4 ms·

What do they do with just a phone...? Are students just using ipads these days? I guess I'm getting (am?) old. Without a general purpose computing device in th

What do they do with just a phone...? Are students just using ipads these days? I guess I'm getting (am?) old. Without a general purpose computing device in the home, my life would have been radically different.

nerdjon 3y ago
It ultimately depends on what the student is doing I think. If you are just writing papers, doing research, taking notes. Just use an iPad. Maybe get a keyboard to attache to it. Obviously if you are going for programming thats an exception but thats not everyone. Most people that I know do the vast majority of their computing tasks on their phones. I think it's very telling that apps like Threads launched first as an app and the website came later. Gaming is basically the exception for most people that I know. You might be able to argue that some of these tasks are better on a PC, but is it worth it if you already have a tablet or you just want fewer devices. And again to be clear, I am talking about a personal computing device vs a work supplied computer.
- input_sh 3y ago
  > I think it's very telling that apps like Threads launched first as an app and the website came later. This isn't new, Instagram itself did the same over a decade ago. It was phone-only until shortly after Facebook bought it. But I agree with your other point, PCs (mostly laptops if you want to make that distinction) are for business use, while phones and iPads (because other tablets suck) are general purpose devices. And to take it from there: browsers are increasingly irrelevant, and videos won over text. But I don't think laptops are going anywhere for business use, as merging them with tablets never really took off.
  - nerdjon 3y ago
    > But I don't think laptops are going anywhere for business use, as merging them with tablets never really took off. I definitely agree with that for the vast majority of use cases, I do think there are a few outliers where the portability of tablets likely outweighs any benefits that could be gained from a laptop. Particularly if you are in a setting that you don't often sit and work at a desk. But those are the exception. But that does mean that the usage of Windows (and Mac) is further and further switching from general computing and more constricted use. We are seeing that change in some situations. Like with doctors or just yesterday I went to a therapist who uses an iPad instead of a laptop (however both of those I think bring up a question if did they ever use a laptop or did they just skip over that step since it really wasn't that long ago that both would have been paper based). Given that I work in tech its kinda hard for me to really comment on what is happening in other more traditional office settings
  - hot_gril 3y ago
    Instagram was one step further, iPhone-only.
sylens 3y ago
You have to realize that we are now far enough away from the debut of the iPad (2010) that it is possible that high school students and college freshman do not remember a computing world without it. Many of these students grew up using a tablet first and foremost, so it is the device they are most accustomed to.

nerdjon 3y ago

It ultimately depends on what the student is doing I think. If you are just writing papers, doing research, taking notes. Just use an iPad. Maybe get a keyboard to attache to it. Obviously if you are going for programming thats an exception but thats not everyone. Most people that I know do the vast majority of their computing tasks on their phones. I think it's very telling that apps like Threads launched first as an app and the website came later. Gaming is basically the exception for most people that I know. You might be able to argue that some of these tasks are better on a PC, but is it worth it if you already have a tablet or you just want fewer devices. And again to be clear, I am talking about a personal computing device vs a work supplied computer.

input_sh 3y ago
> I think it's very telling that apps like Threads launched first as an app and the website came later. This isn't new, Instagram itself did the same over a decade ago. It was phone-only until shortly after Facebook bought it. But I agree with your other point, PCs (mostly laptops if you want to make that distinction) are for business use, while phones and iPads (because other tablets suck) are general purpose devices. And to take it from there: browsers are increasingly irrelevant, and videos won over text. But I don't think laptops are going anywhere for business use, as merging them with tablets never really took off.
- nerdjon 3y ago
  > But I don't think laptops are going anywhere for business use, as merging them with tablets never really took off. I definitely agree with that for the vast majority of use cases, I do think there are a few outliers where the portability of tablets likely outweighs any benefits that could be gained from a laptop. Particularly if you are in a setting that you don't often sit and work at a desk. But those are the exception. But that does mean that the usage of Windows (and Mac) is further and further switching from general computing and more constricted use. We are seeing that change in some situations. Like with doctors or just yesterday I went to a therapist who uses an iPad instead of a laptop (however both of those I think bring up a question if did they ever use a laptop or did they just skip over that step since it really wasn't that long ago that both would have been paper based). Given that I work in tech its kinda hard for me to really comment on what is happening in other more traditional office settings
- hot_gril 3y ago
  Instagram was one step further, iPhone-only.

sylens 3y ago

You have to realize that we are now far enough away from the debut of the iPad (2010) that it is possible that high school students and college freshman do not remember a computing world without it. Many of these students grew up using a tablet first and foremost, so it is the device they are most accustomed to.