Why PCs Trump iPads For User Innovation 523
snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Bob Lewis argues that while the iPad may be opening IT's eyes to a new way to encourage end-users to innovate new solutions for their organizations, that work will better be undertaken on the PC. 'When the subject is PCs, the answer is to lock 'em down and run everything in the data center. When the subject is iPads, the answer is that there's an app for that,' Lewis writes. 'Before you decide the iPad is your platform, though, consider the factors that favor the PC. First, it's a sunk cost. Second, it's more capable. And third, your end-users are already familiar with it. Which brings us to what's particularly sad about the end-user innovation situation: Until the iPad resurrected the subject, most IT organizations have actively discouraged it. It goes beyond locking down the devices so that end-users can't install software they might find helpful in their day-to-day work or might increase efficiency in their departments.'"
I read the article (Score:2)
I read the article but somehow missed the point. Is this some sort of preemptive strike against a supposed iPad takeover of corporate IT?
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iPads are for content consumers, not creators.
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More likely against Android tablets.
iPads are for content consumers, not creators.
Really? So who are things like iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Sketchbook Pro, Create Apps Without Programming, iCreate, Creative Book Builder, Touch App Creator, Adobe Ideas, Learn To Draw, Video Editor, Auryn Ink, Scratch Card, QR Code Generator, Story Buddy, App Craft HD, DoInk, Caster, Sketchpad Pro HD, Heavy Metal Music Creator, Crayola, Build-a-Story, AutoCAD WS, Dollhouse Creator, RPG Cartographer, PHYZIOS Sculptor Pro, Forms Central, App Designer HD, Christmas Card Maker, Fractal Maker, Robot Ma
Re:I read the article (Score:4, Insightful)
How many of those apps were developed on an iPad itself, not on a "normal" computer?
Re:I read the article (Score:4, Funny)
All 10 of them. Or at least, that's what it looks like they were developed with.
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And there are eleventy billion "apps" for the GBA (including legacy "app" cartridges), would you say that's targeted at content creators?
For iOS there are 10 billion glorified site-specific RSS readers, flash game substitutes, and other commercial flotsam. How many IDEs and compilers? How many Photoshop/GIMP-like apps? Anything that can compete with Audacity or Kdenlive?
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Re:I read the article (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason you don't see innovation at corps on the PC is because the IT guys first lock the living shit out of it THEN put some really shitty AV that sucks resources like Norton. What you have is a machine that is painful to use that just screams drudgery.
Trust me, if you're talking about Windows, even when IT guys DO NOT lock the living shit out of it, you still end up with the same thing... a machine that is painful to use and barely works.
I have to completely disagree with the premise, that IT locking down the machine is causing the issue. I believe that IT choosing an architecture that is general purpose, and then removing most of its general purpose functionality, is a part of the problem. Has anyone noticed that 90% of corp workers use their computer for only company email and browser-based Corp apps? What is wrong with the idea of ditching the general purpose boat anchor and choosing an extremely limited architecture that does everything those 90% need... making THAT the defacto standard for new employees, and then giving the general purpose machine to the other 10% that need to do heavier (real computer necessary) stuff?
I think big IT issue in most corporations is not the lowly IT tech guys, but their management, especially the corporate architects, the directors and veeps, that have their head shoved so far up their asses they have no idea that they are allowed to and even required to innovate. Instead, they concentrate on doing the same thing today that they did yesterday, i.e. maintaining status quo, and keeping Microsoft in business. After all, if everything just worked all the time, what would be the point of even having an IT department? No, they must build "broken" into the infrastructure.
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It's too bad we can't work around the little somethings in Linux like we do for Windows. The latest problems I've had in Windows? Complete lack of Bluetooth OBEX support in Windows 7 (a $300 operating system doesn't have this? Seriously!?), inability to prevent dual-homing on Windows XP without a horrible, ugly hacked-up kludge of scripts, fact that Windows will automatically attempt to access network shares using logins that have been entered since the start of the desktop session, oh and the fact that Mic
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Your right. Way to many people wrote VB apps and they only run on Windows. Now they are all using C# Microsoft has done a good job locking people in.
