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I completely agree with author's view of the issue. Text editing on iOS and android have always been an afterthought. I mean, how much time did it take for the

I completely agree with author's view of the issue. Text editing on iOS and android have always been an afterthought. I mean, how much time did it take for the iPhone to get Copy/Paste ? The weirder part to me was that the iPad didn't bring much improvement on that front. Even with a bigger screen and "desktop class" application, text editing only barely works with a keyboard/touchpad attached. The only improvement has been on moving the text cursor, yet it's still a real pain to select random text in the middle of a page. On the solution though .... I think we should really do something simpler than introduce new paradigms and further dig the "that's how we do it on mobile" well. Just give people damn arrow keys and a crontrol key: let them put a cursor on the middle of the text they want, move the cursor with ultimate precision exactly where they want it, and shift select the text they need. Android does the arrow part right, Windows' on screen keyboard does both right. It's incredible how liberating it is to just select text with the arrow keys, hit ctrl+C, crl+V it elsewhere and be done. That's really not that much to ask, Apple not doing anything in this front feels like sheer laziness at this point.

ghaff 3y ago
I have an iPad that’s about to go out of support and is starting to get some small cracks in a screen corner. Seriously wondering if I should replace it or just take an older, albeit heavier, MacBook for extended travel. I don’t find myself using it at home much and media consumption on planes isn’t that important to me any longer.
- makeitdouble 3y ago
  I tried an older macbook for a while, and it was kinda frustrating on two fronts: - reading is subpar Having the ipad in portrait helped a lot for reading A4 size documents, where I'd be much more scrolling on the macbook. The the form factor plays a lot when you're checking documents at an airport counter, reviewing your hotel reservation in a taxi, or looking at a map with others. - I had to baby it a lot more iPads and tablets in general can fit in cases and be lugged around without damage. The screen is also tough enough, where a macbook will be out of order if anything goes between the keyboard and the screen when you close it. That's fine at home, but that means it doesn't get out in any situation where it could be risky. In contrast I bring my tablet in the bathtub in a waterproof sleeve. None of those are absolute deal breakers, I mean we used laptops anywhere we could for decades before tablet areived. But I definitely couldn't go back (disclaimer, I ended up with a Surface Pro. It's nice but as Panos is out of Microsoft now, I have no idea of the future of the lineup...)
  - ghaff 3y ago
    That’s all fair. For now I have an out of support mini Chromebook I can throw in my luggage in addition to a tablet. Bad I know. Maybe I should get a new one—it’s cheap—and nurse my old tablet. I just try to avoid hauling too many electronics.
Springtime 3y ago
> I mean, how much time did it take for the iPhone to get Copy/Paste? It's kind of sad to reflect that the Apple Newton had this almost a decade prior[1] to the first iPhone and in an intuitive manner, by selecting text by highlighting it with the stylus then dragging it to the edge of the screen where it would remain in a truncated pill form for later retrieval (dragging out the pill to a document). No menus involved at all. [1] @ 30 seconds in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sue2BR1AHUE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sue2BR1AHUE

ghaff 3y ago

I have an iPad that’s about to go out of support and is starting to get some small cracks in a screen corner. Seriously wondering if I should replace it or just take an older, albeit heavier, MacBook for extended travel. I don’t find myself using it at home much and media consumption on planes isn’t that important to me any longer.

makeitdouble 3y ago
I tried an older macbook for a while, and it was kinda frustrating on two fronts: - reading is subpar Having the ipad in portrait helped a lot for reading A4 size documents, where I'd be much more scrolling on the macbook. The the form factor plays a lot when you're checking documents at an airport counter, reviewing your hotel reservation in a taxi, or looking at a map with others. - I had to baby it a lot more iPads and tablets in general can fit in cases and be lugged around without damage. The screen is also tough enough, where a macbook will be out of order if anything goes between the keyboard and the screen when you close it. That's fine at home, but that means it doesn't get out in any situation where it could be risky. In contrast I bring my tablet in the bathtub in a waterproof sleeve. None of those are absolute deal breakers, I mean we used laptops anywhere we could for decades before tablet areived. But I definitely couldn't go back (disclaimer, I ended up with a Surface Pro. It's nice but as Panos is out of Microsoft now, I have no idea of the future of the lineup...)
- ghaff 3y ago
  That’s all fair. For now I have an out of support mini Chromebook I can throw in my luggage in addition to a tablet. Bad I know. Maybe I should get a new one—it’s cheap—and nurse my old tablet. I just try to avoid hauling too many electronics.

Springtime 3y ago

> I mean, how much time did it take for the iPhone to get Copy/Paste? It's kind of sad to reflect that the Apple Newton had this almost a decade prior[1] to the first iPhone and in an intuitive manner, by selecting text by highlighting it with the stylus then dragging it to the edge of the screen where it would remain in a truncated pill form for later retrieval (dragging out the pill to a document). No menus involved at all. [1] @ 30 seconds in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sue2BR1AHUE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sue2BR1AHUE