How the iPad Became a Game Changer in Modern Computing
The iPad is an innovative device that really brought touchscreen devices and tablets to the world of modern computing. My history with the iPad stretches to 2010 when I received the original model as a gift not too long after its inception . I have used it for much more than it was originally intended to and found ways to do so before it even offered real multitasking abilities.
My Own History with the Device
I started covering the iPad, iOS apps, mobile games and similar topics after graduating with a degree in Journalism. The iPad inspired me to learn about digital arts and digital media. It also become like a third hand for me and my workload over time, due to how easy it is to take anywhere; how it has a great battery life, thus no need to carry external cords; how it can be used to write, take photographs on the go, create graphic design using a couple of raster-based apps I use, watch video and other content and play games without much of a set up or a long turning-on process. These are just some of its aspects I rely on.
Apple’s tablet changed computing from being a cumbersome endeavor where I had to wait for boot-up processes, slow downs and crashes laptops often entail to something instant and with me at all times. A device I can even use while standing in line or laying down in bed.
Despite the iPad’s portable and diverse nature, it also has downsides and issues it resolved over the years and that still plague it.
The iPad’s Hurdles and Tribulations and Constant Evolution
One aspect we can look at when analyzing the iPad is did it live up to the hype at the beginning or outset? No it did not and it took some years for it to finally be able to do what it was originally advertised to.
For instance, it took a while for multi media abilities to even be functional on it and with iOS updates we can today open files across a wide range of formats and save them to iCloud. For a long time it was seen and treated as iPhone’s lesser or less important cousin with features through iOS updates playing catch up to what was already available on the iPhone.
Due to the fact it shares the same ecosystem and App Store, many of the apps or games were dumbed down to be cross-compatible across the iDevices.For a long time, the iPad did not even get HD support and relied on developers releasing separate HD versions of apps to work on it so the display screen stretched to the edges and without resolution blurring occurring.
These were just some of the obstacles that were overcome over the long term. Today, the tablet has a USB drive and compatibility to additional hardware, mouse and keyboard support, support of full desktop apps like Microsoft Office, at least via cloud versions, and much more that bring it to the line of a computer than a big phone as it was once regarded.
The iPad had its upsides and downsides and there is a lot of hardware fragmentation now with Mini versions, regular models and Pros. This also means there is a lot of options for those wanting to purchase one today. I remember when the original Mini was unveiled and thought of as a pointless in-between the iPhone and regular iPad, but was quickly eaten up by hungry consumers wanting an iPad albeit at a cheaper price point and with added portability to boot.
I actually had the original mini for quite a while before trading it in for the Apple iPad Air 2 and later the regular 2017 model and the Pro 2017 , which I own today (two iPads that are relatively modern). The Mini was great for travel and I did not notice the screen hampering much in the way of apps as I completed the original Avernun Escape from the Pit on the tablet and this is a game that comes from the PC and requires a lot of fine input of commands, unit movement and overall precision. Apple’s Email app and others also worked like a breeze on it.
The Apple Pencil was a Game Changer for Many
However, the idea of the iPad being more than mostly just a consumer consumption device to me was when the Apple Pencil was unveiled and released for the 2017 Pro. This brought it in line with devices like Wacom tablets for artists and people who produce content and not just consume it. Sure, it never had the full-blown apps like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (it does now) many artists were used to, but drawing apps like Procreate or Artstudio Pro come close to Photoshop ability, in terms of raster graphic design, and many even professionals today replaced Photoshop with them. This is because in many ways these apps overcame Photoshop for content some creation tasks (like basic sketching and concept art), as they are easier to get into and the stylus or Apple Pencil is more natural for drawing than a mouse.
Besides creating digital art and graphic design, I have used my iPad to create videos that I uploaded to my YouTube channel all from the gadget. I took the photographs, created the graphics or captured video on it and I edited it in iMovie for iPad from which I uploaded directly to YouTube.
I have also done some productivity work on it using Google Apps or G-Suite and I remember a time where these apps were incompatible with the early iPad models or very difficult to work with. There was no way to even edit text via the mobile Safari from my memory nor separate app versions of the G-Suite. Today, on the other hand, it is all in our fingertips and we can start a project on desktop and finish it on our commute from work or to a gym with the iPad in hand.
Apple’s tablet truly morphed its presence into the consumer mindset over the years. There was a time where people constantly asked themselves if they need one or a large iPhone and whether it will truly succeed or not.
Before I even received the ipad as a gift, I’ve never used tablets nor was very familiar with touchscreens as at the time I did not even own an iPhone (got one soon thereafter however). To me, tablets were an abstract concept similar to the way I envisioned Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
I could not figure out the use for such devices in my life as I figured I can always use good ‘ole pen and paper for note taking and task management. However, after getting my hands on the iPad I realize it was much more than an assistant. I realized I will want to do everything on it from content consumption to content creation.
