Dude, it's a laptop you want, not an iPad

I've got to say this article was fairly disappointing. So the author finds more value in a laptop than an iPad; that means that everyone else must also arrive at the same conclusion? That's a load of crap. Different people have different needs, and for some, an iPad may satisfy them better.<p>For me, I've realized that a laptop is sub-optimal, and a desktop and soon an iPad 3 makes much more sense. You see, I only do productivity work for extended periods in a single location. I don't need to haul a computer back and forth to work, and I don't need to do extended work out of coffee shops or hotel rooms. A proper ergonomic desktop workstation is therefore the most valuable and economical solution for productivity in my case.<p>For mobile use, I just want something to browse the web on the couch or in bed, control my entertainment center, maybe play the occasional game or watch the occasional movie or TV show, respond to an email once in a while, and have the batteries last all day doing it. I seriously couldn't care less about a built-in keyboard, and laptop keyboards are all terrible for productivity in any case. And though the Author thinks the iPad is a, "<i>limited device... in terms of what websites [he] can watch</i>", I think I've had problems with a website all of one time, when it rendered some form fields above a submit button and I couldn't complete a purchase on a small e-commerce site.<p>I've got a MacBook Pro that is currently being so under-used, that I will hardly notice its absence after I replace it with the upcoming iPad. This whole piece seems like a useless rant to me, certainly not up to my lofty standards for HN-worthiness.

I have an Asus Transformer Prime and it's great, but it has its limits, and I frequently pull out my Macbook Pro. The Transformer looks like a laptop, but since it's running Android, it's kind of half a laptop:<p>* Switching between apps is not as smooth as on a laptop running a normal operating system<p>* It looks and feels like a laptop, but I still get mobile web pages<p>* YouTube often tells me that the content isn't available on mobile<p>Other than that, I like it. In particular I find myself touching the screen even though the keyboard with the trackpad is connected. Once or twice I've even tried to touch the screen while using my Macbook.<p>The idea of having a laptop with a detachable screen is good, but for now it's probably still not possible to stick the capabilities of a normal laptop into something that would pass as a handy tablet.<p>One idea I've been toying with is to set up a server, and just use Splashtop on my Transformer whenever I need a proper desktop, but for now it's really just easier to pull out my Macbook.

As a student, the compromises people are willing to make in order to own an iPad are amazing to witness. While this is anecdotal evidence, iPads are becoming notetaking devices, with such cases being pretty common. In other cases, people are struggling and bringing Apple Wireless keyboards, and pairing them with their iPad via bluetooth. In these situations, it doesn't matter how appropriate the device is. These users have an "iPad or nothing" attitude.

"Ideally, what I would like (and I think most people would like) is something of the form factor of a MacBook Air (thin and light), that has a detachable touch-screen that can run apps written for iOS or Android, and when the screen is connected to the main body, acts like a fully-functioning laptop."<p>What's the difference in practice between "a laptop with a detachable screen" and "a tablet that fits into a case that holds up the screen and provides a keyboard"? In terms of form factor, those two strike me as identical. Of course, if iOS doesn't do it for you in the laptop form factor, then it doesn't do it for you, but that's more a software than a hardware problem (and I'm willing to bet is a software problem not everybody has).

You can have both with an Asus Transformer - integrated keyboard that turns it into a laptop and with 15-18h battery life, and tablet for when you need it on the couch/whatever. Why compromise? Those accessories for the iPad are not integrated at all, and they look rather silly.

Before I moved internationally for school, I was concerned I would need a secondary computing device that would have a lot of functionality, a lot of portability, and be cheap enough not to worry about if it, say, dropped out of my backpack while riding my bike across town.<p>I looked at all kinds of tablets, but then I realized I could get more functionality, roughly equal portability and battery life, for a much cheaper price.<p>My ASUS netbook was the best money I've ever spent.<p>For $250, I got:<p>-A 10.1 inch screen<p>-9-10 honest hours of battery life if you're conservative<p>-A 1.5GHz dual core processor fast enough to watch 360p videos while running Visual Studio and Eclipse<p>-2GB of DDR3 RAM<p>-A 250GB HD<p>-3 USB 2.0 ports<p>-Ability to dual boot Win7 Pro and Linux<p>-A keyboard<p>-A webcam<p>-All in a device that weighs less than 3 pounds and fits easily in any small bag.<p>It blows my mind that people would want to spend $300+ on a device with slightly more portability and far, far less functionality.