There is a solution that will work for workstations. Just use Citrix or Windows terminal server for those apps. Combine that with VMs and you have a system where you can actually migrate people to a new machine with ease. Of course not every business will have the IT talent to pull it off but it is very workable.
Using that you could keep all mission critical ap
Re:I read the article (Score:4, Insightful)
I've read most of this thread (119 post already) and without exception, everyone making the case of PC is better than iPad (or visa versa) case is completely missing the point of either and both. These are TOOLS. Arguing over iPad over PC is like arguing that a phillips screwdriver is better than a boxed end wrench. Both are used to turn something (screw, nut) but other than that, they aren't the same tool.
There is no need for such a pissing contest.
Re:I read the article (Score:4, Insightful)
They are both tools, however one is a full toolchest, and the other is an eyelash curler.
Re:I read the article (Score:5, Insightful)
Pretty much, I've noticed a resurgence of the trend in the last couple of months. But as attempts go this one seemed pretty lame. iPad unstable? really? My mom has one and she doesn't even know how to turn it off or reboot it. She uses it constantly. (Several hours a day on a typical day).
Now, my iPad is pretty unstable, but it's running beta software all the time. Hardly conclusive. And, even with its instability I don't have to reboot it.
Most of the statements in the article have some truth to them, but the implications are wildly out of wack. (Implying a stability equivalent to PCs for instance, while PCs have greatly improved in recent years they still often have issues waking from sleep for example.)
The article is pure FUD in the truest sense. Fear, Uncertainty, Disbelief. While I'd be somewhat hard pressed to accuse the author of directly being in Microsofts pocket, I think it's obvious that Microsoft had a influence in some manner. (Even if it was just a quiet little request made to an editor for a more 'balanced' perspective).
Two things (Score:2, Interesting)
1.) iPads are not replacements for PCs.
2.) If PC operating systems weren't so fragile then IT departments would not have had to lock them down.
2
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Re:Two things (Score:5, Insightful)
To expand on #1, touch tablets are decent for information consumption, but not content creation. And even in information consumption, tablets are only applicable where the information can be consumed on a small, low-resolution display. I don't think, for instance, that day traders with their arrays of cheap monitors will want to limit themselves to an iPad.
Touch is a reasonably nice interface for many info browsing traversal mechanisms, though.
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Paper is actually pretty good for content creation. It has very few limitations, but has only simple editing capabilities with erasing and sticky notes.
Paper is larger that many tablets, and MUCH higher resolution than most displays, desktop or portable. Plus, it goes "multi-display" indefinitely.
Flipping is not the only browsing traversal, you also side-by-side simultaneous display, and use things like earmarks or tabs in stacks.
Paper is also lighter than tablets, and can be folded up when not in use for
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I see a lot more iPads on the commuter trains than laptops. A lot more. They're usually people reviewing documents, some are typing on them (obviously creating something), some reading the morning news, more than half are standing up. The odd duck luzer with the laptop isn't getting anything done with his aircraft carrier sized HP concrete slab. He can't even open the screen far enough to see it. The average iPad user is probably thinking "fuck the IT department, this thing rocks". Actually, I've been told
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I see a lot more iPads on the commuter trains than laptops. A lot more. They're usually people reviewing documents, some are typing on them (obviously creating something), some reading the morning news, more than half are standing up. The odd duck luzer with the laptop isn't getting anything done with his aircraft carrier sized HP concrete slab.
Personally I don't work outside office time unless I'm being paid for it. I find that much preferable to being given an iPad to work on the train.
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Some of us have jobs we actually like, where we're treated like adults. For example, I consider my on-the-bus time part of my work day. Other people could be working on hobbies or reading for enjoyment.
