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Ask HN: Am I getting old?

11 points by greenspot ↗ HN
Yesterday, I've been at my bank to meet my new client manager. A 38 years old lady. Once we started to talk she pulled out her iPad and took minutes with the virtual keyboard.

At airports there're so many. Folks having iPads w/ and w/o physical keyboards typing stuff, seeming concentrated & busy. They seem to work.

On Reddit/MacRumors/other forums, people keep telling how productive they are with their iPads, how great they are and they prefer iPads over MBPs.

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Yes, iOS is butter smooth, it's crisp, the virtual keyboard is usable. But isn't a real keyboard, a touch pad, a mounted screen paired with an appropriate OS still the state of the art of an user interface?

- A touch pad keeps finger and arm movement to the minimum; a track point (which is not popular) even more; whats so great about touching UI elements? Yes, scrolling content or pinching to zoom from time to time might be more intuitive but still you can do this on a good trackpad with less finger and arm movement and as intuitive

- Regarding the keyboard, tablets are catching up. There're keyboards, control + alt keys are available but is this not even more a proof that a keybaord is essential and they're reinventing the wheel?

- The software and the OS, every piece of software there's limited. An iPad Word can just open one document at a time and most UI is touch based. I know that most people do need just some browsing, Gmail and Facebook but once you want to do a bit more serious stuff you pull out your notebook?

- Media consumption, people write that iPads are so great for media consumption; my 10" notebook is way better for media consumption since it has its stand built-in and I don't have to hold it, I can even turn it by 90 degrees and it keeps standing rock-solid; and it plays torrents

So, is it me or them who don't get it? I am seriously thinking of getting an iPad to force myself to work with an iPad 2, 3 weeks to understand people's fascination.

5 comments

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aharonovich
IMHO it doesn't matter which is objectively better, which is more efficient. If people would go ahead and use tablets then so should you, or you risk getting out of touch with your users and general society, much like my grandmother who has a hard time getting to the bank since she doesn't get e-banking and physical banks keep shutting down branches.
willcate
My wife recently transitioned from a five-year old MacBookPro to an iPad Air 2, on which she now does virtually all of her work. She uses a combination of Google Docs and MS Office for iOS. Seems to be working for her, although she occasionally needs to use my MBP for something she can't accomplish otherwise. And we're both in our mid-50s, so yeah, we're getting old!
ddorian43
I think there is one simple answer to this:::

Many people go their whole lives without questioning themselves "Maybe there is a better/different way/thing?"

Example: Php developers, sports, music, religion, mac (why is mac so popular in NL???) etc.

feiss
Depends on what people use their tablets for. Most of them, browsing, emailing, and some small texts or spreadsheets. For that, a tablet may be more than enough with lots of advantages over a laptop (more lightweight, easy to handle and carry, always on.)

If your work involves many hours of typing, or programming, a keyboard is better, period. I spent many hours programming in the virtual keyboard of the iPad, and it's not so productive.

Not having a proper multitask environment is also a big turndown for high productivity demands. (But again, most people just need to take care of the mail, not much more)

For media, I feel the form factor of a tablet is perfect. You can use it in more situations and positions than a laptop. Just borrow one and try..

zhte415
> Once we started to talk she pulled out her iPad and took minutes with the virtual keyboard.

Perhaps she can't do the easiest thing needed when taking minutes: Take a picture of the agenda, print it out, and write on it with a pen. Then take another picture. Information security, etc. It sounds like she's trying to save time, not wanting to duplicate work for a sense of 'productivity'.

Why do microwaves, toasters and ovens go 'bing' when the timer's up? To give us feedback. Why does your TV have a small red light when on standby? To give feedback. Why does a light switch have an audible tick that differs when turned on and off? Feedback. We get feedback in many forms. And I use the laptop I use because I enjoy the feedback it gives. Apple and Lenovo, amongst others, win and lose sales based on feedback from users on the keyboard, and spend money making the experience better.

> At airports there're so many. Folks having iPads w/ and w/o physical keyboards typing stuff, seeming concentrated & busy. They seem to work.

Being busy means not being able to reflect. And not reflecting on yourself and others is a sign you don't have time or inclination to think. It means being busy, and denying one's self the chance to work at a 'higher level'.

Don't buy an iPad to get busier. Sure, but one to explore. But is it better? No. It is a far inferior input interface.