iPad 2: The end of the laptop era?

[BMoore]

You just like complaining.

No, i like to point at issues.

There a ton of free apps for a lot of those, and the rest are largely irrelevant. Ogg? Really?

I don't want to open a separate app for each file type. I want to doubleclick it in some file browser and the app responsible for opening it will start. As easy as that.
If you prefer the convoluted mess that iOS is when it comes to file compatibility - more power to you.

Complaining about the iPhone because it does t come natively with an that can be had for free and easily is simply retarded.

Show me *any* free app that plays .mov, .avi and .mpg reliably. Any! And please don't say VLC because that's a joke.

- Sascha

This is like whining (again) about why your 30 year old alarm clock doesn't make phone calls.

But I guess you're too busy formating your quotes to even notice.

[Meffy]

Sascha, polaris -- less rancor and no more insults, please.

[polaris20]

No, they're not designed for pro work, they're designed to have fun with and perhaps do something creative with while we're out and about. The iPad (or any tablet) wasn't designed to immediately rid the world of desktops and laptops. Maybe that'll happen some day, but not yet.

Comparing a mobile OS (ANY of them) to a desktop OS is largely stupid, because the differences are obvious. If you can see the merits of an iPad (or Galaxy Tab, or Fire) then buy it and have fun with it. If you think they're crippled and useless, then super. But seriously say it once and STFU about it, because really after awhile you're shouting to a crowd who doesn't give a crap.

[polaris20]

Sascha, polaris -- less rancor and no more insults, please.

Noted and muted. I can edit the last if needed.

[Sascha Franck]

No, you really don't get it. Someone with your anal retentive demands isn't the target market for Apple, or Microsoft, or Google. The phone OS has to suit the needs of the general population, not some guy sitting there trying to open ogg files.

You seem to have a reading problem.
This is a thread about whether tablets will be able to replace laptops. Did you read that? Ok, I can't tell, but perhaps.
In my first post in this thread I said "yes, they can easily replace a laptop for folks doing average jobs on them, but they will not replace laptops in a professional environment any day soon. Did you read that as well? Apparently not, because all your examples are only relevant to Joe Average and NOT to any professional musician or whatever. While the (extremely valid) examples I listed are quite important to professional music production (something I'm pretty much into, apparently you have not much of an idea about it...).

Apparently I do all the time, as does my wife. And guess what? It's really pretty damn easy. And yes, H.264 all the way.

I have never said it's difficult. But it's a massive waste of time. And when converting a movie to .m4v using H.264 on my 2.4 GHz machine I can barely do any work in Logic simultaneously.
So please don't decide for me whether it's all so great to convert movies all day long when there is absolutely no reason for it! Please, even buy yourself a dedicated machine to convert movies. I'm sure it feels great. I for one just want to play the movie. And each and every OS should be able to do it with ease without wasting time on silly conversions.

No, you don't know what you're talking about. You're a complete utter moron with such a strong sense of self-entitlement it's astounding.

You have absolutely no idea. All my points are completely valid. Just because you don't even try to understand what I write doesn't mean I'm wrong. But then, rest asured, I don't even need you to understand anything I write.

How many years in IT have you worked? How many users do you support? How many server platforms do you support? You don't know shit about this industry despite making it sound like you do.

Well, now you're finally giving it away. Tell me why I would have to spend ust a single second in IT? The things I posted are valid, they are proveable by facts and there's absolutely no need to have an idea about IT.
Oh, I know what you mean. iOS causes IT folks less troubles because stupid users can't do too many things wrong. Fine. But I'm not a stupid user and most people I know aren't either. They want a mature OS, not some stuff kiddies may use.

If you want to be seen as the village idiot constantly complaining about shit, more power to you.

So far, you're making edit: whatever out of yourself. All the points in my first post are absolutely valid in a professional production environment. There's no way around it. You can have your IT degrees, your wife can convert movies all day long, you may not like my complaints for the rest of your life, it all doesn't matter because the things I posted are absolutely valid on all accounts. Connectivity under iOS is lousy, file compatibility is lousy, file interchange is even lousier. There's no way around it.

Bye, I'm done with you.

- SF

[Sascha Franck]

This is like whining (again) about why your 30 year old alarm clock doesn't make phone calls.

WTF?
So you think LESS file compatibility is an ADVANTAGE?
Or whatelse do you mean?

- SF

[Meffy]

Sascha, polaris -- less rancor and no more insults, please.

Noted and muted. I can edit the last if needed.

No, long as things keep focused on the tech details it's fine.

