Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

http://blog.inkmobility.com/post/58068032644/experiment-to-work-primarily-on-an-ipad-for-a-week

by ananddass • 13 years ago

52 59 13 years ago

blog.inkmobility.com

marban• 13 years ago

After trying really hard to use an ipad as a work tool for the most mundane tasks since the very first generation, I'm back for good on an 11" MBA and not looking back. Now that the battery life is 7h+ there's no real reason to carry the awkward tablet & keyboard combo and the ipad collects dust as a hi-end ebook reader.

pseudonym• 13 years ago

Agreed. I tried the iPad + external keyboard combo for awhile, but after getting an 11" MBA and using my smartphone for things that I can do completely handsfree (like Skype calls), my iPad has fallen by the wayside for the most part and only comes out for reading comics and PDFs.

fotcorn• 13 years ago

Is someone using a Surface Pro full time? It seems like a good compromise between tablet and notebook, because its only 50% heavier than an iPad and solves the inter-app data exchange and the App Quality problems.

ananddass3• 13 years ago

That would be a good analysis to do as a next step. The new Microsoft ads make it a point of highlighting that differentiation.

samps• 13 years ago

I've tried this recently after receiving a Surface Pro as a gift. I find myself gravitating back toward an iPad and a MacBook -- the Surface, despite doing many things right, feels trapped in a worst-of-both-worlds situation.

- It doesn't make a great laptop; the awkward kickstand-and-lightweight-keyboard setup feels unbalanced and doesn't really work on your lap, for example. The keyboard, by virtue of being a cover, is not awesome and the attached trackpad is pretty terrible. The screen is small enough that coding feels cramped.

- It doesn't make a great tablet; the aspect ratio is too tall for reading and the extra weight really does make a difference when holding it for even a few minutes.

I really like drawing with the pressure-sensitive stylus, though.

purplelobster• 13 years ago

I do. I dock it at home with a bigger screen/keyboard/mouse, so there it's just like another laptop/desktop. When I'm on the move, I bring my wireless mouse and the type cover. It works well enough for me. The screen is pretty small (obviously), but very high res, so I have as much screen real-estate, but with smaller fonts. My eye-sight is good so I have no problems with that. The keyboard is OK, but if I need to do a lot of work I much prefer a bigger one.

A huge plus for me that differentiates it from both laptops and iPads is the Wacom stylus, which has replaced all my (paper)notebooks at home and work.

To anyone considering to buy one I recommend going to a Microsoft store or Best Buy to try it out. Seems like a love it or hate it kinda product.

freehunter• 13 years ago

I was at a conference with someone who had a work-issued Surface Pro. We talked for a little bit about how he liked working on it, and he said he only used it for traveling. At his desk he still has his Thinkpad with dual monitors.

lukeqsee• 13 years ago

I also attempted this for a while. I could accomplish work (I worked primarily through SSH), but it was always a little forced. Since then I've decided to make the iPad primarily used for its design, i.e., entertainment and my MBP used for its design, i.e., work.

I've found it really helpful to separate the two domains. The separation allows my mind to know which mode to be in and thus allows me to focus when working and relax when relaxing.

taude• 13 years ago

I wish I had a job where I could pull this off. I'm not even sure sales guys could with some relying on fancy projecting spreadsheets....

alternize• 13 years ago

that's my first thought as well: "what's this guy's/girl's daily job?!". and i wasn't any wiser when i read the job title ("Customer Success Manager") on the infographic.

ctdonath5• 13 years ago

Well, considering it isn't designed as a primary content creation device, not a surprising result (which so many of us have tried despite knowing this).

Next experiment: To consume content primarily on a non-tablet non-phone for a week. (It will fail a comparable way.)

No matter how much you squeeze an apple, no matter how tasty the results, you won't get orange juice.

phaus4• 13 years ago

The convergence of the PC and the tablet is inevitable. The awkward solutions that have been presented thus far are simply prototypes. We will eventually get it right, and when we do, the resulting experience will seem like it should have been the obvious choice from the start.

