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by _fat_santa 1776 days ago
I feel like a traditional OS will always stick around because of software developers. I couldn't imagine trying to build an iOS app on an iPad, even an iPad Pro with a keyboard. There will always be some more advanced tool that is used to build the tools.

Thought it will still be interesting to see where that will go in the next 20 years. Like you said with the convergence of desktop and mobile devices on the one hand I can't see traditional OS's surviving but on the other hand I don't se another option given that's the only medium to build the higher level software.
2 comments
adrusi 1776 days ago
That all sounds right to me. And with everyone who doesn't need all the nitty gritty access that software developers (and some others) off using different OSs, the advanced OSs that software developers use will have no reason to cater to anyone who doesn't understand how a computer works or isn't willing to read a bit of technical documentation.
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jonas21 1776 days ago
> I couldn't imagine trying to build an iOS app on an iPad, even an iPad Pro with a keyboard.

Why not? The only officially-supported way to build iOS apps right now is using Xcode on a Mac. What would be the difference between using the Xcode app on a Mac or the Xcode app on an iPad with a keyboard?

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skydhash 1776 days ago
Yesterday, I was debugging some code. I had 3 macvim windows, 3 iterm tabs, firefox and the simulator open. That’s just in one space. The others were general browsing, communication and media. As most as I love my iPad, it only works great for single and focused task (note taking, researching, video meeting, drawing,…)
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GeekyBear 1776 days ago
The sheer number of on-screen controls in a single professional app Window present a problem when you have to make them all large enough to be a touch target.
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adrusi 1768 days ago
That might be an issue for non-programming work like video editing, 3d modeling, animation, &c. But tons of programmers just need a text editor with a total of zero buttons, a terminal, and a web browser.

Xcode for macOS isn't designed for that, but no reason xcode for iPadOS couldn't be.

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kcb 1776 days ago
1 monitor and cumbersome multi-tasking would be a nightmare for development work
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