[polaris20]

Good night Sascha, you have yourself a good evening! And hey, when you get your iPhone 4s you've been talking about getting, let me know if you have any questions. They're great phones even if they don't open ogg files natively and allow for hard drives dangling off of them.

Seriously though, they're phones. And tablets. They're not laptops or desktops. Have fun, be productive with them, or don't. The iPad is a lot of fun for me personally, including for music, and as long as the companies who's products I like keep making them, I don't really care if other people like them or not.

[audiobot202]

Well, I check email, surf Twitter and play 'Words with Friends' on my Ipad. I don't use it for music because I don't find it comfortable. The synths available on it are not especially good for the most part, composing anything is fiddly and it simply lacks the power needed for me to do anything more than spit out a few sounds...
I have to use apps to open different file types, connectivity is lousy and supremely controlled by Apple (like when they came out with iOS 4 and it downgraded the power output of the port so that a lot of cameras through the CCK just would not work anymore).
I like the form factor and ease of the iPad, but in no way would it replace my desktop at this stage...not even close.
I don';t like the tight ship run by Apple and having to conform to their vision all the time.
For some it may be feel safe and comfy, which is cool, but I find it limiting and uninspiring.

What is amusing is that for many years Apple has used the themes of revolution and not conforming in their advertising. My experience with Apple so far (and the iPad is the first major product I've invested in) suggest the opposite entirely: That Apple demand conformity.

[polaris20]

Apple has been that way since the beginning though, it's just the way it is. Their stuff either fits your needs, or it doesn't. I suppose if one thought that they'd be promised a life of awesome creativity and being cool and different just because they believed what they saw in the commercials, they'd be disappointed.

But a Mac (or an iPad or iPhone) no more makes someone different or cool than a Ford Mustang causes members of the opposite sex to flock to you. Marketing is marketing: if someone is a sucker for it, that's their problem I guess.

I've got the iPhone and iPad because it suits the need, and because its specs clearly listed on the site (what files its compatible with, etc) suit my current needs. I suppose it's restrictive if you're requiring it to do something it never really promised to, but if you go into it realizing its a big iPod touch, then it does the job.

Other mobile OSes promise flowers and love and openness, but my experience with them left me wanting something that doesn't reboot itself in the middle of phone calls, have constantly crashing apps, etc.

I think the sooner people realize what a mobile platform can and cannot do, and either accept it or don't buy it, the better off everyone is.

Clearly the iPad was done right to an extent, because there are millions upon millions of them. They might not fit a musician's needs to a tee, but we're not Apple's top priority.

As far as I'm concerned, tablets are a two-horse race this year, and I'm not talking about Android. It'll be the iPad and Windows.

[Dogboy73]

Open a zip file on your iDevice. A rar file. A flac file. What about ogg? Need more? Heck, iOS, without any extra apps installed, can't even playback the movies you recorded with the very same device (.mov) once you took them off your iPhone/iPad. iOS is BY FAR the most incompatible OS regarding files there has ever been. It royally sucks ass.

This was my first impression. It was almost like iOS didn't have a file system! But I think that is the idea. Apple didn't make this to be like regular operating systems. The focus is on the Apps. Its an interesting simplification of the operating systems we've come to expect on computers - you don't have files as such. You don't even have 'programs'. Instead you have Apps that kind of ties the two together

An over-simplification of the OS? Many might argue that point. But I have to say that after spending a bit of time using this thing I've come to really like the system. I can happily create files & distribute them between Apps, onto my computer via iTunes & online. It's certainly not a regular way of working but it does work. I like it now. It almost liberating not have a documents folder fall of shit. Files, if indeed you can even call them that with iOS, are integral to the Apps. I'd argue that it's a pretty neat system for this type of device but also that it's another reason why they absolutely will not replace traditional desktop & laptop computers anytime soon.

[Sascha Franck]

An over-simplification of the OS? Many might argue that point. But I have to say that after spending a bit of time using this thing I've come to really like the system.

I don't. At least not too much...
As said before, I *do* see the advances in terms of support and what not. Such a proprietary system with everything having to be approved by Apple certainly has some merits. But then (see below)...

I can happily create files & distribute them between Apps, onto my computer via iTunes & online.

For me, the purpose of using a smartphone (or tablet) is that I can somewhat reduce typical computer useage. And being online, at least for me, often isn't a viable option.

I'll give you an example: When I prepare for a job (as a musician), I usually put everything required into one folder. In that folder I may have some (or all) of the following filetypes:
- MP3s of the songs that I'll have to play.
- PDFs of lead sheets or whatever.
- Pictures of my amp and pedal board settings.
- SysEx files for my digital FX devices.
- The occasional movie (I'm often playing musicals and having either the actors or the musical director on video helps a lot).
- The occasional Logic song, in case I need to loop sections to work out my part even more carefully.

