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This was all over the place. The article itself seemingly bares no relation to the headline. Replacing your laptop with a tablet and then complaining that the t

This was all over the place. The article itself seemingly bares no relation to the headline. Replacing your laptop with a tablet and then complaining that the tablet cannot do the same things as the laptop was a slightly interesting take in 2010. The iPad has now been around for 15 years. A tech journalist being surprised it doesn't have a terminal with root access at this point is baffling.

TiredOfLife 2y ago
The register and ars technica have essentially the same relation to truth as the onion.
walterbell 2y ago
Google Pixel tablet now has a Debian Linux terminal VM that is isolated from the host Android OS. Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. They could restore that functionality in 2025 to compete with Pixel tablet, which has weaker hardware.
- Robotbeat 2y ago
  Wait, they HAD VM capability but removed it?? That’s somehow so much worse…
- rafram 2y ago
  > Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. It definitely did not.
  - easton 2y ago
    It did, kinda, they shipped Hypervisor.framework in some builds of iPadOS 15 and 16: https://x.com/utmapp/status/1708907045314035986 https://x.com/utmapp/status/1708907045314035986 But you needed a private entitlement for it to work that no app (save UTM after a jailbreak) had, so the pet theory at the time was internal Apple engineers were running around with Linux on their iPads.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
Robotbeat 2y ago
It’s not “being surprised,” it’s being frustrated with the user hostile decisions of a multi-trillion dollar profit maximizing machine.
- horsawlarway 2y ago
  I don't understand the resistance to understanding this point littered all over this thread. Yes - an iPad is a different form factor than a desktop. That doesn't excuse crippling a powerful general purpose device by taking control away from the owner. --- Here is an alternate example: My Jeep is in the shop, I need to pick my kids up from their friends house, but the last mile is a dirt road. My minivan isn't ideal for that, but it'll almost certainly work. Except... the manufacturer has locked it down via GPS so that the second I leave roads paved to their satisfaction, the accelerator stops working. --- That's the fucking hostility of Apple. It's not that the device can't. It's that they won't allow it. And folks... buckle the fuck up because this road is JUST getting started. We are going to witness a complete and total war on general purpose tools. No one is going to let you use their tool unless they're extracting rent from you. One time purchases, ownership, novel use? Fuck that noise. Pay them your rent. The company store is thirsty.
andai 2y ago
15 years later, still can't open it, still don't own it.
rapind 2y ago
I remember about a decade ago setting up an iPad Air as my main driver for work (coding mostly). I got it to work by SSHing into a VPS to use Vim w/ a bluetooth keyboard. After about of month of stubbornly working like this, I finally admitted it was just a shittier MacBook Air, and that I preferred the keyboard, touchpad, and form factor of the laptop much better. I also don't care to have a touchscreen laptop. There was even an 11" MBA which is just as portable as a tablet (more so if you're carting around a bluetooth keyboard). I think I was just trying to find a use for a tablet, and there simply wasn't any for me. I haven't bought a tablet since... although it's hard to get a phone that isn't as big as a tablet these days.

TiredOfLife 2y ago

The register and ars technica have essentially the same relation to truth as the onion.

walterbell 2y ago

Google Pixel tablet now has a Debian Linux terminal VM that is isolated from the host Android OS. Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. They could restore that functionality in 2025 to compete with Pixel tablet, which has weaker hardware.

Robotbeat 2y ago
Wait, they HAD VM capability but removed it?? That’s somehow so much worse…
rafram 2y ago
> Apple iPad had VM capability three years ago, but removed it. It definitely did not.
- easton 2y ago
  It did, kinda, they shipped Hypervisor.framework in some builds of iPadOS 15 and 16: https://x.com/utmapp/status/1708907045314035986 https://x.com/utmapp/status/1708907045314035986 But you needed a private entitlement for it to work that no app (save UTM after a jailbreak) had, so the pet theory at the time was internal Apple engineers were running around with Linux on their iPads.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

Robotbeat 2y ago

It’s not “being surprised,” it’s being frustrated with the user hostile decisions of a multi-trillion dollar profit maximizing machine.

horsawlarway 2y ago
I don't understand the resistance to understanding this point littered all over this thread. Yes - an iPad is a different form factor than a desktop. That doesn't excuse crippling a powerful general purpose device by taking control away from the owner. --- Here is an alternate example: My Jeep is in the shop, I need to pick my kids up from their friends house, but the last mile is a dirt road. My minivan isn't ideal for that, but it'll almost certainly work. Except... the manufacturer has locked it down via GPS so that the second I leave roads paved to their satisfaction, the accelerator stops working. --- That's the fucking hostility of Apple. It's not that the device can't. It's that they won't allow it. And folks... buckle the fuck up because this road is JUST getting started. We are going to witness a complete and total war on general purpose tools. No one is going to let you use their tool unless they're extracting rent from you. One time purchases, ownership, novel use? Fuck that noise. Pay them your rent. The company store is thirsty.

andai 2y ago

15 years later, still can't open it, still don't own it.

rapind 2y ago

I remember about a decade ago setting up an iPad Air as my main driver for work (coding mostly). I got it to work by SSHing into a VPS to use Vim w/ a bluetooth keyboard. After about of month of stubbornly working like this, I finally admitted it was just a shittier MacBook Air, and that I preferred the keyboard, touchpad, and form factor of the laptop much better. I also don't care to have a touchscreen laptop. There was even an 11" MBA which is just as portable as a tablet (more so if you're carting around a bluetooth keyboard). I think I was just trying to find a use for a tablet, and there simply wasn't any for me. I haven't bought a tablet since... although it's hard to get a phone that isn't as big as a tablet these days.