>By 1994 almost all graphic designers and illustrators were using computers for work.
The iPad is a great device but, it isn't essential to anything or anyone. If tomorrow there where no iPads anymore, we would all just get on with our lives.
If all of them disappeared into thin air one night then nearly the entire global aviation system would come to a screeching halt. It’s the device of choice among air carriers for navigation charts. Paper backup isn’t even carried anymore. We just carry extra iPads and batteries.
I’m not sure any of the charting apps used by air carriers are even available on another OS at this point. I’ve never been aware of JeppFD Pro on Android and I believe they dumped Windows as well.
There are other options of course but as far as I’m aware in the US it’s all iPads and JeppFD Pro. The feds are familiar with it and a regulatory framework is created around it so it’s the path of least resistance. And as a pilot, I’d say most of us are pretty satisfied with it.
not just pilots, I see them in use by nearly every service person who comes to the house and even at work. they are just the right size for easy reading, the lack of keyboard removes a major breaking point if not cleanliness issues. throw in they just give a modern and sleek vibe to any organization employing them versus pen and paper.
plus they make it easy for customers to sign for services which in turn makes it easier for businesses to know that the work was done. toss in CC readers that attach easily and you have a simple POS device
if anything the amount of waste that would come back into our lives without them would be staggering
”throw in they just give a modern and sleek vibe to any organization employing them versus pen and paper”
There likely is a good cost saving there, removing the need to transcribe handwritten forms and archive them in cases where the customers signed them.
It also easily gives you some tracking info, even if you only let it send location info when the service person uses it. That can give you the data to inform other customers on that service person’s route about arrival times.
The iPad is also a massive choice for artists who used to buy wacom products. The ability to buy an iPad and pencil for under $500 and make stuff in pretty great software really changed the industry. To do something like that with a computer was a $1000+ market.
They tell you to switch off the device's broadcast functionality ("airplane mode"). Something they don't need for navigating with an iPad as it's just offline maps / apps).
I haven't had a captain tell me to turn off electronic devices for years. The flight attendant asks me to remove headphones for the safety briefing, which is reasonable, and we're told to put it into airplane mode for takeoff/landing
I accidentally left my iPad in the seat-back on a recent flight — my case, it turns out, is a perfect match for Delta-leather-blue. Even though this is an iPad with cellular, I'd switched it to airplane mode and thus was unable to locate it with "Find My". After three days the airline hadn't found it, and I chalked it up to an expensive lesson learned.
On day four, I received a push message (from Find My) that the iPad had come to life. An airport staffer had found it and charged it up. Presumably it cold boots with airplane mode switched off, so it connected to the cellular network, received the "lost device" command, displayed my contact info, etc. I received a call shortly thereafter.
When I picked up the iPad at baggage services, I chatted with the staff a bit. They let me in on the "secret" that most airline employees never switch their devices into airplane mode anymore, and for this exact reason.
While it's good to avoid EM interference from electronic devices, I think the real reason they want you to switch of these devices is to make sure you're not totally distracted during take-off or landing, and that you're not using headphones, so you'll be aware in case of accidents/emergencies.
Nah, they haven't asked passengers to turn off devices in years. They just want them placed on airplane mode so they're not connecting to cellular networks. Bluetooth and WiFi are just fine.
The pilots’ devices are selected to airplane mode as well. Many carriers do allow WiFi to be turned on and have a separate WiFi network onboard that allows for operational access. Mainly weather.
Why couldn't you put the app on an iPhone or iPod touch ? Or in a simulator on MAC ? It's not like the device is essential. It might be more practical for some purposes, but not essential.
Because of the form factor. iPad is close in size to the papers used before. iPhone is way too small and a Mac is way too big and clumsy. Also a Mac has a clamshell design as opposed to being just a tablet that fits nicely in front of the pilot.
ipads have a non-insignificant footprint as point of sales systems these days too, so I wouldn't say ipads are _only_ a consumption device. They are also a pretty solid task specific unit for certain specific industries.
I guess what OP was trying to say is that their application as creative tools (production vs consumption) is far more limited than the full fledged PC systems that we are used to.
In my experience that has more to do with the artificial limitations devs put into ipad software. Take MPC drum machines for example. iMPC Pro 2 could replace all hardware MPCs if they wanted to but they would cannibalize their hardware if they did that so they made the ipad version a toy instead.
