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Steve Jobs wanted to make the Mac an appliance too. It's part of why the 128K was kinda trash and had no internal expansion. It wasn't until he was forced out t

Steve Jobs wanted to make the Mac an appliance too. It's part of why the 128K was kinda trash and had no internal expansion. It wasn't until he was forced out that they released the Mac II and SE and not being so fixated on being an appliance. Modern Apple is too addicted to low-effort high return App Store revenue and too worried about the iPad eating Mac sales to make it an actually good product instead of a nice one for niche workflows.

dangus 2y ago
Dissections of “what is wrong with the iPad” have become so tiring at this point, I kind of wish that Apple would just rename it to “artist tablet and media pad” so that people would stop complaining that it’s not macOS. Sure, you are right: Apple loves iPadOS and macOS for having closed App Store ecosystems that funnel 30% of that entire economy to their coffers. But at the same time the discussion has become tiring because it’s a bunch of people who aren’t iPad customers telling iPad customers what they should want in their device. The vast majority of iPad owners are just using it to derp around with entertainment apps and shove Baby Shark in front of their toddler. The tiny sliver of power users that buy the pro models are in creative fields like art and video where the iPad’s shortcomings on the “computer” side don’t really matter. An iPad with ProCreate is then best artist’s tablet on the market and that’s pretty much the end of that story. At some point we should just let the iPad be what it is.
- goosedragons 2y ago
  It doesn't have to run macOS. Frankly I hate macOS. It just needs to not be crippled. Let people run what they want and give it a usable file manager. Yes, it's great for sketching, entertainment apps and most web browsing. But if you go outside those use cases at all it's a horrible frustrating experience. Seriously, there are tasks that are easier to do on an Amazon Fire. That should not be the case when an iPad is multitudes more powerful and more expensive. It's a nice product for the handful of approved tasks but even for those its really easy to run into problems especially if ANYTHING requires managing more than 2 files or features from multiple apps. The iPad could be a lot more and a lot more peoples one device.
  - dangus 2y ago
    I own it for my kitchen browsing and YouTube. I paid less than $400 because of those limitations. I just want a recipe and content appliance that is small, cheap, and has good battery life. That’s why I think this is tiring…the people who want it to be more than it is should just take their money elsewhere. Samsung will happily sell you an iPad clone that has more power user capability and is a great product.
    - goosedragons 2y ago
      I don't understand how enabling the iPad to do more would affect your use case at all. It's also really tiring to hear "YoU'Re just NoT an iPAD CusTOmer!" when any valid criticism is raised.
      - dangus 2y ago
        I’d love if the iPad did more. At the same time, I’m not going to buy a Honda Civic and complain that it doesn’t rock crawl as well as a Jeep Wrangler.
        goosedragons 2y ago
        Except it's more like you bought a Jeep Sprangler that has the same chassis, drivetrain and engine as the Wrangler plus some convenient and actually useful features the Wrangler doesn't like an automatic top and winch that makes it more useful than the Wrangler in a lot of situations especially when you buy the admittedly expensive tire kit but it has random factory software lock that shuts the car off the second it sense you're off road. Most iPad models are basically keyboardless MBAs with touch screens and pen support. Same CPUs, same RAM, same SSDs. And you can easily add the keyboard and mouse back.
