Reverse Ferret! Forget what we told you – the iPad isn't really for work Private Eye has a running joke satirising a great British tabloid institution: the Reverse Ferret. "An apology to our readers…" it usually begins, explaining a sudden about-face in the newspaper's position. This year's Reverse Ferret in technology journalism is: the iPad is Great for Work. Remember how we (and not just us) …
Tablets are great as a reader, media player, general surfing and for occasional games but frankly quite useless for workstation chores. They fill that gap where lugging around a laptop is not worth it or inconvenient, a laptop would slip off my knees right now.
Sent from my iPad while taking a dump.
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and you know, I am A-OK with where the non-Pro iPad is at, a media consumption device. Bringing out the Pro model has dropped the base version prices a bit.
Where this article disturbs me is that my perception that Apple's thinking that iPhones and iPads are the future gettings-things-done devices is bleeding out onto their macOS devices. Their stewardship of the MacPro has been shameful, the Mini hadn't had an upgrade in ages until last month and the MBPs are really losing their Pro monicker in favor of thin and light. Prices are, Apple-high, as usual. too bad, I still rather like OSX.
If you believe that iPad Pros are "all the laptop you will ever need", then yeah, why not drop the ball on the rest?
agree, now dex/continuum stuff could replace workstations quite soon, at least for most people, hardware is powerful enough and just needs 2 good monitors, a keyboard and a mouse
cooling like on one of those gaming phones that are made for external cooling addon, along with dex with cooling solution will probably be the future, wont be surprised if some monitors/dex like things will come with external gpus soon
> Tablets are great as a reader, media player, general surfing and for occasional games but frankly quite useless for workstation chores.
Exactly what I have been saying all along. The tablet is the IT equivalent of a television: a device for consuming content. Very useful in that role (my household currently has two iPads), but if anything needs to be done, it is time to open the laptop.
It really doesn't make a difference between the two, three if you count both tablets, here. Unplug the USB 3 hub from laptop, plug in one of the tablets. The hub has the mechanical keyboard, precision mouse, 30" WQXGA display, even if only 1080p, and assorted multiple sticks and/or drives as needed. Even networking. These Fusion5's here are quite capable of multitasking. It's when I wander off into server/AI/dev-land that I need the laptop. Otherwise, no difference despite laptop on server and tablets on Android 6.0. I do have Bluetooth equivalents, just hardly ever need them. Then again, a "road-warrior" I am not, just ever home or at the VA hospital. Don't even think of going on their network.
The hardest part is to get completely systematic about what data/software lives on which multiple devices and drives. And keep it that way.
I have a Dell XPS 18 Windows tablet PC, which I use to display sheet music instead of me having to flip pages while working on some large complex works which always have the page turns in the wrong place. The large screen is quick, and easy to see and responds quickly to my finger swipes needed to turn the pages in Acrobat. I tried an iPad for the same thing, but the ant-sized fonts on it made the text too small to differentiate between the fingerings on the music. Is that a 3 or a 5?; A 1 or a 4?
And by the way, a crappy 'droid tablet was worse too because it was not only too slow, and didn't always respond to the finger swipe needed to flip the pages. There's nothing worse knowing you have an impending page turn coming up, attempt to turn it and nothing happens!
Expecting people to do all their work on an iPad is like handing a professional mechanic a crescent wrench and 2 screwdrivers and expecting them to get the job done. With only a 'cloud' file system, no easy USB, a plethora of mostly aggravating keyboards, and only a limited number of office and other apps compared to a PC, it's just not there yet. And let's not forget no easy AD authentication or access to things on a NAS unless your organization has everything accessible from a browser.
The hardware is certainly competent enough these days, there just isn't enough integration or flexibility yet. I hate tablet PCs like the Surface and its clones, but I'd choose one in a heartbeat over an iPad if I had to get some work done. Convertibles on the other hand, I think just haven't been discovered by enough people yet. (though the few we have at work spend most of their time acting as a laptop, as far as I've seen)
When I have to undock my 17" laptop the sudden lack of a 2nd screen makes working on it a real PIA.
The A/C above has mentioned the best feature of these things, namely the ability for a video chat session to start whilst mid dump.
Replacing clipboards & crayons they're great, for serious work, never.