Now, with my laptop, I just enter that folder and doubleclick any of those filetypes, so the appropriate player or application will open. No further action has to be taken.
This is absolutely impossible with iOS. I'd need at least 2-3 apps to accomplish the job. Obviously that goes along with having to use the filesharing option of iTunes. Some apps will allow me to open multiple sorts of media files, but not a single application would allow me to open all the files. OK, Logic isn't even available for iOS, but let's make that a Garageband file. In case I slap the entire folder mentioned above into, say, the USB disk app, I can view the files but not open them. The same goes for MIDI files.

Android adresses some of those issues in a quite more convenient way (IMO at least), you can have folders and selecting a filetype inside those folders will automatically open the appropriate app. Sure, there's a limitation regarding filetypes, too, but it's not even remotely as rigid as under iOS.

Just so that nobody gets me wrong: I do get along with iOS, but I can think of a lot of issues that could be adressed quite more comfortably without sacrificing security.
To give you an example: iOS can easily handle the following filetypes: MP3, some uncompressed audio files, MOV (it creates them on its own), PDF, txt, JPEG and what not. But to get them onto my iOS device I either need to mail them myself and/or convert them before (in case of MOVs) and/or use several different apps to actually view/play them.
As said, these are all filetypes that Apple seems to be fine with. Now, why don't they just combine the music app, the foto app, iBooks and probably some viewing functions included in mail into one fileviewing/playing/sorting app? They would still have control over the amount of allowed filetypes but it could be a massive improvement for users. And, just as with PDFs, they could add an "open with" dialog, so you could open filetypes that need additional apps to be opened (such as GB songs). In addition, such a "FileViewer" could also be accessable from within other apps. So you could, say, create a song in NanoStudio, bounce into the FileViewer, open Amlitube and load the file there to add some guitars. Something like that.
And as said, such a general "FileViewer" app wouldn't compromise security in any way as it would only support files that either can be used under iOS by default or by 3rd party apps.

- Sascha

[IncarnateX]

Almost no connectivity options. If you want connectivity, you have to go through quite some hoops. And even then it sometimes won't work, so ultimatively you need a desktop in addition.

My needs for making (electronic) music are too humble to make any sense in a high tech discussion. But from couriosity: What do you think about all connectivity boxes that are coming?

See this overview

http://www.idesignsound.com/news/namm-2 ... -round-up/

There are more docks, mixers and controllers coming this year it seems. Wouldn' t any of this cover connectivity according to your needs?

Though I don't need it, I am surely heading for an Akai MPC Fly Controller, just for the coolness of it. Together with my iPad it will be the best groovebox\mini studio I have ever had.

[Sascha Franck]

See this overview

http://www.idesignsound.com/news/namm-2 ... -round-up/

There are more docks, mixers and controllers coming this year it seems. Wouldn' t any of this cover connectivity according to your needs?

Well, so far, for myself, the Tascam iU2 is closest to what I may need. Yet, I wasn't only talking about things tailored to suit audio production needs. Sometimes it's really the simple things, such as connecting a USB drive/stick and exchange some data.
But then, as I will probably continue to "only" use an iPhone, I'll be fine.
Still wishing there was something like an SD card slot, such as on many Android phones. Especially now that I started using uncompressed audio files quite a bit more, space becomes a rather crucial issue.

- Sascha

[Dogboy73]

When I prepare for a job (as a musician), I usually put everything required into one folder. In that folder I may have some (or all) of the following filetypes:
- MP3s of the songs that I'll have to play.
- PDFs of lead sheets or whatever.
- Pictures of my amp and pedal board settings.
- SysEx files for my digital FX devices.
- The occasional movie (I'm often playing musicals and having either the actors or the musical director on video helps a lot).
- The occasional Logic song, in case I need to loop sections to work out my part even more carefully.

I agree completely. It makes sense to put all related files for a particular project into one place, obviously. Working with iOS feels like you are having to workaround the limitations of not being able to do this. If you have a lot of different material things can messy if you can't tie them all up. And the only way to do this it seems is to put them onto a computer into a good old fashioned (sic) folder!

Again, this is another reason why such devices will never replace conventional computers. I mean without iTunes on my PC i feel like I can't even manage my music files properly on the iPad. It's linked completely to a computer & there is no getting away from this while iOS is the way it is. I like the way it is but without a computer I'm not sure how it would work for me at all! For me it's not a computer it's a tablet - two different sides of the coin. So at the moment it just seems absurd to be talking about tablets replacing desktops/laptops.