- archagon 2y ago
  I am an iPad customer and I agree 100% with the article. There is no good reason for this exceptionally powerful device to be so functionally crippled.
  - dangus 2y ago
    But also at this point the people who share your opinion need to stop buying the product. It has been this same product for many years and it’s never promised a computer-like experience (save for a certain short-lived and misguided advertisement). That’s why it’s so tiring to hear this kind of stuff. I own an iPad for my kitchen as a recipe and web browsing/YouTube machine. I paid under $400 for it and it is a great appliance for that job. But people who want more functionality shouldn’t buy it. Buy the product that is shipped, not the product that you want it to be in the future.
    - archagon 2y ago
      I love it for what it currently does, but it could be so much more. So I'm just going to lobby for increased regulation until Apple is forced to crack it open.
      - dangus 2y ago
        Why is regulation needed? The iPad only holds a 32% market share which is decreasing.
    - walterbell 2y ago
      > Buy the product that is shipped, not the product that you want it to be in the future. Apple can thank the creative imagination of past iPhone users for present iPhone product. iPad was improved by competition with Microsoft Surface. Qualcomm (ex-Apple Nuvia) Oryon 2-in-1 devices can influence future iPad Pro products.
- walterbell 2y ago
  > Apple loves iPadOS and macOS for having closed App Store ecosystems that funnel 30% Sell Apple Linux for $100 in the Apple App Store. Apple keeps 100% of VM revenue, not just 30%. Problem solved. Or, create a "VM Store" and take 30% of revenue from that, with a minimum price per VM. Is Linux already used by Apple for new hardware bringup?
  - dangus 2y ago
    If I’m getting a tablet for a Linux VM why am I buying an iPad at all? Android tablets can do VMs and tablets even run Windows applications (Winlator)
    - walterbell 2y ago
      > for a Linux VM why am I buying an iPad at all? offline web/iOS clients + Linux backend VM app ecosystem for 2 billion iOS devices 4:3 retina OLED display active secondary market portable, efficient, fast many years of security updates iPad Pro has unique positive attributes unavailable elsewhere.
      - dangus 2y ago
        Android has a larger device installed base than iOS. Android devices certainly have an active secondary market. https://swappa.com/catalog/type/tablet?platform=android https://swappa.com/catalog/type/tablet?platform=android Qualcomm-based Android devices are most certainly portable, efficient, fast. Android provides many years of security updates especially for recently purchased devices. For example, the pixel tablet guarantees security updates until at least 2028. Apple doesn’t actually make any guarantee, they’ve just had a good track record until this point. More modern releases of Android separate security updates from feature updates so that there’s less dependency on vendor support. They also separate play services updates from OS feature updates.
        walterbell 2y ago
        Apple devices retain a lot of value in the secondary market, i.e. lower TCO when it's time to upgrade. Thanks for the pointer to Google Pixel Tablet, didn't notice that was launched in 2023. Looks promising for experimentation because it claims to support Android Virtualization Framework. Sadly, it's missing an external keyboard that connects via magnetic/wired pins like the Apple Magic Keyboard, instead of insecure Bluetooth. Perhaps the Pixel Tablet 2 will improve the keyboard.

