Took a trip to the apple store in Brent X - London over the weekend to grab yet another replacement mouse.

Guess what - they only had one - yes one MacPro in the store - 90% of the floor space was taken up by ipads and laptops. Is this the sign of the future of Apple. I really hope not as I would hate to have to switch over to a PC with all new software etc.

JP

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Mac Pro, Logic Pro, lots of software and 17 hard drives!

The most worrying thing about the possibility of Apple dumbing down (if that's what's afoot) is that there's no real alternative. We'd all have to go to Windows and frankly if OSX ends up like iOS it would be preferable.

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Original artwork and unique devices inspired by vintage technology http://www.thisisobsolete.com

Quote jellyjim:

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The most worrying thing about the possibility of Apple dumbing down (if that's what's afoot) is that there's no real alternative. We'd all have to go to Windows and frankly if OSX ends up like iOS it would be preferable.

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Oh I've just re-read your post, you're referring to the possibility of Apple dropping desktop models in favour of laptops and other portables. Yeah, that'd suck too!

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Original artwork and unique devices inspired by vintage technology http://www.thisisobsolete.com

Edited by jellyjim (15/08/11 09:47 AM)

Yep JellyJim,

They can probably sell 1000 percent more laptops/ipads than desktops. And the imac might end up becoming their 'top end' unit!

JP x

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Mac Pro, Logic Pro, lots of software and 17 hard drives!

It is a thought I've been pondering myself lately. I moved over to Apple about 3 years ago and since that time it seems I, and others, have seen a change in their business model. It's not a good or bad change, it's just different. If their market is swiftly moving toward consumers then so be it. In my limited experience, I remember Snow Leopard being an exciting OS upgrade. Lion didn't grab me at all for my needs. I don't want iOS features, because I want a traditional machine rather than this new format that seems to be approaching. It is likely to be the future as younger professionals come up and are more used to it. So in many ways I feel I should move with the times, except I can't afford to.

The sole reason I moved to apple was that I liked the reliability of the computers and that I loved (and was working with) Logic Pro. Since then there have been 3 changes in my working life, and all this year.
1) I have had to purchase Pro Tools for professional use, and PT9 was a no brainer purchase now it can work with all audio interfaces. Do I prefer it to logic? No, not yet anyway. I still haven't learned it and the plugin set you get is limited meaning I'll likely incur more cost later on with Waves Gold or something. But this is just the way PT works. I think I have been spoiled with logic, rather than disappointed with PT.

2) Windows 7. At work (a secondary school) I have recently updated our computer suites which were new a year ago and on XP over to Win 7. It's early days, but so far I have been extremely impressed. It feels modern yet traditional, it is robust and has all the bits of OSX I like. If I spent the money on an audio PC I feel I wouldn't be let down, should I feel I had to move over. And of course my option of PT9 makes this a lot easier.

3) Final Cut X. Now I'm not a video editor, but there has been some uproar about this. I think their stance is they are trying to move things forward, but it does mean extra time for video editors to re learn software. Now that's all fine and good, it's not this particular product that concerns me. What does concern me is what they will turn Logic X into. Will it be aimed at consumers or will it continue to do everything required by a pro? It remains to be seen. If I don't like it, then the only reason I will be with mac is the stability of the computers. And it is a fair high price for a stable computer if I can get similar from a carefully designed windows box.


Basically, I'm not married to apple, they were the best choice for me at the time. Now however, I'm not so sure, but I am by no means dismissing them yet.

I wish Apple would reduce the price of the tower computers. I'd rather have a dedicated computer, with PCI slots and multiple bays than everything hanging out the back on connectors. The Mac mini discussion in the other thead is tempting, but then I would still need to replace my UAD2 for the satellite.

I'm still waiting for the Mac Pros to drop in the second hand market, but that will be a while I'm sure. My G5 Quad does the job, but it would be nice to know that the CPU isn't close to spiking or that the programmes have slowed down because the CPU is almost fully in use.

I think Apple shops are esentially for iPods, iPads and the occaisional Macbook purchaser, but I expect most of their business comes from the "i" purchases. The online store still has proper Macs, and I hope they continue to do so.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Quote Jonnypopisical:

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Took a trip to the apple store in Brent X - London over the weekend to grab yet another replacement mouse.

