Is the iPad a computer or a peripheral?

Christopher Phin - 27 January 2010 - 10:18pm

Take a step back from the details, and one thing really sticks with me regarding the iPad: is this a primary computer?

For many people, it’s ideal: email, web, apps – even a bespoke office suite – and all without all the meta-computing, the administrative cruft that you have to do with Mac OS X, Windows, or any other desktop OS. (When was the last time you had to repair permissions on your iPhone?)

So while I can’t see myself giving up my MacBook Pro for an iPad – at the moment, I want and like the flexibility that Mac OS X offers me over iPhone OS – I can imagine my parents, say, happily using an iPad as their only computer.

Yet here’s the thing to ponder: is the iPad conceptually a device designed to be synced to a ‘proper’ computer or is it its own master? If the latter, would we be happy to use Apple as our only gateway to content? And is 64GB enough space for that content? Would you sideload pictures from your digital camera directly to it? (Technically, you can, but will you, and what about RAW support and editing?) And so on.

It’s a problem Apple has had before, with the same device, conceptually-speaking; the Newton, unlike the more successful Palm devices that came after it, behaved well as a stand-alone device, and didn’t really sync with a desktop. (PedantSpoiler™: Yes, I know it technically did, but that wasn’t, as it were, the point.)

I don’t know the answer – and I’m not even sure Apple has made the decision yet; from what I’ve seen their options are open – but even the question tells us something interesting about the (perhaps, more accurately, ‘a’) future of personal computing. What do you think?

iPad main

Pull Quote:

C Phin "Has Apple just given itself the same problem that foxed it in the 90s?"

Craig Grannell
27 January 2010 - 10:40pm

The question is what do you

The question is what do you need a computer for? If you're a designer, you're going to need Photoshop. However, if you're my dad (and, my god, I hope that's not the case, especially given that you're younger than me and therefore will have been doing STRANGE THINGS with time machines), you need: email, calendar, photos, web, music.

This is the computer for the masses, doing 99% of what most people require. This is the vision for the original Mac. This isn't for geeks, although for them it could be a handy peripheral. But for everyone else, this is the start of something new. It really is a case of Hello, again. (Again.)

Graham Barlow
27 January 2010 - 11:48pm

But is it really a

But is it really a stand-alone computer for email, calendar, photos, web, music?

Email? Yes

Calendar? Yes

Photos? No - you can't download your photos from your camera to it. Need a computer for that.

Web? Mostly - no flash,

Music - No - you can't import your CDs. Need a computer for that.

Christopher Phin
28 January 2010 - 12:07am

Photos; you can import

Photos; you can import directly – there's an accessory.

Music; Ah, but Apple wants you to use the iTunes Store…

Graham Barlow
28 January 2010 - 12:19am

Yes, sorry - just re-read

Yes, sorry - just re-read your post then checked up on the Apple site and there's the Apple Camera Connector. But you make the point about editing - if you can't edit your photos to remove red-eye, etc... on it then that's no good. But, hang on... it bet there's an app for that!

Also backup. We all know how important that is - if all your data is only on the iPad and it gets stolen/lost/dropped/you sit on it.... I suppose there could also be an app for that too, one that would backup to the cloud....

Hmmm... just thinking out loud here really...

Munkstar
28 January 2010 - 12:52am

Its the Netbook most people

Its the Netbook most people wanted ..... but the Apple version with book reading thrown in. Its the extra costs per gig of memory that always makes me go ... tut.

Craig Grannell
28 January 2010 - 1:43am

Image editing on Apple handhelds

@Graham: There's not "an" app for image editing of that sort—there are literally hundreds of the things. Back-up is, I agree, a major concern, though. I'm hoping there'll be some kind of cloud service where at least your data is safe. (Apps, of course, could be downloaded again.)

martinem
29 January 2010 - 2:49pm

iPad without camera...

At long last a Netbook answer from Apple, but why the iPad comes without a webcam is beyond me. Presumably you can iChat, or Skype with an iPad? That what I would expect from it anyway.

seeaitch
29 January 2010 - 4:09pm

A great option for older parents?

Chris,

You made a fairly throw-away comment - "I can imagine my parents, say, happily using an iPad as their only computer". This is a concept which I haven't heard anyone else mention on the web yet, and it really made me think.

I'm trying to set my elderly, chair-bound father up with an iMac at the moment but I'm now wondering if this would be a better option. It's certainly (even) easier to use, everything is right there in front of you, and the contextual interface really puts the necessary controls in front of you without you having to know what you're doing. My father also has trouble holding and controlling a mouse and I think the touchscreen interface might be the answer. The only problem is that you do really need a base computer for some aspects but that could almost act as a server and be an older, cheaper Mac.

As I said, this is not a concept that seems to have been mentioned anywhere else, but I can see it opening up a whole new channel for Apple, if they want to promote it as such.

Chris Hanham

solsang
30 January 2010 - 12:25pm

saving my parents generation

after seeing the keynote and having long experience with ipod touch, i find this the absolute best device for my mother (and she saw it on tv and thought of herself)

one button email

no distracting flash

everything easy and simple to use

only needs an old pc to sync and print, and the ipad will become the primary interface!!!

Craig Grannell
30 January 2010 - 1:38pm

I suspect the lack of a

I suspect the lack of a camera was to hit a price-point. Apple wants market-share for this device, given that the mobile landscape is still there to be claimed. (By comparison, the war is lost on the desktop, despite tiny gains for the Mac of late.)

It's a no-brainer to think that the first major hardware revision will likely have a web-cam built-in. (However, I find it very strange that people around the web are irked that there's no standard camera—the iPad looks just a _tad_ unwieldy a device for holiday snaps!)

Craig Grannell
30 January 2010 - 1:40pm

@Chris/seeaitch: You say:

@Chris/seeaitch: You say: "The only problem is that you do really need a base computer for some aspects", but what aspects? I guess it depends what your father requires, but this device should be fine as a standalone for the majority of tasks. (I personally worry about back-up issues, but then if you set up email using IMAP, that's at least sorted, and you could always periodically back up his iPad to _your_ Mac for disaster recovery.)

solsang
30 January 2010 - 3:37pm

imap worries

i am still concerned about imap, if accidentally emails are deleted on one end, the other is gone, some backup system would still be nice

i would love to make this a standalone, and know that occationally a cd is needed, as for sd card read/write and printing seems there are ways for that, yet naturally backup adn print via wifi would make a lot of sence