Well, the Surface is a convertible - its keyboard may not be the best on your lap - but when working on a flat surface is not much different than using a laptop. Not your main computing device probably - but I prefer a desktop for my needs, but great to travel lightly - and without the limitations of an iPad.
Expecting people to do all their work on an iPad is like handing a professional mechanic a crescent wrench and 2 screwdrivers and expecting them to get the job done.
Really, that's just the standard operating procedure whenever a management type comes into the IT office (appropriate task-related translations implied)
Expect to be kitted out in iPads because someone decided it looks very fash in the open office space.
No just effing No.
I have a high level management wanting Tablets replacing Laptops while I go around like a madman restoring Towers to workers ready to jump out of windows. This is madness. Between the chatters from the network from update checks, anti virus, security monitoring etc, the laptops use up most of their 8 gigs after one or tow doc opens, then using a record management app to save and import and voila, freeze when importing cells from one 40 meg excel to another. Stop the madness, talk to your IM Managers, Laptops, tabs and phones are for suckers not workers. Only Desktops (or very expensive gaming laptops) can keep your multi-file juggling workers productive! (Written from a i7 16Gig tower PC while remoted into a Dell and HP pad to fix file issues for a few unfortunates)
Not really. A few years ago the place I worked for added on a layer of data encryption on top of already slower machines. The 4GB laptops were slow enough handling those huge Excel spreadsheets, database applications, remote connections, and other things, and the EPE made it worse. The users complained all the time about the slow machines even when new out of the box.
The sales engineers and R&D folks, however, could not demo software using these 4GB laptops. One guy had a embarrassing machine lock up from what I was told, which may have cost the company a contract. After that the SEs were given special treatment with their nice Precision Workstation machines with 16GB while everyone else got the lower end Lenovo laptops the company would normally buy.
Being in IT, I was able to procure a "sample test machine" for myself. The faster processor and more memory really helped get past that bottleneck caused by the EPE. There was barely a chatter on the hard disk when opening up huge spreadsheets or other applications.
Underpowered hardware, just like any inadequate tool, makes for an unproductive environment, which actually costs a company in the long run. Sadly management and bean counters don't see it that way and will cut everything to the bone.
Laptops are replacing desktops in a vain attempt to get already stressed workers to work even more when they leave the office. The very fact that you have a work device to hand means you will never switch off. I don't care who the hell you think you are, it is simply not healthy to constantly keep working outside your standard contracted hours. Once in a while or on a full burst before a big release or other operation, sure bust a gut and get the job done but if you don't switch off you will end up down the quacks asking to become a junkie hocked up on "happy pills", trust me I know!
Greedy bosses looking to squeeze the life out of workers until they drop dead or are driven to the nuthouse grasping their "happy pills". When the clock hits 5, walk out, take up your hobby, enjoy life and make sure you work to live, not live to work.
Everyone here has to take their laptops home with them.
There is no expectation of work (unless you feel it is needed) but it is insisted upon as part of our DR strategy.
People can at least be doing *something* while we restore servers etc, in the event of a disaster of some sort.
Perhaps intentionally, you've left out one wonderfully au currant reason that management prefers to hand out laptops, not towers: An employee with a laptop doesn't need an office. They don't even require a set little cubical. Making them redundant happens at the speed of Executive Stock Option: Just grab their laptop, nullify their building entry code, and move on.
I should admit that I prefer having both a laptop and a very quiet but powerful desk-near Mac Mini or Intel equivalent. Using what's right for the task at hand, and in my own offices, just seems right.
We've had a large number of middle and upper-management types get Surfaces and less than a year later return them for laptops for a multitude of varying reasons. So the used surfaces end up going to temps and interns. And in several cases the interns' managers have requested the interns get a better machine, as the used Surfaces are flaky and in some cases are struggling to run some of the applications used by the various departments. So what do they get? 4-5 year-old laptops that have been upgraded with extra RAM and an SSD. They are battleships in size and weight, but they have a proper keyboard, many USB ports, docks that work every time, and in most cases are a bit faster, probably due to a more efficient chipset, despite the clock and RAM speeds being a bit slower.
So we literally have reached a point where despite the Surface being light and having a nice display and touch screen, we can't seem to give them away to employees.
