{"id":1047,"date":"2010-12-09T17:47:27","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T09:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/12\/09\/the-ipad-advantage\/"},"modified":"2010-12-09T17:47:27","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T09:47:27","slug":"the-ipad-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/12\/09\/the-ipad-advantage","title":{"rendered":"The iPad Advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A common question I get from people seeking my &#8220;tech recommendation&#8221; if they need an iPad &#8211; as if it were a difficult choice to make between a touch device or laptop. That is to say if they have an iPhone\/iPod touch, the iPad seems redundant. If they have a laptop, the iPad will also seem redundant. It looks like they feel that if they get an iPad, they&#8217;d have to let go of one or the other.<\/p>\n<p>But everyone who has talked to me about the iPad knows that I <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> believe this to be the case &#8211; far from it. They know I&#8217;m a fan of the iPad, and that I would even recommend it over a laptop &#8211; which is <em>partly<\/em> true.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is that whenever a person asks <em>&#8220;what would be a better buy: an iPad or a laptop,&#8221;<\/em> my first question would always be if they already have a primary machine (desktop or laptop). If they do [have a primary machine], unless they&#8217;ve got special needs, I&#8217;d easily recommend an iPad over a laptop any day.<\/p>\n<p>Why is that you ask? Read on.<!--more--><!-- \/\/ --><\/p>\n<p>In spite of having a Desktop, iPhone, iPod touch, <em>and<\/em> a laptop (Macbook Air). I can honestly say without batting an eyelash that I will choose to bring the iPad with me 100% of the time when on the go. Whether or not I have the Air with me. And I also don&#8217;t find it redundant at all when comparing it to the touch devices (iPhone\/iPod touch) <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Which is a different debate altogether<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> That&#8217;s because to me, the iPad is the perfect secondary machine assuming you already have a primary one.<\/p>\n<p>So let&#8217;s go back to that critical question I ask people: <strong>&#8220;Do you already have a primary machine?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a person doesn&#8217;t have a &#8220;primary\/main&#8221; computer, then it&#8217;s not even a choice at that point, get a desktop\/laptop first before considering an iPad -PERIOD. The iPad, just like an iPhone\/iPod touch is still somewhat &#8220;slaved&#8221; to a computer &#8211; that is to say if you want to back it up, restore it, etc. you&#8217;ll need a <em>real computer<\/em> to do that.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, we all need a &#8220;production machine&#8221; first and foremost &#8211; a machine that can do <strong>absolutely everything we need it to.<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>In simple terms: Production = getting things done. Production machine = computer that can get things done. <em>Capish?<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Production vs Consumption<\/h1>\n<p>So now we discuss the nuance that is what differentiates the iPad from your regular computer.<\/p>\n<p>As stated before, a computer (laptop\/desktop) is a <strong>production<\/strong> device. The iPad on the other hand, I would like to call a <strong>consumption<\/strong> device.<\/p>\n<p>I have a desktop as my primary computer. It&#8217;s got the screen real-estate I need, it&#8217;s got the power that can&#8217;t possibly be matched by the portables I have. And as a bonus, my Aeron makes the long required hours on it bearable. When I make songs, I use that; when I program, I use that; when I make movies&#8230; well, you get the picture. Basically when I need to create\/produce output, then I use the desktop as it&#8217;s the machine built to handle that kind of load.<\/p>\n<p>And while there are people that feel the need to be able to have such power at their fingertips <em>all the time<\/em> (that&#8217;s why they have high end laptop markets) I found out that I wasn&#8217;t one of them. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">After owning 3 previous &#8220;pro&#8221; lines of portables before finally &#8220;downgrading&#8221; to the air<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> I found out that I don&#8217;t <em>need<\/em> to be composing\/recording songs outside of my house. I don&#8217;t <em>need<\/em> to be programming when in an airport or some room whatever. Certainly I don&#8217;t need that much power when I just want to kill time while on the go.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m sure there will be exceptions (emergencies, etc) those exceptions happen very rarely <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Especially if you know how to manage your time and get things done<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> So in my experience, 99% of the time, I&#8217;ve had no problems just waiting till I returned home to do all the &#8220;heavy stuff.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>In short; 5% of the time I will be a &#8220;producer&#8221; <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">With the exception of work of course<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> &#8230; but 95% of the time, I&#8217;m just a regular &#8220;consumer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And there&#8217;s the rub: while your desktop\/laptop can [obviously] be <em>both<\/em> a production\/consumption device, <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1047_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">5 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">I did mention it should be able to do <em>everything<\/em> you need it to do<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1047_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> the latter gives a more natural experience for &#8220;consuming&#8221; stuff in the digital domain &#8211; much better than a laptop, and much better than an iPhone\/iPod touch.<\/p>\n<p>I guess if I were to make an analogy, it&#8217;s like how some people prefer reading real, physical books instead of consuming them from a computer (audio, or otherwise). While an iPad is far from &#8220;feeling&#8221; like a real book, it certainly is better than a laptop in that domain&#8230; and it has the benefit of being able to do more than a single book can do &#8211; which apparently, is a compelling enough reason to prefer it over a real book, practically speaking.<\/p>\n<p>But of course, the big plus it&#8217;s it&#8217;s &#8220;usability\/portability.&#8221; That means its dimensions, ergonomics, and last but not least, its <strong>weight.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1>Laptop vs. iPad<\/h1>\n<p>Assuming we all have desktops as primary machines, here are some scenarios I&#8217;d like you to consider when you&#8217;re choosing a laptop or iPad as a secondary machine.