Guess what - they only had one - yes one MacPro in the store - 90% of the floor space was taken up by ipads and laptops. Is this the sign of the future of Apple. I really hope not as I would hate to have to switch over to a PC with all new software etc.

JP

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Let's be charitable and assume the rioters last week just took the good stuff!

Though, if I wanted to buy something as high-ticket as a MacPro I'd steer well clear of such a high-intensity marketing operation as an Apple Store.

Quote jellyjim:

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Oh I've just re-read your post, you're referring to the possibility of Apple dropping desktop models in favour of laptops and other portables. Yeah, that'd suck too!

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Interesting in this regard that a recent detailed review of Lion in The Register concludes "In short, OS X Lion is a decent upgrade for Macs but a great one for MacBooks. Everything from FileVault 2 - encrypt everything, not just your home folder - to FaceTime - video chat on the move - screams ‘mobile!’, while sedentary users look on and mutter ‘that’s nice’."

CC

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Put the fun back into dysfunctional.
Mr Punch's Studio

Content creation: Small market. Content consumption: Huge market. That's what it boils down to. Apple have figured out how to build nearly perfect content consumption devices, and they're selling them as fast as they can make them. Let's hope they don't forget that somebody, somewhere, still needs to create all the lovely content that's supposed to run on their iOS devices.

And yes, when I look at Lion, it tells me OS X is on the way out, but will eventually be replaced by iOS. This could be a good thing. According to every benchmark I've seen, OS X is rather slow when compared with Windows. I could imagine Apple is seizing the opportunity to build a modern and sleek OS.

Actually, I recently saw a load of benchmarks on expertreviews.co.uk that kinda says that Lion brings OS X much closer to win7.

Not sure how I'd feel about iOS on the laptop. They would have to come up with a good way of doing file management for it to work.

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

Bring back system 7.6.2 and all is forgiven!

As someone else has said, I don't think the Apple Store is the place Apple sell most of their MacPros... (Or MacBook Pros come to that)

I was in an authorised reseller last year sorting out a MacBook Pro repair, and while I was waiting I overheard one of their staff on the phone discussing an invoice with a reasonably well known financial institution. It was for several million quid. From what was being said, that seemed like a fairly regular sort of amount for them.

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New album 'Fantasy Bridge' available now!
Making of Fantasy Bridge Diary

Quote MarkOne:

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I was in an authorised reseller last year sorting out a MacBook Pro repair, and while I was waiting I overheard one of their staff on the phone discussing an invoice with a reasonably well known financial institution. It was for several million quid. From what was being said, that seemed like a fairly regular sort of amount for them.

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I wonder why a "financial institution" was buying quantities of designer computers instead of cheap pc workstations?

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Quote MarkOne:

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I was in an authorised reseller last year sorting out a MacBook Pro repair, and while I was waiting I overheard one of their staff on the phone discussing an invoice with a reasonably well known financial institution. It was for several million quid. From what was being said, that seemed like a fairly regular sort of amount for them.

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I wonder why a "financial institution" was buying quantities of designer computers instead of cheap pc workstations?

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They wanted a product that worked.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

They took on the massive project of the iPhone, designed a new touch screen interface, developed that into the iPad, and are now transitioning that into conventional computers, all because...

Apple just can't design mice.

Who needs mice. Have you tried the trackpad?

WRT the lessening of the Mac Pro ... is this not kind of inevitable?

Who actaully _needs_ the PCIe slots in the Pro? Ok ... Pro Tools HD boys do, but for anyone else with a new native 9 system, they aren't essential..

I have an extra Firewire card in mine, but tbh, I could live without it as I just run a Powercore off that an it could easily be swapped out for Lexicon native plugs. My Liquid Mix is FW and I have 54 ins/outs on a Saffire Pro which is quite a few...

OK, so the UAD owners would be upset, but haven't UA already made noises about putting together a Thunderbolt chassis - they already have a FW offering and I can see that scaling up later on.

Duende cards went firewire, then native so they are out of the equation.

If someone did a Thunderbolt Magma chassis type box, why would we need the Pro? Hard drives could be over Firewire or thunderbolt, PCI(e) slots could be on the chassis and it could all be tucked away in a cupboard/machine room elsewhere just leaving the lovely big screen and oodles of CPU in one flat panel...

Don't get me wrong - I hope they don't do this (I love my 'Big Mac' to bits), but I can see the future and I'm not sure that it has a floor unit in it.