I've spent the last 18 months using a work-supplied Surface Pro 4. Initially, I coveted one of these when they first came out. Now having used one, I would not even waste my tyre rubber reversing over it. I'm on my third keyboard - the keyboard which bounces around when you type and has a flaky connector leading to frequent "do you wish to use this in tablet mode?' messages'.... No I effing don't.
The stupid kickstand which is not practical when trying to use it on your knees on a train or on any unlevel surface. Being top heavy, it has a lovely habit of backflipping off anything not level. One USB port - really? A proprietary mains adaptor that is also flaky and if you plug anything into the handy USB port on the mains brick, there is not enough charge to power the machine... Crap battery life (I have a generic build with very little in it).
And finally, the worst thing of all - ongoing issues with wireless - intermittently connects/disconnects to wireless. Completely has my IT Department foxed. To the extent that they have now given me an ethernet adaptor and a 5m cable.
Yeh great laptop. NOT. Personally, for all I agree that the iPad is not a laptop replacement, I would rather use that than this festering pile of poo.
@GX5000
Not disagreeing with the sentiment. But as a contract developer, I move around more than most, and all the offices I've worked in over the past few years use laptops quite successfully.
The arrangement is usually a laptop connected to an external keyboard, mouse and two wide screens. This makes desk-moves and team reorganisation simpler. It also facilitates working from home - I just take the office laptop home with me and connect it to my own keyboard, mouse and screens. (Fiddling around with the connectors is a nuisance, but much less of a nuisance than commuting.)
The laptops are generally powerful enough for serious development work. If they aren't, it's worth reminding the clients how much they're paying for every minute I spend looking at a wait icon.
I work at a University of over 50.000 students. The higher ups just did a deal with Apple to get iPads for all incoming freshmen. Too bad we require SolidWorks for our Engineering courses (and now have to look at running it on servers and using the iPads to control the Windows installs).
A use case for (docked) laptops in you can't take desktops to meetings... but Windows of course shits the bed when you take away the docked monitors and screws up window sizes and desktop icons for you.
But we all know the real reason is so you can take your computer home and do work in your own time to make up for shitty project management.
"It has set out to grow revenue by increasing margins to the pip-squeak pain threshold, rather than losing volume. In fact, Apple seems very relaxed about losing volumes. So long as it's making money."
This has been its business model since iPhone launch, the only thing that's changed is its discovery of just how much it can get away with (the gradual upward creep to £1000+ phones & tablets)
"I think this is a little risky and misguided" It always was, but I believe Apple are finally about to discover what happens when the consumer wakes up. Its an opportunity for a cut price startup, Android is just too alien for the majority of iOS users to get used to.
I'm sure I'm not alone in using a proper PC for work (multiple screens and proper keyboard).
A convertible or laptop for proper email or a bit of Word when away from the desk.
A cheap tablet for browsing on the sofa.
Where I'm different is that I use my mobile phone for telephone calls!
I'm sure I'm not alone in using a proper PC for work (multiple screens and proper keyboard).
A convertible or laptop for proper email or a bit of Word when away from the desk.
A cheap tablet for browsing on the sofa.
Where I'm different is that I use my mobile phone for telephone calls!
Nope you're definately not alone... There is a whole office sitting on front of me with almost exactly the same habits.
"It's where you, you know, actually "talk" to people. It's a concept where people actually communicate with each other. And do it "live". Usually in person."
I thought when people gathered, after the first few minutes of conversation, they all pull out their phones to take their turns at games, check/update their social media, text someone else, etc..
My "proper PC with multiple screens and proper keyboard" is a notebook - with a docking station. As long as you know that this is the intended use, you can get a notebook with the grunt needed for real work. The limitation is hard disk space and unless your work involves editing video files, data storage on an external drive is no real drawback.
If I didn't have to travel occasionally then a tower would be cheaper, but a second (portable) screen turned out to be pretty cheap and makes doing real work on the road quite acceptable.
And yes, I have an iPad for games and watching Netflix in bed!
I second the desktop for real work.
But instead of a cheap tablet, I've been using a Windows tablet since Windows XP Tablet Edition. I currently have a Dell Venue Pro with Windows 10 and it fully, albeit slowly, supports all my company's security so I can interact with the email and file servers, "attend" group meetings and teleconferences, and generally accomplish whatever I need to do remotely. Plus content consumption.
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