The physical form factor here described is "convertible slate". However, as someone who has spent a lot of their computer time using convertible slates (starting with a Compaq Concerto and a pre-release Dauphin DTR-1 back in 1992: yes, I was using "Windows 3.1 for Pen"), I will point out that with all of the circuitry in the slate the keyboard has to end up irritatingly poorly/awkwardly weighted (as it is way too light to make holding up the screen make sense) and is also bothersome to bring you (its "yet another fidgety component").<p>So, I then look at my 11" MacBook Air, and frankly: the dimensions are almost the same as the original iPad. It is /slightly/ wider (due to the constraints of having a full-size physical keyboard with keys that recess and also various ports such as USB that require a certain amount of clearance inside of the device, which is already so thin that these ports barely can exist in the device at all), but if USB is supplanted by something like Apple's Thunderbolt (convenient, huh), they could make it slightly narrower and slightly thinner.<p>I then argue what you're really going to end up with is a device more like the NEC Versa (1995-ish) or ThinkPad X61 (more devices I've owned), where the screen rotates around and folds back down backwards. This way, you always have the keyboard with you, and it can "take the load off" the screen part by having real circuitry in it (thereby giving it enough heft to balance the screen easily), which in turn allows the combined size to be smaller (as otherwise you are having to artificially increase the heft of the keyboard).<p>Apple, in fact, has been looking at such designs. We see patents from them for various ways of building a convertible slate for a while now. The original design had the screen hinged along the edge of the keyboard, where it could kind of slide down the case towards the end, and then fold back (away from you, as opposed to towards you) onto the keyboard, turning into a slate (which has the property that the screen's orientation doesn't change during the operation), but in 2011 we see the more traditional "rotate".<p><a href="http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2008/07/apple-reveals-secret-notebook-tablet.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2008/07/apple-re...</a><p><a href="http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/11/apple-wins-patent-for-telephonic-macbook-with-rotatable-display.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/11/apple-wi...</a><p>The 2011 design also makes it clear that this device could have a cellular modem in it, which means that were it to exist it would compete with a 3G iPad. That brings us to the listed constraint of "run apps written for iOS". Truly, however: much like you don't actually want a case that can house a keyboard and attach it to an iPad, you also don't want to be able to run iOS applications; the mistake in both is to take what you have now, assume "I can't have it both ways", and then come up with some kind of band-aid solution.<p>What you really want is to have a single set of applications that work well on either form factor due to a set of unified interface primitives. When you "convert" between a laptop and a slate, you don't want to be running a different web browser and a different word processor: you want there to be a seamless set of rather subtle changes to the apps you were just running (if any changes are required at all: in an ideal world you would want no changes, but there are practical concerns), allowing you to maintain mental state.<p>Again, this is the direction Apple is headed. In Lion they have started moving desktop Mac OS X to a world of full-screen applications, just like on iOS, and are borrowing many of the UI elements. They reversed the scrolling direction (to make the gestures common) and removed the scrollbars (which already aren't present on iOS for various reasons). Gestures are now permeating more of the applications, and with just another couple years of this, the difference is going to be quite slight; and yes: they have another patent on it.<p><a href="http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/11/apple-wins-multiple-touch-macbook-tablet-patents.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/11/apple-wi...</a><p>Really, the only thing left would be to figure out how to unify the App Store experience. Ideally (for Apple), the resulting ecosystem would be quite similar to the situation on iOS: a closed store that Apple controls, with careful "security" measures at all levels to keep the user from "messing up" their device with software that wasn't centrally vetted. This would be accomplished with a combination of protected firmware and sandboxing of all applications, each of which would be isolated to their own state.<p>Well, with the advent of the Mac App Store we see Apple offering the same unified experience, and with Lion we saw them adding sandboxes. These sandboxes eventually became a required part of the workflow, and with Mountain Lion they are getting tighter. Meanwhile, Mountain Lion has added the "only from App Store" switch: defaulted to off (for now), but with another half-way setting, "only from registered developer" defaulted to on; even I felt this was ahead of schedule ;P. Again: we only need to look forward another couple years.<p>tl;dr I believe Apple's behaviors (and patents) agree: their goal is to provide this.

This is Windows 8's primary use case. We'll soon see how many people agree with OP

I only purchased an iPad after realizing one specific use case. Managing my new baby. General purpose computing or browsing is left to my laptop. Things specific to baby like FaceTime/skype, pandora music, one-handed browsing while holding the baby, work perfectly. But it never leaves this environment. Laptop for everything else.