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

Quote Richie Royale:

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Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Quote MarkOne:

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I was in an authorised reseller last year sorting out a MacBook Pro repair, and while I was waiting I overheard one of their staff on the phone discussing an invoice with a reasonably well known financial institution. It was for several million quid. From what was being said, that seemed like a fairly regular sort of amount for them.

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I wonder why a "financial institution" was buying quantities of designer computers instead of cheap pc workstations?

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They wanted a product that worked.

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That's what I mean. A product that just worked, to do a specific job. That's cheaply and reliably available with mainstream equipment. Put a Mac on the MD's desk, if he thinks he deserves it. But why spend millions on hundreds of them? It's wasting everyone's money.

Quote Tui:

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Who needs mice. Have you tried the trackpad?

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Yes. The Magic Trackpad doesn't work as well and doesn't feel as good as the trackpad on my MBP, but neither are as quick or acurate as a good mouse. For clicking web pages or something equally trivial, well, who cares, use what you want. But doing something like brush work in Photoshop or Lightroom on the track pad is rather painful (though doable).

I do think the mouse though is one of those intermediate things that we all relied on for years because there was no better alternative, until one day we have a breakthrough that moves everyone onwards and we look back on the mouse as an antiquated old interesting phase of computers, much like eventually the combustion engine will be for cars...

Quote desmond:

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I do think the mouse though is one of those intermediate things that we all relied on for years because there was no better alternative, until one day we have a breakthrough that moves everyone onwards and we look back on the mouse as an antiquated old interesting phase of computers, much like eventually the combustion engine will be for cars...

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It could be they just got it right first go! Even for art work, where a pen and tablet OUGHT to be better, somehow the mouse does it for me. And, despite constant attempts to sex (and price)it up, that means a straightforward hand-sized Microsoft Optical Mouse, or something very close to it. All the variations I've come across just leave me asking "Why?"

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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It could be they just got it right first go!

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Maybe. The thing is though that direct manipulation with your hands just works better, and technological developments aside in terms of touch screen surfaces, glass and software interfaces, the single biggest barrier to desktop adoption is that touch doesn't map onto the vertical displays we use. My hunch would be that in a decade or two, touch will win out and vertical will lose - most of our work surfaces will be flat or slightly angled, and the display will either be able to be tilted up for regular seated viewing (eg movies), or you have a second, display only screen for those uses, and other secondary uses.

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Even for art work, where a pen and tablet OUGHT to be better, somehow the mouse does it for me.

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The pen/tablet thing you have to work at, but the people who get it, love it, and tend to use the pen for everything - they become very pen-centric. Those of us that flip between the two probably never let ourselves get completely comfortable with either, as they have similar but quite different approaches to the cursor problem. I do have a graphics tablet for graphics stuff, but don't really tend to use it for regular stuff, unless my mouse hand is cramping up and I want to use the other hand for a while (use the trackpad like this too).

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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And, despite constant attempts to sex (and price)it up, that means a straightforward hand-sized Microsoft Optical Mouse, or something very close to it. All the variations I've come across just leave me asking "Why?"

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I know people that love track balls exclusively too, though I personally don't. Whatever works for you, I guess.

but I do think that eventually, with good enough technology and interfaces, touch/direct manipulation will win out over indirect manipulation with some extra tool, with the possible exception of pens for drawing, where finger resolution is way too clunky.

Apple have already started modding their interfaces to be larger and more "hittable" - for instance, if you compare Apple's old ProApp frameworks through, say Final Cut Pro 7, and the newer more modern frameworks in FCPX, you can see that they are moving in this direction - spurred on by the success of their iPhone development etc for sure.

Quote desmond:

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but I do think that eventually, with good enough technology and interfaces, touch/direct manipulation will win out over indirect manipulation with some extra tool, with the possible exception of pens for drawing, where finger resolution is way too clunky.

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I'm thinking of an everyday task like editing this very text. I'm coping on a 17" laptop screen with touchpad. If there was lots to do I'd certainly plug in a mouse. It's hard to see how my finger on-screen wouldn't be impossibly clunky when placing the cursor accurately to select text blocks.

Laptops are vastly bigger sellers than desktops. And iOS devices outsell Apple computers by something like 4 or 5 times, if not more.