Honestly I think companies are (mostly) wasting their money porting desktop software to iPads. There's going to be niches where it makes perfect sense, but Office for the iPad is going to be a waste of money. Home users don't need it, business have laptops and desktop for those things, and Word is a poor note taking app of field work. To be fair I believe that the iPad is a poor note taking platform in general.
For specialized software, tailored to specific fields, with only the interaction elements for particular jobs the iPad can be a much better fit than a laptop. Those jobs however aren't generic enough that off shelf software make a ton of sense.
Doesn't really matter what you personally think, what matters is what companies think, because they have the data to back it up. Is it a waste of money or not? Office for iPad came in 2014 and still being quite actively developed so I think we can conclude the opposite of what you are saying.
Seeing that the only way that Microsoft makes money on Office for iPad is by selling O365 subscriptions -- same as Adobe with Creative Cloud -- having access anywhere is the value add.
Not sure about Office, but iPad with Pencil seems popular with creative professionals, so for Adobe not to support it would open up opportunities to other software companies to Innovator's Dilemma them.
For graphic design (typography work, layout, UI, etc) mouse and keyboard are still the best input devices. Much faster and precise than tapping on a touch screen or using an Apple Pencil.
This is unfortunatelly very true - Ipads have the best oen latency from mobile tablet devices & good software ecosystem (Procreate, etc.), likely thanks to overall more $$$ in iOS software development.
There are Android tablets with precise pen support, but especually the cheaper ones don't have that good pen precision (jitter, lag) and also the available drawing software is not as advanced as on the iPad & powerful ossdesktop drawig tools such as Krita or Mypaint are not yet ported to Android.
So in the end I basically had to get the top of the line Android tablet (Galaxy Tab S6) to get something comparable, where the manufacturer dumped so much mone so that some got also to the pen support & it would be working correctly. And so far so good. :)
Function keys seem like a stretch for the use case it is designed for - being able to type online or in apps while also having a very compact form factor.
Software developers continuing, after all these years, to dismiss any kind of creative work with a computer that isn’t typing, is crazy. I’d take an iPad over a laptop or desktop computer for lots of creative work, if I could only have one device.
As a daily user of iPad Pro 11” it would be very difficult to adjust back. Sure, the device does not provide me the comfort of doing 100% of my tasks at all times.
The combination of portability (form factor, battery life, LTE modem), with the growing support for the apps. I’m yet to see device that would replace it for me. I have had to take my MBP with me for quite some time.
iPad essentially fuels my remote-first work style.
That's not quite true - iPads are a huge hit in electronic music for performance and production. Whether that counts as 'revolutionary' is another matter - there was the original Lemur which proved the multitouch MIDI use in principle - but it has created a new software niche market that genuinely is thriving and used for 'proper work'.
I would agree that the iPad isn't essential for home users, other than as a YouTube player for kids and a gaming device for old ladies.
It does however seem to have found it's way into various trades as an information device. For instance is has replaced laptop as the primary device in elder care in many cities in Denmark. It makes perfect sense to use an iPad, it's more portable, the limited interface forces developer to think hard about what input is really required, and it faster to"unlock" than a laptop.
The iPad has develop very quickly from a consumer device to an "Enterprise" solution. You basically only need it, if you can afford to have custom applications developed. For almost everyone else, there's the large screen iPhones.
Apple isn't going to tell us, but it would be interesting to learn how many iPads are going to customers, and how many to companies and governments.
That's not true. It's used as mapping and/or communications device in many trains and aircraft. Also many business representatives use it to do demos or just to keep the CRM updated. I am using it to sketch software architecture during meetings (on the projector).
Now hang on, I use the ipad for creating artwork and it is much much better than any desktop/laptop computer with a wacom (or whatever brand) tablet.
Also, they are tremendous for the elderly. My 97 year old grandmother really struggles with desktop/laptop computers, but has absolutely no trouble using her iPad. It's the main way she stays in touch with her family.
> The iPad is a great device but, it isn't essential to anything or anyone.
This would only be said by someone who isn't a frontline worker no interacts with any. Unless you see the people who use tablets for work as not really working.
I’m not sure any of the charting apps used by air carriers are even available on another OS at this point. I’ve never been aware of JeppFD Pro on Android and I believe they dumped Windows as well.
There are other options of course but as far as I’m aware in the US it’s all iPads and JeppFD Pro. The feds are familiar with it and a regulatory framework is created around it so it’s the path of least resistance. And as a pilot, I’d say most of us are pretty satisfied with it.