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I may be being naive, but sure the killer application for iPads in a corporate envirnonment is where the user needs to be mobile and use a reasonably constrained set of functions - e.g. looking up a patient's records and prescribing a course of treatment on a hopsital ward.
PCs are for operating in a fixed envirnonment with a highly varied task load?
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oh yeah try installing anything on linux without Root access or changing anything.
so install it in your home directory? I fail to see how lack of system-wide installation stops you running programs from you home directory
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so install it in your home directory? I fail to see how lack of system-wide installation stops you running programs from you home directory
That would be because /home and /tmp are mounted noexec.
Dev environment (Score:3)
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And last I checked, a tablet doesn't have any of the typical vi/compiler/linker/debugger toolset, or even a decent terminal and ssh to connect to a real computer. But then I don't check very often, since the lack of a physical keyboard makes those tools unusable in any case.
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Real work gets done with a real keyboard
Depends on the real work. If it's directly computer-related, then sure. On the other hand, a lot of real work gets done by people interacting with things in the real world and using the computer mainly to access relevant information. This kind of use can be easier on something like a tablet than on a real computer. For example, consider a doctor wanting to check a patient's medical history, see their X-rays, and what has been prescribed to them in the past. None of this requires a keyboard, but I'd cla
Re:Dev environment (Score:5, Insightful)
Programming for iOS isn't especially difficult, and the Enterprise developer license doesn't involve an Apple review of the app because there is no App Store involvement, so there are essentially no restrictions. It's basically like programming a PC, because it's just a computer.
Do simple facts count as a rational rebuttal, or shall I call you a hater as well?
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its a lot simpler and cheaper to continue on the pc platform then to throw out your existing code base, migrate all of your reports and provide training to your staff who are lucky as it is when they turn any electronic device on.
my company evaluated all of the tablet solutions and we realized to our dismay that a windows7 pro tablet allows better security control, easier document syncing, no extra cost compared to our existing system, does not require the user to have a second device just to install os up
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Except that you still cant use Apple's hidden API's.
Or create your own services.
Ipads are nowhere in the same league as PC's running Windows or Linux beacuse Apple has built restrictions into the operating.
Yep, my company
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What is stopping you? You can't use private APIs in an app distributed in the App Store, but there is nothing that is preventing you from writing code that uses them.
Why not register your application as a VoIP application, or play a silent audio file in the background (which then keeps your app alive at all times), depending on which is a better fit for your multi
Totally wrong about APIs (Score:2)
Except that you still cant use Apple's hidden API's.
Why not? Writing software that never goes to the App Store means you can use whatever recessed API you like. Now mind you it's probably a bad idea since an OS update is more likely to break something (and IT software must really strive for a high level of robustness) but you can do anything you like since you do not go through the App Store or any approval process whatsoever (beyond your own company QA).
Ipads are nowhere in the same league as PC's running
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I'm not sure what is wrong with nokia these days. moving trainwreck, quite a shame.
Make awesome real linux phone, fail to market it.
Then switch to WP7, how disappointing. At the same time basically kill symbian. Although symbian is pretty quirky, being a ground up phone OS and therefore having a week of battery life was a nice feature.
I was looking forward to a whole bunch of maemo devices. :(
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I'm not sure what is wrong with nokia these days.
Simple answer: Stephen Elop.
RIP Nokia, I'll miss you.
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You need the appropriate type of "terminal" and the freedom to use that terminal and to run the program in question.
The PC still trumps in all of these areas.
That's not even getting into the "mine's bigger" problem where the performance gap between a tablet and a PC actually matters.
We Already Know (Score:3, Insightful)
First: The iPad is generally a media consumption machine. I thought we'd already agreed on that.
Second: You're preaching to the choir. Or is this just an article meant to reassure us about our opinion?
Wrong, repeating myth (Score:2, Insightful)
First: The iPad is generally a media consumption machine. I thought we'd already agreed on that.
Only Apple Haters agreed on promoting that talking point.