Apple stores, particularly the smaller ones like Brent Cross are laid out in a way that reflects that almost exactly..

Is the end near? Perhaps for bulky desktops..

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Paul

Quote Jonnypopisical:

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Took a trip to the apple store in Brent X - London over the weekend to grab yet another replacement mouse.

Guess what - they only had one - yes one MacPro in the store - 90% of the floor space was taken up by ipads and laptops.

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I've used Macs of all shapes'n'sizes for years. But had never been into an actual 'Apple Store' until last week.

Reason for visit - to get my iphone back cover fixed...

Quote desmond:

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I know people that love track balls exclusively too, though I personally don't.

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Hate track balls. Love track pads.

I understand the worry about apple going more consumer focused....but I also understand why this is becoming the future of computing.

We have more powerful computers (smartphones) in our pockets than I used in my music degree...and i can certainly record more audio at a better quality on my phone than i could on my first DAW machine.

We on this forum use computers in quite an unusual and 'high-end' way - and as long as we can connect our various external devices (such as a soundcard/mixer, firewire UAD, etc etc) and see the programme (ie have some real estate screen) then we can run our projects on a mac mini.
Apple bringing out the new screens, which have firewire/thunderbolt connections have helped in this area - and although they are expensive, they'll drop in price....

So, instead of a massive grey box in the corner at 2k, we have a small, palm sized mac mini, with thunderbolt firewire adapters (they'll come very soon - or buy an apple display) at £700 odd - thunderbolt drives recording the audio and half the cost.
Yup - the mac pro is probably dead......cloud computing, hiring of the use of online software (which would also stop piracy) and quick connection with firewire (through thunderbolt) would see to that - you won't need a massive computer to access massive power - the computer would just become an access interface...which is cool IMHO - and would actually save me £££ on replacing computers to 'upgrade'

I'd access al my usual computing needs (email etc) via an iPad....and just have the mac mini (or MacBook - if i want a macmini with a screen!) purely for my audio/film work - which would be powerful enough to cover those needs

the ease of publishing and sending out content quickly and easily has to be a bonus as well...from big bands (such as the nolans or chas n dave) sending live podcasts from the studio of the latest stuff for their fans - then releasing the album from their website direct to the fans....to me posting last nights gig on faceache live and direct from the old bull n bush...



It's already started in schools........iPad 1-1....smartphone content creation......youtube channels......

the children are already ahead of you - be warned - a new dawn is arising in the world of computing - and it will be ok -

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http://soundcloud.com/seaapes

Quote Jonnypopisical:

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Took a trip to the apple store in Brent X - London over the weekend to grab yet another replacement mouse.

Guess what - they only had one - yes one MacPro in the store - 90% of the floor space was taken up by ipads and laptops. Is this the sign of the future of Apple. I really hope not as I would hate to have to switch over to a PC with all new software etc.

JP

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I'll admit to having the same thoughts in the past, but let's think about this logically. Apple retail stores are targetted at average punters on the street.

Mac Pros are expensive, the main advantages are stability (ECC memory), expandability and that extra whatever % of processing power (which requires the right software to really notice the difference). Most people don't need a Mac Pro, so why take up valuable retail space on something that they just won't sell that many of?

And to add - if the latest Mac Mini had been available sooner I would have seriously considered one of those with an i7 + a UAD-2 Satellite rather than my current 6-core Mac Pro (with UAD-2 PCIe). Not quite as good - but not that much worse either for a lot less money.

The end draws nearer?

Those of us who subscribe, check out today's article by Mike Watkinson on the dumbing-down of Final Cut Pro. It seems to be accepted as inevitable that this will also happen to Logic, and there's a strong suggestion that it will be a Good Thing if it does. He also opines that Logic isn't up-to-speed as a pro-level sequencer, its main attraction is the bundled loops and instruments.

Of course, this is one man's opinion and we can still run applications that WEREN'T bought at the App Store on our Macs. Last time I checked.

(Please note, I don't rejoice in this news because I don't Like Apple. This is WHY I don't like Apple.)

I didn't think you were a Mac user?

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Quote Richie Royale:

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I didn't think you were a Mac user?

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I have to be sometimes. And I support several Mac users. Some of them feel (quite possibly correctly) that a Mac in their studio adds credibility. Some of them have swallowed the whole Apple thing - they'll push aside a keyboard and mouse which accesses ALL their controls perfectly conveniently in favour of an iPad which offers a FEW of them. Odd.