<\/p>\n<h2>As a book<\/h2>\n<p>Is this even worth discussing? Does anyone really prefer reading a book on a laptop screen when you can read it just like a book on the iPad?<\/p>\n<h2>As a sleeping aid (mundane things you do before you go to bed).<\/h2>\n<p>Imagine trying to work a laptop while lying down. Your &#8220;positioning&#8221; will be at the mercy of the laptop, not the other way around. With the iPad, it&#8217;s just like holding a book, and you can stow it away like a book. Hell, I sometimes stow it under my pillow right before I sleep &#8211; and it never bothered me.<\/p>\n<h2>Out in public<\/h2>\n<p>Since a laptop is meant to be set down on a surface &#8211; you&#8217;ll almost always have to look for a surface (a table, a chair, or your lap) to use it comfortably. <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s also cumbersome in general because of its size &#8211; just imagine when you have to &#8220;move&#8221; from one place to another.<\/p>\n<p>With an iPad, again, its no different from lugging a book around. Leave\/stow it anywhere, hold it any which way you please and it&#8217;ll be ready to be used. It&#8217;s much easier to pull in and out of your bag&#8230; or even to just hold it in your hand or tuck it between your shoulders when moving.<\/p>\n<h2>Standing up<\/h2>\n<p>Say you&#8217;re waiting in line in an airport, there are no tables and no seats&#8230; but there is an internet connection \ud83d\ude42 Do you want to look like an idiot and bust out your laptop, hold it in one hand, and do your thing? I thought not.<\/p>\n<p>Actually the airport is the best example of how practical an iPad is, because of the sheer amount of times you&#8217;ll have to stow and pull out your shit. A laptop is and will always be a pain in the ass in that department &#8211; whereas using an iPad in that situation will be a very fluid experience.<\/p>\n<h2>In the car<\/h2>\n<p>While I wouldn&#8217;t recommend using <strong>any<\/strong> device <em>while<\/em> driving, being able to pull out an iPad in a traffic jam can be pretty healthy \ud83d\ude42 And considering how cramped a car can get, I doubt using a laptop in there is anywhere near enjoyable.<\/p>\n<p>Same goes if you&#8217;re just a passenger&#8230; it&#8217;s just <em>much<\/em> <strong>much<\/strong> <strong>MUCH<\/strong> easier to but out and use an iPad instead of a laptop in those cramped quarters.<\/p>\n<h2>In the bathroom<\/h2>\n<p>This is the best &#8220;shitting device&#8221; one could possible use &#8211; <strong>bar none<\/strong> Forget the newspaper or comic books. You can surf, IM, read a book, play a game on the toilet all you want while essentially holding something no different from a magazine. Also you don&#8217;t risk burning your junk with a laptop.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;m sure there are more scenarios if I thought hard enough, but the overall message is this: Portability-wise, the iPad is just that damn practical to lug around over your standard laptop. <\/p>\n<p>Unless your work can&#8217;t wait till you get your ass in the office (or home), the times you&#8217;ll be needing to use laptop over an iPad will be very rare. As I will rephrase something I said in an earlier post: if you only find yourself laptop for it&#8217;s &#8220;full power&#8221; 5-10% of the time (which you probably will), then that means 90-95% of the time, you&#8217;re <em>needlessly<\/em> carrying <strong>extra weight.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right now, I&#8217;m in my bed in front of my desktop &#8211; using the Air to type out this post&#8230; why? because typing a lot of text here is easier \ud83d\ude42 But when I leave for practice later, I&#8217;ll be closing this thing and be bringing my iPad &#8211; because I don&#8217;t intend to &#8220;blog&#8221; during practice, I don&#8217;t intend to make\/record songs, edit photos, etc. during practice. I plan to practice and have conversations &#8211; and if I get bored, I don&#8217;t need to &#8220;produce&#8221; anything to kill time. <\/p>\n<p>What I could probably do is read emails, read books\/comics, do some social networking, RSS reading, web surfing, IM, or even play a game&#8230; and the iPad is already perfectly capable of doing <strong>all<\/strong> those things. Without the impracticality [and weight penalty] of a full blown laptop.<\/p><div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1047_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1047_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1047_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_1047_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Which is a different debate altogether<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">After owning 3 previous &#8220;pro&#8221; lines of portables before finally &#8220;downgrading&#8221; to the air<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Especially if you know how to manage your time and get things done<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">With the exception of work of course<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1047_1_5');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1047_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>5<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">I did mention it should be able to do <em>everything<\/em> you need it to do<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_1047_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1047_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1047_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_1047_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1047_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1047_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1047_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1047_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1047_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_1047_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_1047_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1047_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_1047_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1047_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A common question I get from people seeking my &#8220;tech recommendation&#8221; if they need an iPad &#8211; as if it were a difficult choice to make between a touch device or laptop. That is to say if they have an iPhone\/iPod touch, the iPad seems redundant. If they have a laptop, the iPad will also &hellip; <p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/12\/09\/the-ipad-advantage\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The iPad Advantage&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,11,13],"tags":[96,600,602,603,604,716,717,718,896],"class_list":["post-1047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-perspective","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-ipad","tag-iphone","tag-ipod","tag-ipod-touch","tag-macbook","tag-macbook-air","tag-macbook-pro","tag-perspective"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}