I've been trying out a bit of a different setup and finding some interesting results so far.<p>I switched from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy Note to try and achieve a few things:<p>- I liked owning an iPad but didn't like carrying it with me in addition to my laptop.<p>- I liked consuming information on my iPad. I wanted to continue consuming information on a device.<p>- I liked trying to make my iPad my sole device for communication (Facebook, twitter, email, IM, Skype.) If I could do it on my iPad I could block out those distractions on my laptop. I live not running any notification stuff on my laptop when coding. I really like being able to come to my communication device and find that there.<p>- the iPhone seemed to small to use as an information consumption device, iPad too big to carry to do the same. If I wanted a physical keyboard on my iPad I could get a MacBook air (which I did and its working great for that purpose)<p>- my iPad became strangely redundant in my use case after getting an Air because I wanted a light device to carry around. Ended up selling it.<p>- The Note fits in my pocket. It's thinner and lighter than an iPhone from everyone who's compared the weight<p>- The Galaxy Note seems huge as a phone but small as a serviceable tablet. The high screen res makes it very usable. I've been varying just the note and my air and its almost starring to feel like I'm where I should be.<p>So, maybe you're looking for an Ultrabook and a 'Phablet'.<p>I'm going to ride this out until the iPhone 5 is available to re-evaluate then.

The author has a point: many iPad buyers spend a lot of money to work around the limitations of the device. Is not a minority, else there wouldn't be so many keyboard cases for it.<p>I think the problem are all those pundits talking about the "post-PC era". Some are even reinforcing that point with Windows 8, but guess what? That OS is Windows7 with a touch UI layer on top. The only real novelty is the ARM version, in which case we're entering the post-WinTel era (at last!).<p>The iPad beats the crap of any PDA or PMP, but PCs and Macs? Sorry, is just not that versatile. The limitations it has have more to do with battery life and engineering constrains than actual ease-of-use.<p>And APPL patents are rarely made into actual products. Ironically that one from 2008 has far more in common with that slider tablet from ASUS than anything APPL is actually working on.

I agree with the author, people at my old job would have this setup and I found it odd, I do have an Android tablet but I use it very differently from my laptop, I use it for browsing, watching movies, etc and video skyping, if I ever have an urge to do "real work", I always fire up the laptop, I think some people fell a little to hard for all the marketing of these tablets as they really convinced themselves they no longer need a real laptop, IMO the two complement one another.. after a long day of work, some days I just don't want to touch a regular computer again but if I need to look something up real quick, or just read articles, the tab is great for that, it gives a different user experience which is a nice change.

People need to stop telling other people what they want.

The funny thing is that we buy what comes in new, and don't really know the purpose or use of it. iPad to me makes sense if you are an avid browser, and a reader, or type in few short emails a day. First came iPhone, and then came various keyboards which can be blue toothed to the phone. Dude!! the iPhone has a touch keypad, and its not for typing in long emails. Use the gadget for what it is meant for.

When I started to study last year in October I thought about getting a tablet for day-to-day use. But then I realized everything <i>and more</i> can be done with a small Laptop aswell and reading papers is even better on a Kindle than on a tablet anyway. I am happy with my choice, there's such no usecase for a tablet where my laptop/smartphone/kindle can't do a better job overall.

Personally, the tablet form factor is great for consumption. For example, watching movies or casual web browsing.<p>For me, I don't have much use for a tablet on the creation side but suspect it might be of use for specific requirements, people DJ'ing etc.<p>But my mindset has always been: right tool for the job. Trying to use a tablet as a laptop probably will be very frustrating in short order.

Without having read all the 119 comments (sorry for that), it seems to me that this is exactly the kind of device Microsoft is envisioning with Windows 8, isn't it? Unfortunately, up to now you have to choose between an iPad (or something similar) and a full-fledged notebook since netbooks are basicly killed by the former and not powerfull enough for the later. So, as far as I see, there's a gap that can be exploited, why carry and buy in the first place, two devices when one is enough? The only point where I beg to differ with the author is if it's really Apple who debuts a gadget like that. Windows 8 seems, up to know, the most promising OS around that goes into this direction. On the other hand I simply cannot tell what Apple has in the works... Whoever is going to to be first with such a talet - notebook hybrid, it's an intressting development nontheless

I dont think we're discussing real solutions to the mobile computing problem here - just stop gaps.<p>The issue with doing real work on a tab or smartphone is that touch is not a fast or accurate input medium - mice and keyboards are much better suited for it.<p>However, it would be foolish to think this will always be the case. Some combination of our devices recognizing new gestures (grasp, cup, etc.), advances in interface design and voice recognition will eventually disrupt the keyboard and mouse. Since our data can basically be stored in a number of device agnostic ways already via cloud computing, user interfaces for interacting with that data are only going to iterate faster and faster.<p>I think the problem of creating content on the go is going to be solved in the software too soon to warrant a whole product line that merges keyboards and trackpads into our tabets.