We already see the value in responsive web design, which is also in it's infancy. Eventually, we will have responsive operating systems, applications, and maybe even hardware.

sillysaurus• 13 years ago

What's the value in responsive web design to the end user?

ctdonath5• 13 years ago

The convergence of the PC and tablets is inevitable.

Far from it. I've been watching major companies try to converge them for 20 years, all to abject failure (tiny niches aside). The iPad succeeded precisely because it avoided "convergence".

jjindev2• 13 years ago

Apple illustrates a segmentation rather than a convergence. Tablet, notebook, and workstation are breaking into distinct bands of performance. In their world a tablet is for a guy who wants a couple cores (with long battery life), notebooks are for people want a few cores (with moderate battery life) and workstations are for people want lots of cores (the electric bill be damned).

In the PC market there is more overlap, with pretty solid $700 minitowers, but again the minitowers imply you will pay for the electricity and performance with a cost in size and portability.

Long term ... sure maybe a 12 core tablet is possible, but that is really long term IMO.

jiggy2011• 13 years ago

Is there really any need to converge?

Rather than One True Device, it may make more sense to have different devices for different jobs. For example games consoles and e-book readers are devices that sell very well despite limited use cases.

I can see advantages to perhaps having many cross platform libraries to allow developers to reuse application logic across devices.

eCa• 13 years ago

Next experiment: To consume content primarily on a non-tablet non-phone for a week. (It will fail a comparable way.)

Why? I broke my Iphone at the end of last year (dropped on floor, no visible damage, severely damaged touch sensor). I didn't repair it until March/April, and used an older regular cellphone. I did quite alright, and found that for me most of my Iphone usage is unnecessary. The old phone handled talking and texting just as it did pre-Iphone.

I did repair before a short holiday. I wanted to use it as a point-and-shoot, a gps tracker and a means to get information from the internet since I went without a computer. Therein is, for me, the greatest use of an Iphone. When I'm home I have no trouble moving from the couch to the computer (yeah, not even a laptop).

ctdonath5• 13 years ago

Uh...that's kinda missing the point of the discussion. Or proving my point exactly, depending on how you squint at it.

TFA lamented a tablet's shortcomings when used as a "computer": direct file manipulation, rapid voluminous text input, instant viewing of bulky data, vast local storage, raw CPU power, etc. My counter-challenge/observation as intended was that using a non-tablet (a "phone" in context being little different from a tiny tablet) would not perform particularly well at doing what a "mobile device" excels at: right-here right-now anytime anywhere calling, texting, emailing, photography, GPS, location-critical web-surfing, etc.

You proved my point by not even coming close to suggesting doing "real work" with a phone (no matter its IQ), other than to transition to a complementary (and decidedly stationary) computer when mobility-related capabilities are not needed.

The take-away from all this is there isn't a convergence point.

_delirium• 13 years ago

Next experiment: To consume content primarily on a non-tablet non-phone for a week. (It will fail a comparable way.)

Isn't that what most people do? Browsing share of smartphones/tablets is still not very large compared to laptops and desktops. And about 30-40% of the internet-using population in the U.S., at least, doesn't even own a smartphone or tablet.

ctdonath5• 13 years ago

They don't regularly consume content using a desktop/laptop while stuck in traffic, riding an elevator, eating lunch, etc. They don't much use a desktop/laptop to take impromptu pictures, make phone calls, do inventory, etc.

BTW: capturing 30-40% of the internet-using population in just 3.5 years is an amazing achievement.

kunle2• 13 years ago

I tried this as well 2 weeks ago. The OP has a much more comprehensive breakdown of why it didnt work than I do (and a much more involved workload than i was intending).

Personally and in my conversation with folks, I find that as a productivity device, iPad users fall into 2 buckets.