dangus 2y ago

Dissections of “what is wrong with the iPad” have become so tiring at this point, I kind of wish that Apple would just rename it to “artist tablet and media pad” so that people would stop complaining that it’s not macOS. Sure, you are right: Apple loves iPadOS and macOS for having closed App Store ecosystems that funnel 30% of that entire economy to their coffers. But at the same time the discussion has become tiring because it’s a bunch of people who aren’t iPad customers telling iPad customers what they should want in their device. The vast majority of iPad owners are just using it to derp around with entertainment apps and shove Baby Shark in front of their toddler. The tiny sliver of power users that buy the pro models are in creative fields like art and video where the iPad’s shortcomings on the “computer” side don’t really matter. An iPad with ProCreate is then best artist’s tablet on the market and that’s pretty much the end of that story. At some point we should just let the iPad be what it is.

goosedragons 2y ago
It doesn't have to run macOS. Frankly I hate macOS. It just needs to not be crippled. Let people run what they want and give it a usable file manager. Yes, it's great for sketching, entertainment apps and most web browsing. But if you go outside those use cases at all it's a horrible frustrating experience. Seriously, there are tasks that are easier to do on an Amazon Fire. That should not be the case when an iPad is multitudes more powerful and more expensive. It's a nice product for the handful of approved tasks but even for those its really easy to run into problems especially if ANYTHING requires managing more than 2 files or features from multiple apps. The iPad could be a lot more and a lot more peoples one device.
- dangus 2y ago
  I own it for my kitchen browsing and YouTube. I paid less than $400 because of those limitations. I just want a recipe and content appliance that is small, cheap, and has good battery life. That’s why I think this is tiring…the people who want it to be more than it is should just take their money elsewhere. Samsung will happily sell you an iPad clone that has more power user capability and is a great product.
  - goosedragons 2y ago
    I don't understand how enabling the iPad to do more would affect your use case at all. It's also really tiring to hear "YoU'Re just NoT an iPAD CusTOmer!" when any valid criticism is raised.
    - dangus 2y ago
      I’d love if the iPad did more. At the same time, I’m not going to buy a Honda Civic and complain that it doesn’t rock crawl as well as a Jeep Wrangler.
      - goosedragons 2y ago
        Except it's more like you bought a Jeep Sprangler that has the same chassis, drivetrain and engine as the Wrangler plus some convenient and actually useful features the Wrangler doesn't like an automatic top and winch that makes it more useful than the Wrangler in a lot of situations especially when you buy the admittedly expensive tire kit but it has random factory software lock that shuts the car off the second it sense you're off road. Most iPad models are basically keyboardless MBAs with touch screens and pen support. Same CPUs, same RAM, same SSDs. And you can easily add the keyboard and mouse back.
archagon 2y ago
I am an iPad customer and I agree 100% with the article. There is no good reason for this exceptionally powerful device to be so functionally crippled.
- dangus 2y ago
  But also at this point the people who share your opinion need to stop buying the product. It has been this same product for many years and it’s never promised a computer-like experience (save for a certain short-lived and misguided advertisement). That’s why it’s so tiring to hear this kind of stuff. I own an iPad for my kitchen as a recipe and web browsing/YouTube machine. I paid under $400 for it and it is a great appliance for that job. But people who want more functionality shouldn’t buy it. Buy the product that is shipped, not the product that you want it to be in the future.
  - archagon 2y ago
    I love it for what it currently does, but it could be so much more. So I'm just going to lobby for increased regulation until Apple is forced to crack it open.
    - dangus 2y ago
      Why is regulation needed? The iPad only holds a 32% market share which is decreasing.
  - walterbell 2y ago
    > Buy the product that is shipped, not the product that you want it to be in the future. Apple can thank the creative imagination of past iPhone users for present iPhone product. iPad was improved by competition with Microsoft Surface. Qualcomm (ex-Apple Nuvia) Oryon 2-in-1 devices can influence future iPad Pro products.
walterbell 2y ago
> Apple loves iPadOS and macOS for having closed App Store ecosystems that funnel 30% Sell Apple Linux for $100 in the Apple App Store. Apple keeps 100% of VM revenue, not just 30%. Problem solved. Or, create a "VM Store" and take 30% of revenue from that, with a minimum price per VM. Is Linux already used by Apple for new hardware bringup?
- dangus 2y ago
  If I’m getting a tablet for a Linux VM why am I buying an iPad at all? Android tablets can do VMs and tablets even run Windows applications (Winlator)
  - walterbell 2y ago
    > for a Linux VM why am I buying an iPad at all? offline web/iOS clients + Linux backend VM app ecosystem for 2 billion iOS devices 4:3 retina OLED display active secondary market portable, efficient, fast many years of security updates iPad Pro has unique positive attributes unavailable elsewhere.
    - dangus 2y ago
      Android has a larger device installed base than iOS. Android devices certainly have an active secondary market. https://swappa.com/catalog/type/tablet?platform=android https://swappa.com/catalog/type/tablet?platform=android Qualcomm-based Android devices are most certainly portable, efficient, fast. Android provides many years of security updates especially for recently purchased devices. For example, the pixel tablet guarantees security updates until at least 2028. Apple doesn’t actually make any guarantee, they’ve just had a good track record until this point. More modern releases of Android separate security updates from feature updates so that there’s less dependency on vendor support. They also separate play services updates from OS feature updates.
      - walterbell 2y ago
        Apple devices retain a lot of value in the secondary market, i.e. lower TCO when it's time to upgrade. Thanks for the pointer to Google Pixel Tablet, didn't notice that was launched in 2023. Looks promising for experimentation because it claims to support Android Virtualization Framework. Sadly, it's missing an external keyboard that connects via magnetic/wired pins like the Apple Magic Keyboard, instead of insecure Bluetooth. Perhaps the Pixel Tablet 2 will improve the keyboard.