I don't see how you can ever replace a laptop. iPads are cool and have appeal as being easier to grab &#38; go- kind of like a larger version of our iPhones. Tablets as an accessory, yes. However, as a replacement for our laptops, no way! Those of use who daily use and rely upon our laptops know better.

&#62;"Ideally, what I would like (and I think most people would like) is something of the form factor of a MacBook Air (thin and light), that has a detachable touch-screen that can run apps written for iOS or Android, and when the screen is connected to the main body, acts like a fully-functioning laptop."<p>To make the screen detachable you would need to have everything in the screen section which, as others already pointed out, makes for a awkward weight distribution. Years ago I've seen a laptop with a touch screen where you were able to pivot the screen and close it with the display pointing up. So the laptop was closed, but you were still able to use the touch screen. A MacBook Air with where you can do that and that can run iOS Apps would in my eyes be the perfect solution.

I was going to get an iPad a while back. Basically, unless you're doing basic Web browsing or just playing games, you need a keyboard to do any real work on a tablet. Also, they're light, but still not much different than a MacBook Air - and they're not much cheaper. Tablets still just seem like a novelty to me - toys for gaming and watching movies.<p>If you want a serious tablet though, check out the Modbooks. They're regular Mac notebooks hacked to use touchscreens. They're good if you do art on your notebook, since you can basically draw on the screen, you get all the features of a full-fledged notebook, and they were around long before the iPad.

I want both. It's more practical to make a tablet into a laptop than it is to make a laptop into a tablet. Eventually the iPad will run OSX when its docked into a MacBook Air or iMac style enclosure and run iOS when it's not. The two operating systems will work very well together. If you're working on a Pages document on iOS when you dock it will automatically open in Pages on OSX. All your open Safari windows on iOS will open on OSX. It's just a matter of time. Tablets need to get a little bit faster and integration between the mobile and desktop OS needs to improve so it's a seamless experience.

I've gone through the same experience and Microsoft has <i>galp</i> sold me Windows 8.<p>Having watched their keynote at MWC I am quiet impress at what has been done behind the scenes for Windows 8. Some influence from Plan 9/linux can be seen with the new hard drive space management. The new process management seems exciting if it works properly.<p>Microsoft seems to have put some serious engineers behind Windows 8. For that I tip them my hat.<p>I can't wait till I can get the Lenovo Yoga. I'm after a laptop with an IPS screen and I'm after a 13" tablet. I think my setup for next year will be desktop/server + Lenovo Yoga + 8" tablet + 4"+ phone.

One year before the first iPad was released, there was a small laptop with a detachable touch screen that I drooled over, the Touch Book: <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2009/03/02/touch-book-tablet-netbook-with-arm-cpu-10-hour-battery-detachable-screen/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2009/03/02/touch-book-tablet-netbook-w...</a><p>The only thing I found lacking was the screen size, which was too small for me (8.9"). And it had an ARM CPU, which at the time (before iOS and Android) was a poor choice for most people, although I could probably manage just fine.

Surely tablets are for consumers, and laptops are for workers and creators. I mean, I can't imagine developing anything on a tablet, iPad or otherwise, but grazing the web should be a breeze on a tablet.

I have a Xoom with a wireless keyboard and I love the setup. It's important to push the hardware boundaries and blur the lines so you can see what users will want in the future. The iPad is too locked to allow for the developers to build real keyboard apps. But the Android tablet ecosystem is different, and it allows for more traditional-desktop-OS styled apps.<p>Development should be a smooth experience sometime soon, I hope. The author doesn't want an iPad but he might want some kind of Android device in two or three years.

While an ASUS Transformer Prime is still limited in certain ways like the iPad, surely that's already a step in the right direction (as far as this post is concerned)?

I think this all depends on the user. If you are a person who is largely a consumer of data (reading Twitter, checking email, etc.), the form factor and weight of a tablet is great. If you produce more data (constantly writing emails, code, working with spreadsheets, etc.), you definitely need a laptop.