I imagine the article, which mentions Logic's "...technical shortcomings as a DAW and serious audio editor..." will cause comment!

Quote hugol:

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Most people don't need a Mac Pro, so why take up valuable retail space on something that they just won't sell that many of?

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There is something about Mac fans that make them think they 'need' the best regardless of cost, that may be the saving grace for the Mac Pro.

Sadly, we've already lost the Xserve and Xserve Raid, so it appears that, apple is no longer interested in the corporate / enterprise market.

I don't expect iMac or Mac Book Pro products to disapear anytime soon, but I don't think that Apple are still on the cutting edge of computer technology. Were still waiting for USB3 & ESATA, I know thunderbolts here, but at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any products to use with it.

How many products were using firewire when apple first started using it?

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

Quote Exavior Music:

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How many products were using firewire when apple first started using it?

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It quickly became the de facto standard for video transfer. Audio tagged along, and now video has moved on, audio will have to as well. Now, if Sony decided to put a Thunderbolt port on all its cameras...

Firewire devices - Can't remember now,
Maybe I'm just too impatient. I'm really hoping to see some external disks and audio interfaces but the waiting is killing me.

I would hope that disks would appear before too long. Audio interfaces are probably a bit further down the line.

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

Quote Jumpeyspyder:

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Firewire devices - Can't remember now,
Maybe I'm just too impatient. I'm really hoping to see some external disks and audio interfaces but the waiting is killing me.

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The new Macs don't have ONLY Thunderbolt ports, surely?

They still have FW800 and USB2, but I could really do with a faster interface for external drives (work related rather than audio)
Thunderbolt interfaces have the potential to support hundreds of channels of audio at low latency - most of us would never need it, but I'm excited about what may become available in the future.

I know people seem to want to move away from the desktop calling them bulky etc but I always think once you have a few things attached they're not so different. I love having a laptop for everyday tasks but there is no way I'd want to work on a laptop without my interface, external mouse/keyboard, monitors, speakers, controllers etc. It makes total sense for Apple to move entirely to mobile products and a mobile communications company is exactly how they see themselves.

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

For the first time in my 23 years of owning Macs for making music I bought the top spec iMac and sold my Mac Pro. Up until about three weeks ago I had always bought Apple tower systems.

I figure that the iMac has plenty of power and PCIe is on its arse with technologies like LightPeak (sorry I can't stand Apple's'Thunderbolt' rebranding) in the marketplace.

So for me I can see this perhaps being my way forward from now onwards.

Unless Apple start making AMAZING tower systems again...

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Quote MarkOne:

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I was in an authorised reseller last year sorting out a MacBook Pro repair, and while I was waiting I overheard one of their staff on the phone discussing an invoice with a reasonably well known financial institution. It was for several million quid. From what was being said, that seemed like a fairly regular sort of amount for them.

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I wonder why a "financial institution" was buying quantities of designer computers instead of cheap pc workstations?

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I can think of a number of reasons. Here's one.

They buy three thousand MacBook Pro's at a total cost of £2.4 million. After three years they sell them for £350 each, netting them a total residual of just over £1 million - almost 40%.

The alternative is to buy 3000 Dell Latitudes at £600 each (no, big businesses don't but £300 rubbish) - that's £1.8 million - we've saved money! No they haven't! Because after three years, how much would a Dell laptop such as this be worth? I'd be supprised if they received £100 bulk. That's £300,000 total.

So there you have it, the MacBook Pro's have a total residual value of about £1 Million and the Dell's about £300,000. There's not actually much in it when you do the maths. They also get to bring sexy looking laptops to meetings with clients.

Quote Aftertouch:

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The alternative is to buy 3000 Dell Latitudes at £600 each (no, big businesses don't but £300 rubbish) - that's £1.8 million - we've saved money! No they haven't! Because after three years, how much would a Dell laptop such as this be worth? I'd be supprised if they received £100 bulk. That's £300,000 total.

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I like that the only possible MBP alternative you could find was a £600 Dell Latitude.

To be fair I think there are some legitimate concerns over the future direction of several companies but Apple do stand out, especially as there are users who rely on them for more than one bit of a kit. The phrase 'it's the apple way or the highway' has cropped in conversation a lot lately. I know several Final Cut users who would agree...