Bucket 1: Creators: developers, designers, writers and such - folks who need to create documents and other work product. Broadly speaking, in terms of available apps, and interconnectivity with apps (eg leaving Photoshop to go research something in a browser and coming back, copy paste workflows etc) the iPad is simply not there yet. For stand alone workflows, it goes some of the way there (Eg if all you're doing is writing, you can probably get away with it), but if your role involves using several tools, the tools simply arent there yet.

Bucket 2: Decision makers. I know a few successful CEOs who only work on an iPad. For them, most of their workflow is digesting data and decision making - they arent writing code or making slide decks. They just process emails, do product review and look at data and conclusions. For them, the iPad is perfect because all those workflows are easily completed on an iPad.

I think the iPad will get there eventually - the type of creation that is done will shift somewhat, and the tools will get better, but for now, even the most dedicated folks have a hard time using an iPad exclusively.

dfxm12• 13 years ago

I think the iPad will get there eventually

I don't think we'll get to a point where professional or enterprise level creation happens on an iPad, outside of typing text or filling out forms (if that even counts). Apple's direction with the iPad is purely as a device for buying and/or consuming data, and will maintain as much control as they can.

mesozoic• 13 years ago

Perhaps not the iPad exactly but I think tablet computers will eventually replace other types of computers (laptops, desktops) for most people.

dreamfactory• 13 years ago

Most enterprise level creation is done with word, excel, and powerpoint. iOS already has a pretty capable office suite.

kunle2• 13 years ago

I don't think we'll get to a point where professional or enterprise level creation happens on an iPad

I agree with a caveat; professional/enterprise level creation looks the way it does today partly because of the tools we've had available (Word, Excel, etc). Where I disagree is that I think professional/enterprise level creation will look different in a way that benefits the iPad (this is really hard to quantify which is why its so vague) but, put another way; creation tools for the iPad will be developed, and their outputs will be some alternative (to word docs, powerpoints etc).

AJ007• 13 years ago

There are iOS mods (jailbroken) which currently enable keyboard commands and mouse use for the iPad right now. Multitasking is a big weakness that other tablet OS's are addressing or moving in the direction to address.

Let's hypothesize a 25" tablet, suspended from a monitor arm, with support for keyboard commands, mouse, and multitasking. That is effectively a desktop. The downside is processing power, which I am assuming will continue on an exponential upward trend in addition to seeing CPU intensive processing offloaded to remote servers (compiling, rendering 3D images, converting video, stuff that already is often done remotely today.) The part of this vision I find hardest to believe is a 25" tablet, so I assume it will have to wait for an advance in display tech leading to lightweight/fold-able/roll-able/etc.

Sure, Apple is going in one direction today, but if iOS falls too far behind the feature/usability curve their tablet dominance will fall.

VLM• 13 years ago

By playing enough games with the job title and the "daily tasks" list, any conclusion could be engineered. I think it interesting this was the desired conclusion, leading to ... what? I'm curious if there's an interesting new startup, or app, or whatever, oriented around this particular report.

MetaCosm2• 13 years ago

http://yieldthought.com/post/31857050698/ipad-linode-1-year-... <- guy who tried it for a year.

bluedino• 13 years ago

Seems very forced. I've used vim on an iPad for a bit just to try it, and it was very inconvenient compared to a small laptop.

MetaCosm2• 13 years ago

Well -- the new Macbook Air IMHO took a lot of wind out of the sails of such an idea. If I got an Air that I can leave the power cable at home because it will legitimately go all day... why would I even consider such a goofball setup?

wffurr3• 13 years ago

What's wrong with vim on an iPad? Unless you mean you tried it with the screen keyboard. That's just madness. vim works fantastically well with the Apple wireless keyboard and Prompt (Panic ssh app).

youngtaff2• 13 years ago

I'm working on a book, and wanted to do some editing and writing when I went on holiday a couple of weeks ago so I took my iPad and a bluetooth keyboard with me.

Whole experience convinced me that if I was do do it again I'd get something like a Chromebook or Netbook.

There's no real way to drive the iPad using only a keyboard and you have to reach for the screen too many times e.g. flicking between document being edited and a reference PDF or presentation.

