by Cesare Rocchi

The iPad is not a MacBook Air

by Cesare Rocchi

Tags: ipad

Since the day the iPad was released I met you. I am talking to you, you that think of the iPad as a laptop. I have seen your hope grow and grow as new devices and iOS versions were released. I admit that the situation has improved a lot. But when you grab a seat at your favorite Wi-Fi equipped coffeehouse I still feel a bit of compassion as you take the iPad and the external keyboard out of your fancy bag. I can see your frustration even if you don’t display it.

“Damn if I could use that shortcut as I do on my desktop machine”.

“Office for iOS is not even close to Office for the Desktop”.

“Crap, I forgot to charge the keyboard. I am gonna need to type this long article on a touch screen. More coffee barista!”

You look like somebody that needs to loosen a screw, holding a hammer in your right hand while scratching your head with the left one.

How do I know? I have been exactly there.

Every time there’s a new release I used to think: “Great, feature I thought was useful is finally implemented!”.

One was: “I wanna view two apps at a time, side by side”. Cool. Your request will be fulfilled in a month. Don’t tell me you have been waiting for that since 2009, otherwise my compassion grows. And once you get used to have two apps displayed, guess what you’ll want? Three apps displayed! Wait X more years.

I hate to be the one breaking the news but … the iPad is not a MacBook Air. I realized it four years ago. Guess when? When I bought a MacBook Air 11”. I am carrying a little more weight than you are, but way more stress.

Maybe there’ll be a time when the iPad will work like a full-fledged laptop, but we are not there yet.