Why so many people try to use iPad as laptop replacement?

[mobi1]

When clearly it is not!

iPad OS is a scaled up mobile OS version. It is not suitable for heavy duty word process/numerical (Excel) calculation. Its memory is low (compared to computer) and hardware spec is not up to level of a computer.

Yes, I see no problem in typing few pages of text with minimal drawing in iPad but if someone tries to complete a book or thesis in iPad, then I seriously think they should have adopted a proper computer for their content creation tool.

So many times I see people cribbing here that their purchased iPad apps is not 100% compatible with Microsoft Office files. But it can't be (unless the app was developed by Microsoft).

Although iPad costs as much (or more) than a laptop, it is actually far less capable for content creation!

Use it as e-book reader, web browser and notepad and you have no problem. If one can't fathom the boundary between iPad and computer, soon s/he will hit brick wall.

PS: I should have posted this in general iPad forum! Mods please move.

 

[SweetPoison]

PS: I should have posted this in general iPad forum! Mods please move.

This is true. Consider it moved.

 

[JDFlood]

It is a new category of device. Folks are looking for where it fits in. Some may have justified the cost as a replacement. Depending on your job, it may be a replacement, but for most, not. It fits in between those other categories. I frequently do my mail on my iPad while my computer boots ( feels like fifteen minutes). But for hiking, it is the only perfect device for topographic maps, Dr. Office, read that book, oil change; read that book. Hotel, with my wireless headphones, watch a movie; catch up on that episode of Amazing Race that I missed... Read scientific papers, reference journals. Finally the magazine subscriptions are with me instead of piling up at home. Check the airport layout, where I am at Disney World, the wait time on rides at Disney. Use all those wasted minutes... In between. JD

 

[Somerled]

It's funny, that people come and complain about people complaining. I'm not complaining, just making an observation that I find funny.

 

[Gabriel1]

When clearly it is not!

It is not suitable for heavy duty word process/numerical (Excel) calculation. Its memory is low (compared to computer) and hardware spec is not up to level of a computer.

memory is low compared to a computer........you should be as old as me, 20 years ago we were running a multi-billion £ project using desktops with a 20mb hard drive and RAM a fraction again of that, oh and we ran word processing, spreadsheets and some highly technical maths based programmes on them. It may not have been running at the speeds of today's computers but using only a small fraction of what the iPad is running on.

Hardware spec is not up to level of a computer........it has a hard drive, RAM, input, output.........I'm trying to figure out what it is that makes the iPad not a computer.....maybe it's my age but I can assure you with a 100% degree of certainty that the iPad is a computer.

The Archangel

 

[Somerled]

the iPad IS a computer.

com·put·er

noun, often attributive \kəm-ˈpyü-tər\

: one that computes; specifically : a programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data

 

[DrHouse]

Technically, the iPad is a computer. But I would agree that the iPad is not a "computer" in the same way of using it like a laptop or a desktop... It's a functional difference between the iPad and any laptop/desktop.

There is no real multithread
It can only show one app at a time
All apps are displayed in fullscreen
You cannot format it and install another OS
It was meant as a mobile device and not a workstation...

If we consider a device with ram, CPU, internal storage, input and output. Then my Wii, my calculator, my DVD recorder are also computers...

VicoPad addict!

 

[Gabriel1]

Technically, the iPad is a computer. But I would agree that the iPad is not a "computer" in the same way of using it like a laptop or a desktop... It's a functional difference between the iPad and any laptop/desktop.

There is no real multithread
It can only show one app at a time
All apps are displayed in fullscreen
You cannot format it and install another OS
It was meant as a mobile device and not a workstation...

If we consider a device with ram, CPU, internal storage, input and output. Then my Wii, my calculator, my DVD recorder are also computers...

VicoPad addict!

Not a pre windows user then?

Check out the specs for the onboard computers on the Apollo moon landings......then check out your phone specs, I think you'll be running far more computational power in your pocket than those guys who were a quarter of a million miles from earth.

Like I say, maybe it's my age, but I figure I know a computer when I see one even if it's not in a beige box.

The Archangel

 

[Somerled]

All laptop/desktops are computers, but not all computers are laptop/desktops. In the same way as all Squares are Rectangles, but not all Rectangles are Squares.

 

[Kaykaykay]

It's a computer with limited uses. The tablet form offers convenience, so some people are attracted to that and want to use it beyond its capacities. Unrealistic expectations.

 

[mobi1]

Well, technically iPad is a computer but it is not in the same league of a traditional desktop/laptop computer.

It is possible to do fairly complex word processing/spreadsheet in it and I am not arguing against it.

But people get frustrated when they expect seamless compatibility with desktop apps!

That is the point I am trying to highlight here!

 

[DrHouse]

Not a pre windows user then?

Check out the specs for the onboard computers on the Apollo moon landings......then check out your phone specs, I think you'll be running far more computational power in your pocket than those guys who were a quarter of a million miles from earth.

Like I say, maybe it's my age, but I figure I know a computer when I see one even if it's not in a beige box.

The Archangel

Actually, yes, from the DOS/OS/2 era . You do understand that the Apollo onboard computers were not laptops nor PCs as the iPad is not a spacecraft computer? Even if there is enough horsepower in an iPad, it was not built to be a laptop/desktop computer... The word computer is mostly used to describe a laptop or a desktop, even if we all know that it is describing a device able to do computation. We can be picky on words meaning, and argue til the end of days about it.

thinking about it, i'm even a pre-DOS user... Started with a Timex Sinclair... Those were the days

VicoPad addict!

 

[Somerled]

You are arguing over vernacular and the laziness of not using proper terms by the majority of the populace.

The iPad is a computer.
A Laptop is a computer.
A Desktop is a computer.
A Server is a computer.
A Calculator is a computer. (wait, something that computes equations?)
A smartphone (any cell phone anymore) is a computer.

Do I need to go on? Really? It isn't the horsepower that dictates what a computer is. It doesn't matter.

 

[DrHouse]

You are arguing over vernacular and the laziness of not using proper terms by the majority of the populace.

The iPad is a computer.
A Laptop is a computer.
A Desktop is a computer.
A Server is a computer.
A Calculator is a computer. (wait, something that computes equations?)
A smartphone (any cell phone anymore) is a computer.

Do I need to go on? Really? It isn't the horsepower that dictates what a computer is. It doesn't matter.

Hmmm. So much truth and wisdom... By that logic, since a man is a mammal, thus an animal, thus a living being, therefor I am a fish, a bird, a plant... Come on, are you trying to "educate" the populace? Haven't you understood the intent of the OP when he said that the iPad is not a laptop? What is it that you must absolutely try to be right, up to the point of being out of the subject? Don't tell me that your last name is Spock!

All of this makes me remember people arguing over that the word Linux does not describe the OS but the kernel... Picky for the fun of it, bringing nothing to the discussion.

Darn, I'm being aggressive today, should start smoking again

VicoPad addict!

 

[Diesel]

You are arguing over vernacular and the laziness of not using proper terms by the majority of the populace.

The iPad is a computer.
A Laptop is a computer.
A Desktop is a computer.
A Server is a computer.
A Calculator is a computer. (wait, something that computes equations?)
A smartphone (any cell phone anymore) is a computer.

Do I need to go on? Really? It isn't the horsepower that dictates what a computer is. It doesn't matter.

Well said.

It just depends on the usage as to what one needs. The iPad does just about everything I need and it's very compact which fits my life style better than my laptop.