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

Quote Will_m:

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Quote Aftertouch:

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The alternative is to buy 3000 Dell Latitudes at £600 each (no, big businesses don't but £300 rubbish) - that's £1.8 million - we've saved money! No they haven't! Because after three years, how much would a Dell laptop such as this be worth? I'd be supprised if they received £100 bulk. That's £300,000 total.

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I like that the only possible MBP alternative you could find was a £600 Dell Latitude...

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So do I, this weren't some random assertion, it is from many years IT experience in the banking industry!

Standardised docking stations and support has always been a key factor in deciding which laptops to go for. For years, Dell Latitudes were the go to models for many large companies as they knew their investment in docking stations would not be wasted, as Dell would keep the same compatibility for several generations of Latitudes. Just one benefit is that this would make hot-desking possible. HP and IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads were the same.

Cheaper models would often not have a docking station port and would also lack official corporate level support and guaranteed compatibility across enterprise level applications. Sometimes required utilities, for example, network management tools would only work with "enterprise level" systems, e.g. latitude (enterprise) vs. Inspiron (consumer) or Optiplex (enterprise) vs Dimension/Vospro.

£600 for a laptop is entry-level in blue-chip land and I do have experience of what banks etc sell 3 year old laptops for.

This pretty much sums it up:

Grandpa Box

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Spanky

Quote MonkeySpank:

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This pretty much sums it up:

Grandpa Box

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Dilbert is great, but of course it's all down to what you need a computer for. Must admit I was suprised when one of my colleagues (a developer by the way) said he only switched on his Mac Book Pro nowadays when he needed to program for work, otherwise his iPad-2 meets all his regular needs.

One reason not yet mentioned for me to prefer the Mac Pro is that I can put it in the machineroom.
When I record others, the liveroom is naturally free of machine-noise. When I record my own voice (I'm a professional voiceover) I need the controlroom to be quiet as well, I even shut down my laptop if it's in the room (yes, off... not sleep) because I need to deliver high quality work.

So, if the future forces me to go with either an iMac, a MBP or a Mac Mini I'm stuck with the mini. And that isn't appealing to me. Coming from a ProTools HD setup with a solid Mac Pro stuffed with 4 harddrives etc, some DSP cards, some external HD's, two 24inch screens etc.

I'd feel a Mac Mini might melt.

Besides, it just doesn't feel as solid...

Quote hugol:

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Must admit I was suprised when one of my colleagues (a developer by the way) said he only switched on his Mac Book Pro nowadays when he needed to program for work, otherwise his iPad-2 meets all his regular needs.

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Why surprised? Most of what most people use a computer for could be done on a smartphone, if it had a usable keyboard and screen. How often do you service a computer and ask "What needs saving?" to find it's just a folder of holiday snaps, an Itunes library and half-a-dozen documents? The amusing part is when the've spent big money on a trendy laptop to do it!

Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Why surprised? Most of what most people use a computer for could be done on a smartphone, if it had a usable keyboard and screen. How often do you service a computer and ask "What needs saving?" to find it's just a folder of holiday snaps, an Itunes library and half-a-dozen documents? The amusing part is when the've spent big money on a trendy laptop to do it!

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Yeah fair points. Personally I find the iPad has its benefits (portability and battery life) but I still prefer using my Macbook in general because I'm quicker on a physical keyboard and touchpad, the CPU is faster and the screen resolution is better. I can quite accept an iPad will serve many people perfectly well for casual web/email etc, but personally whilst I could get by I'd still miss my laptop.

Quote hugol:

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Quote Exalted Wombat:

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Why surprised? Most of what most people use a computer for could be done on a smartphone, if it had a usable keyboard and screen. How often do you service a computer and ask "What needs saving?" to find it's just a folder of holiday snaps, an Itunes library and half-a-dozen documents? The amusing part is when the've spent big money on a trendy laptop to do it!

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Yeah fair points. Personally I find the iPad has its benefits (portability and battery life) but I still prefer using my Macbook in general because I'm quicker on a physical keyboard and touchpad, the CPU is faster and the screen resolution is better. I can quite accept an iPad will serve many people perfectly well for casual web/email etc, but personally whilst I could get by I'd still miss my laptop.

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Well, my criteria DID include "usable keyboard". You have to be a BIG Apple fan to feel that applies to an iPad :-)