronic 7y ago
> as someone coming from Linux it feels already "walled" enough for my taste Not criticizing at all, genuinely curious: what do you want to accomplish on an iPad that is prevented by the walled garden?
- Cu3PO42 7y ago
  Not OP, but I also have some quarrels there. For example, I can—to my knowledge—not use my preferred keyboard layout [0] on an external keyboard. NEO does not come built-in and I haven't found any way to add new layouts except by replacing built-in ones on a jailbroken device. This more or less kills the device for me that requires any significant amount of writing, including tasks it would otherwise be perfectly suitable for, such as replying to a bunch of emails, brainstorming some ideas, or writing reports. I also wish it were a more capable development machine without resorting to hacks such as ssh-ing into a server or accessing VSCode through the browser. I previously had a Surface 3 and for some light work on the go it was good enough, but I cannot be bothered to replicate my setup using a mixture of apps that might work now, but break when some requirement changes. All that said, I'd buy another iPad if this one broke. It's by far the best digital writing experience I've ever had and even if I only use it for note taking, it's still money well-spent to me. But it could be so much more. [0] https://neo-layout.org/ https://neo-layout.org/

mbrameld 7y ago

They're pretty ubiquitous in aviation! I started flying helicopters a couple years ago and almost every pilot I know has one loaded with ForeFlight that they use both for mission planning and then strap to their knee for the flight. The flight school I went to even includes a new Mini in their PPL course. They give a pilot a ton of functionality that would cost tens of thousands of dollars to replicate with certified avionics.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

ellis0n 7y ago

Thanks you for iPad v1. iPad hardware has made possible Animation CPU software. I'm developer and I love iPad as development tool. iThink future for iPad is comming soon... https://twitter.com/acpustudio https://twitter.com/acpustudio

raldu 7y ago

The best use case that I have found for an iPad for is that of a “personal computer,” that is, a computer that is entirely personal without any business. Use the “Pro” laptop only for professional work and coding, and use the iPad only for anything else that falls into that “personal” categories of newsletters, mail, shopping, gaming, entertainment. As a traveling remoter, that radical separation of two contexts has brought a great peace of mind. You can surely sit back comfortably with your iPad for personal stuff, while work asks for you sitting seriously on a desk with your laptop: no blurry lines. So in my opinion, that “curious” category that falls in-between “mobile” and “laptop” is nothing more than “personal computing” itself! Isn’t it what that “revolution” has been all about, anyway?