This reminds me of when laptop screens went glossy. Firstly everyone thought that they liked it. Then they realized that these screens were actually less ergonomic to use due to the increased mirror reflection. Now it is often necessary to pay more for the option of a non-glossy ('anti-glare') screen.

Surely tablets are for consumers, and laptops are for workers and creators. I mean, I can't imagine developing anything on a tablet, iPad or otherwise, but grazing the web should be a breeze on a tablet.<p>What does my head in is that nowadays, it seems computer = internet, and that is almost the only use people know of.

Ultrabooks are rushing in to fill this need. I just bought one and it has been everything I hoped.

Well.. amazing how long it took to realize for him.. There are certainly usecases for a tablet and for a laptop, it's not like you have to try hard to use a shiny new gadget for something it is not good at..

For the first 8 paragraphs I was thinking "What an idiot!" but then the last two might suggest a great idea: have the iPad switch to MacOS when it is inserted into a keyboard stand.

I don't want an iPad or a laptop. My ideal would be an all in one device: a smartphone that docks into a tablet that docks into a keyboard. Something like this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&#38;v=Rrh_EwFaZ7I" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&#38;v=R...</a><p>I know it will be awhile until the hardware in the phone can be powerful enough to compete with laptop performance, but I hope it comes soon. Also, while I like ASUS' concept, I think it really needs Apple's design thinking to take it from good to great.

While the author continues to scratch his head because he's attempting to fit a square into a circle, I'll continue to use my Macbook Air for actual work, my iPad for couch/bedside/casual consuming, and my iPhone for communicating on the go.<p>You know, what all of the devices are meant to do.<p>Can anyone here actually see Apple releasing a product that has a detachable part? That stands for everything Apple is against when they design products.

With an iPad and keyboard you can turn the iPad vertical for some uses, horizontal for others.

Because of distraction-free-single-tasking-writing.

Most sane thing ever said about the iPad.

&#62;"Ideally, what I would like (and I think most people would like) is something of the form factor of a MacBook Air (thin and light), that has a detachable touch-screen that can run apps written for iOS or Android, and when the screen is connected to the main body, acts like a fully-functioning laptop."<p>&#62;I think some devices like this are beginning to appear, but so far none of them are compelling. It might take Apple to show them how it's done, again.<p>Really? Not even a mention of Windows 8, if it is just to say why it doesn't suit his needs? Has the author taken a look at upcoming Windows 8 devices like the Samsung Slate ?<p>Or is the discussion artificially limited to Apple devices when Apple has specially noted that they don't envision a fusion device/OS (atleast in the short-medium term) because it won't be a good consumer experience.<p>The tradeoff of the Slate is lower battery life and things like a fan, but it has a Core i5 and can run all Windows apps.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1ZbY03nTQ" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1ZbY03nTQ</a><p>Or check out the IdeaPad Yoga, a 13" Macbook-Air like laptop that can double as a Windows 8 tablet.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHKFYngqOM" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHKFYngqOM</a><p><a href="http://cnettv.cnet.com/hands-lenovo-ideapad-yoga/9742-1_53-50118072.html" rel="nofollow">http://cnettv.cnet.com/hands-lenovo-ideapad-yoga/9742-1_53-5...</a><p>There will be Windows 8 ARM tablets that will be fanless and have great battery life, but they can run only Metro apps and touch optimized versions of Office.<p>These are just the tip of the iceberg and there will be lots of Transformer like devices in the coming months running Windows 8. These may or may not fit the author's needs, but excluding them from the discussion doesn't seem like a good move to me.

IMHO, tablety paddy things are all just expensive toys unless they let you use some form of accurate stylus as well as your fingers.<p>Fingers have some major usability issues if used as your only drawing instrument, when it comes to any form of detailed technical drawing, and in engineering environments are often covered in various interesting varieties of minging filth.<p>Also, we can see down to a much finer point than the tip of a finger and even if I have paid out serious money for something that calls itself a 'retina display' I would still like to be able to try and see which pixel it is I am selecting.

What you <i>really</i> want is a netbook hackintosh running OS X. All the benefits of a small form-factor -- but its a 'real' computer, can run a compiler and a webserver and doesn't put any artificial obstacles in your way. Program development at the command line, browser (any) with flash and install anything you like. It will sync with your office desktop and its <i>cheap</i>.<p>Not everyone has the nous or the patience but if you do its a doddle to do and works really well.