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by briandear 2777 days ago
Besides compiling code, what can’t an iPad do in terms of “creation” that a similarly priced laptop can do? You can edit movies on it, heck, you can even film movies with it, you can write, edit photos, do drafting and drawing (something that laptops can’t easily do,) you can make music on it, use it as a Logic Pro controller. The only think you can’t easily “create” on iPad is code. You can do spreadsheets, work processing, create Keynotes, take notes, manage a calendar. You can manage your HomeKit stuff.

Seems far cry from being just a consumption device. That canard is getting old. A guess since you can’t run Linux on it or run a sever with it, somehow it isn’t creative?
3 comments
chongli 2777 days ago
It's more than just code. A "real" computer lets you do so much by piecing together work from different applications. For example, you can use a text editor like vim to transform a CSV file with powerful tools like regular expressions and shell commands, then load the CSV into your spreadsheet to work on. Yes, you can use the files application on iOS to manage your files but all of the other applications tend to stick to keeping all their files in one place.

On iOS it's very hard to build your own custom workflow with a bunch of applications and other tools, the way you can on a desktop OS.

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scarface74 2777 days ago
It could probably be done with the Workflow app introduced in iOS 12 if you were so inclined that can stitch together different apps.
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chongli 2777 days ago
What workflow app? I'm on iOS 12.1 and I don't see a workflow app.
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scarface74 2777 days ago
Oh yeah. It’s called “Shortcuts” now. It was originally a third party app and was bought by Apple a little bit over a year ago and was given deeper hooks into the system.

https://workflow.is/

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ryacko 2777 days ago
Well, ackshually, you can run a server from your phone.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8417321/run-a-webserver-... https://github.com/robbiehanson/CocoaHTTPServer

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ubercow13 2777 days ago
It might be randomly killed if the app isn't in the foreground with the screen unlocked, though.
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scarface74 2777 days ago
Just play a silent audio stream and it will keep running.
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theluketaylor 2777 days ago
just a consumption device is hyperbole for sure. I certainly don't mean to imply ipad is useless or it can't meet the needs of tons of people.

For my particular needs it takes more more effort and time to complete the same set of creation tasks on my ipad compared to my mac. That includes working with media files.

I love casually browsing the web on my ipad, but the moment I want to write more than a few sentences I reach for my mac.

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