Pages on the iPad has some really weird quirks that I've not got to the bottom of e.g. copy some text from a table cell, paste it into the document elsewhere and it's still a table cell with no way to remove the formatting - eventually copied it all out an stuck with markdown (but need to port it back at some point).

wffurr3• 13 years ago

Android has a few nice keyboard shortcuts baked in, including a basic alt-tab app switching menu.

Shame Apple can't see clear to adding some basic features like that for keyboard users, who while admittedly are a minority would really love to have some functionality like that.

youngtaff2• 13 years ago

I've never tried the bluetooth keyboard with my Nexus 4 or the wife's Nexus 7 so will have to give it a go.

I could just about cope with the differences between Android 2.x and iOS but since I've moved to Android 4.x I find iOS so frustrating to use so next tablet will probably be the new Nexus 7

CompelTechnic• 13 years ago

If tablets are ever going to come into their own as productivity tools, we need some input device innovation. As it stands now, touchscreens and styli don't afford as much utility to the user as the mouse/ keyboard combo for the sort of precision most productive work requires.

The big limitation is the number of unique single-step interactions that can be performed by the user. With mouse + keyboard, you have ~100 keys, >=2 mouse buttons, and enough screen real estate to afford at least several hundred unique clickable areas. On a touchscreen, our fat fingers limit the number of unique tappable/swipable areas to, depending on screen real estate, maybe 50. There just isn't as much information that can be expressed in one interaction, and breaking the task into multiple interactions causes cogitive overhead and discomfort for the user.

I wish we all had really small hands so we fit an appropriately scaled keyboard in the footprint of a smartphone, or something. But that ain't gonna happen. So, I guess... Innovate or die! But here I have a fear that modern keyboards have so much lock-in that when better input devices arise, people will be afraid of switching to them.

fragmede• 13 years ago

Half the problem stems from the apps used, and while it is about the apps, I feel that's an unfair test of the iPad itself, and more test of Google Docs and WebEx on the iPad.

ananddass3• 13 years ago

It is true that app quality has a lot to do with the experiment. I was surprised by how many of the problems could be solved if the apps upped their game. Hardware limitations were secondary only to the software experience.

larrik• 13 years ago

I've been using an iPhone (3 different generations) every day for 5 years, and I still type at maybe 30% of the speed I did on my Treo before them...

So, I tend to just not type.

VeryVito• 13 years ago

I don't understand the point of "experiments" such as these. The developers and promoters of the iPad have never suggested nor pretended that the iPad is a viable replacement for a laptop -- any more than it's a viable replacement for a smart phone. It's indeed a "third device" -- just as it was designed to be.

If you have a laptop and smartphone, chances are you don't "need" an iPad -- but once you figure out exactly what you CAN use it best for, it quickly becomes your "go to" device for certain tasks. I have all three within easy reach, but when I need ebooks, Facebook, Reddit or other leisurely entertainment, the iPad experience is far superior to that available on either of the other two devices. Meanwhile, my wife, who couldn't care less about Reddit or ebooks, finds it's the best platform for recipes, Pinterest, etc.

ananddass3• 13 years ago

You may want to check out what Jobs had to say about this. See quote from 7:12PDT : http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006442-56.html

The goal was to understand, if we are there yet with respect to the readiness of iPad software. Bucketing iPads as a consumption and leisure device is short selling its potential.

jjindev2• 13 years ago

The way I've interpreted Ubiquitous Computing is that you walk into a room, and there is a computer. You pick it up and use it as casually as you would a magazine or a pad of paper.

You've done a valid experiment, but I think it illustrates why "if I only had one" is a wrong interpretation of Ubiquity. You don't just have one. If you are like most tech people you have a few, and maybe a lot, of functioning and current hardware. You probably have desktops and notebooks you can use.