A Device Originally Seen as a Big iPhone Finally Coming to Its Own
Today, I can do pretty much everything as the desktop variant although I admit it is a slower task where you have to keep clicking on the pencil icon to switch between editing mode and read-only mode where you can track and accept changes as well as read comments by other editors.
Software continued to be refined and mimic what is possible on the desktop. Some of this is based on Apple making changes to iOS over the years and some of it is to companies making their own changes to software with iPad-specific features.
An example of this is WordPress. Now you can create blogs with both written paragraphs and multimedia inserted using blocks Within the app. Navigation and the user interface are finally seamless to use or at least not too much of a drag as they once were within the app. I admit this took years of constant updates, but it is now not a crash-prone disaster trying to write a blog post using the WordPress app as it once was. It is also simple to upload files today from either the iCloud folder or the photos app directly onto WordPress.
Another example of an evolution of software available on the iPad, particularly for content creation, is HTML5 video or web content. For a long time many sites had embedded videos and other interactive content on them that would not play on the iPad at all. They were created in Flash and as some of you know who have been iOS users for many years, Apple famously gave Adobe the shun when it came to implementing Flash within iOS.
There were many reasons for this like Flash being notorious for security vulnerabilities as well as slowing systems down to a crawl at times. Thus Apple sort of forced the industry to adapt to HTML5 video content creation vs creating video and website content in Flash. Even YouTube at one point was hard to access on the iPad with little of the video content compatible in HTML5.
Now we can watch what seems like YouTube’s entire library on the iPad and this is a good thing for both content creators and viewers. In fact, I have been cresting YouTube videos for my channel entirely on the iPad. This includes shooting the videos when I am out and about, editing them using iMovie for iPad and uploading them directly from iMovie to YouTube. Yes, iMovie for iPad is lacking in features to the desktop version of the app, but it still is great and easy to use for many tasks and hopefully this will also change in the future.
The iPadOS: a Game Changer in the Making
With iOS 13 the iPad is finally starting to see dedicated features that make it move in the direction closer to the Mac and not just copying or following suit to iPhone advancements.
A file system now is much improved where we can search for files directly and even share folders across the cloud using iCloud with desktop. It is much more of an actual file system desktop OSes use than just a quick mobile look up it started out as.
Hardware is much more supported and the latest versions of the iPadOS 13 (aka iOS 13 but called this to differentiate itself form just an iOS), has actual official mouse suport. This was something unheard of in Steve Jobs time as he once was hailed saying something to the effect of no one needing it or a stylus, but our fingers being good enough.
Some people may still feel this way, but the way I see it more options for consumers is only a good thing. It will mean the device can bring a larger audience in of say creatives or users who do need that stylus or mouse support for the tasks they rely on daily. It will then transfer into more options in terms of software and apps for us as a whole.
I remember when printing on the iPad was even impossible and how Airprint-enabled printers were released with printing being a breeze today.
Other features within the latest iPad OS release include things like SideCar (allowing the iPad to become a second desktop screen) and Split view for greater multitasking abilities (two apps being able to be used simultaneously easier or a single app twice). Slowly and surely it is becoming more of a Windows-like device in terms of the operating system handing of apps. by Windows I mean apps or browsers viewed across tabs and windows within the iPad display and not the Microsoft-owned operating system sharing this name.
The iPad is coming to its own and becoming more robust with features and abilities. Despite this, there are still many issues to overcome in the software realm. I had had one glaring issue come up that I wrote about on my graphic design website. This related to Web editing and one editor in particular, called Weebly, being touted as fully iPad and mobile supported with a dedicated app, but being far from usable.
When I used this particular editor, I would upload certain images to my blog posts or other sections of my site and I would later return to these pages only to find the wrong image inserted or switched from a different section of the site. This issue never came up nor does come up when I upload content from the browser on my desktop Macs.
This is an example of the trend by many companies to not take the iPad seriously or give it support it needs to even be functional for most users. However, a lot of software does not suffer from such neglect, although from my experience a lot does. Many companies still opt to rely on outdated apps rather than add functionality within the browser like desktop versions offer. Many simply do not update the mobile or iPad versions of the software often.
So where does the future lie? I believe the iPad will continue to make its presence and as more hardware is becoming compatible with it like mice and keyboards, it will continue to inch closer to the desktop in software but keep the benefits of its hardware intact and the ease of use it is known for.
The competition is also fierce today and the Microsoft Surface is proving a worthwhile contender. It is constantly improving and becoming incredibly handy for professionals in various regards.
Thus, it is no longer a playing field dominated by Apple and a bunch of Android tablets playing catch up. However, Apple and the iPad are trend setters and will not be replaced anytime soon in terms of the mass consumer tablet to get. Either way, tablets are here to stay and we as consumers can only benefit from more options and advancements in this form of computing for the long term.