And so in that environment a tablet should be good for the things you want to do when you just grab a tablet, in a room or an environment which isn't intended for serious work. And part of grabbing a tablet should be good integration with the other elements of your ubiquitous computing network.

rickyc091• 13 years ago

On several occasions, I've used my iPad as the primary device, mainly since I had no other choice since I had forgotten my laptop at work, but what I realized was that the limitation wasn't the apps, but the lack of real multitasking.

I was watching Netflix and an iMessage comes in. Do I click on the iMessage to reply and interrupt my flow or do I ignore it. Hey, look an mail notification came in, looks semi-urgent, should I interrupt my movie to respond? I ended up using my phone as a mail / chat client and my iPad as solely a movie player. At the end of the day, I still love my iPad despite it's shortcomings.

raganwald• 13 years ago

I tried this with the 1st generation iPad when my workstation failed and was in for service. I mostly SSH'd into my entertainment centre but I was able to do original editing on the iPad using DropBox.

It was awkward, but good enough to GetShitDone.

I later bought both an Air and an iPad Mini, and the Mini is small enough to be a substantial improvement on the Air when doing short trips to conferences. I can edit my presentations, take notes, and do all sorts of other things on the road or in a coffee shop.

Now my Air sits at home.

Disclosure: I started programming on punch cards. It's all amazing to me, so when comparing an iPad Mini to a desktop computer, I can logically tell you I'm way more productive on the desktop, but at the same time I'm emotionally satisfied either way.

k-mcgrady• 13 years ago

Not a great test. All of the editing problems stemmed from using Google Drive. Why not test using iWork which in my experience is pretty good.

m0nastic• 13 years ago

I guess that the reason I've been able to migrate almost entirely to using my iPad for everything must be the way I used to use my computer previously.

I've pretty much always ran applications "full-screen". The only time I really ever have more than one thing on screen at a time is if I'm splitting a tmux window.

I use my iPad how I imagine people use Chromebooks (with the addition of being able to use more than just the web browser).

That makes me wonder if over time tablets will become used for more and more because they increase in functionality/complexity (mimicking how people use their PC's currently), or if they'll remain the way they are, but people will just adopt their usage paradigms.

mark_l_watson2• 13 years ago

I use my iPad as much as possible. For writing, I use Leanpub so I need to be able to edit markdown files out of Dropbox. iaWriter works great, and I usually don't even bother to use a bluetooth keyboard.

For accessing servers, the Prompt app provides SSH and a special Linux/bash friendly keyboard.

For research, a web browser and Evernote work fine.

So, top level comment: writing works well on an iPad, programming much less so.

Edit: I hardly ever use the bluetooth keyboard: I use my MBA if I need a keyboard. The advantage of the iPad is that it is comfortable to hold while writing as-is.

mark_l_watson2• 13 years ago

Also: one of our neighbors has an Internet business that involves making a lot of short informational videos; she hired a consultant who got her set up filming, editing with iMovie, and publishing to youtube - all on her iPad. I was curious enough to buy iMovie for the iPad and try it myself, and it is not bad.

wffurr3• 13 years ago

I have a hard time imagining writing anything substantial with a screen keyboard, much less programming. And yet you still say writing works well.

Longest thing I've managed to type without going nuts so far is a five line email.

dharma1• 13 years ago

Why iPad? Why not a surface pro or a nexus 10 running Ubuntu?

donniezazen• 13 years ago

It would be interesting if OP tried Android tablet which seems to have better Google integration, multitasking and inter-app-communication.

kin• 13 years ago

Ideally if I could have an 11" MBA where I can twist the screen and snap it in place over the keyboard to turn it into an 11" iPad that would be ideal but would never happen.

Sometimes I want to play/browse and iOS is perfect for that with its apps and form factor and touch screen. Sometimes I want to work/create and OSX is perfect for that with its keyboard and multi-tasking and desktop applications.

cstrat• 13 years ago

Using the Google Drive application on iPad you can edit spreadsheets.

Is the author saying that Google test documents with tables aren't displayed? I haven't tried that.

Experiment: To work primarily on an iPad for a week

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