In reality it's quite wrong; Even ignoring the obvious creation tools such as Garage Band, a billion drawing programs and things like iMovie, there are so many word processors and note taking apps that people make heavy use of every day... when you can easily work on screen as it is, with a stylus, or with any USB or bluetooth keyboard why would the iPad n
Re:Wrong, repeating myth (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't require less IT staff. It requires the same amount, if not more.
The iPad doesn't exist in a vacuum. It still has to be managed, which isn't particularly simple since it's so locked down. And since basically NO custom business apps run on it, that means that most iPad users are going to be using Terminal Services (or similar) to get anything done. Unless apps are written to run on the iPad, or run via a web page. But that's unlikely in most businesses.
So..considering all that, what's the real advantage of an iPad for business? Well, it's light and the battery lasts forever, and it's easier to carry than a laptop. That's ALL. In every other way, it's inferior.
That's why IT departments hate it. It's basically a big iPhone, but people want to use it to replace their notebook. Ugh.
Re:Wrong, repeating myth (Score:4, Insightful)
It still has to be managed, which isn't particularly simple since it's so locked down.
I can tell you are in IT because only an IT person would insist locking down only counts if THEY locked it down.
In reality the iPad is made for people who have to get by with NO IT DEPARTMENT, Which means it has to be as secure as IT would make it with no user intervention.
Well, it's light and the battery lasts forever, and it's easier to carry than a laptop. That's ALL.
That's All?
That's EVERYTHING.
But you also left out far greater degree of security than any laptop, with far more secure internal storage than most laptops.
That's why IT departments hate it. It's basically a big iPhone, but people want to use it to replace their notebook. Ugh.
IT: Screwing over the needs of the business since the dawn of time for sometimes marginal and often negative gain.
When IT gains power, get ready for the company to ossify rapidly and proceed to get nothing done.
Can't read? (Score:2)
Are you fucking retarded? Why buy an ipad when my nokia 3210 does 'EVERYTHING'?
I didn't say anything about the iPad doing everything. Only that the aspects he listed (light, battery, easier to carry) are quite a lot more significant than he makes out.
Now the 3210 would suffice in some regards (not battery life) except that application support is also important, and in that sense the 3210 is not up to snuff. Never mind the hard-on IT people have for currently supported and manufactured devices which knocks
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Not only is the iPad and content machine (licence fee based) it is only a 2nd rate content machine.
Screen real estate limits it severely as does processing power. The more screen real estate you have go to work with, the easier creativity is. Working within fifteen inches is tight, 17 is easier and guess what keeps the desktop going 24 inches and up.
Only real fanbois think you work on spreadsheets, documents and drawings, on an iPad, compared to the ease of a full keyboard, mouse, generally 50% bigger
Re:Wrong, repeating myth (Score:4, Informative)
when you can easily work on screen as it is, with a stylus, or with any USB or bluetooth keyboard why would the iPad not be a good solution for day to day note taking?
As a heavy Tablet PC user (you know, the tablets we had before tablets were cool) I thoroughly disagree with this, at least for an academic scenario. I take all my notes on my Latitude XT. Now THAT is a great note taking computer. Write with the stylus in one note, flip the screen around and type just as easily. It has robust and full featured note taking applications like OneNote, which is pretty much the killer app for tablets.
I tried to use my iPad to do the same, but it's really just awful. Without an active digitizer, any stylus you buy is as accurate as writing with your thumb. So you end up writing super large, which isn't really isn't great for the intricate diagrams I like to draw. The apps are pretty anemic as well. Apps like UPAD are nice, but they don't have all the features of something like OneNote. Then there's the issue of multitasking, which is something the iPad really doesn't do even with the iOS4. I'm talking voice recording, cutting images from textbooks, pasting in notes, browsing the internet. It can do these things... but it's just way too slow compared to how I work on my tablet PC. And trying to do these things on the iPad 1 is just painfully slow and unstable sometimes.
In all it's an okay device, but I can't use it for what I wanted to. I usually just end up reading books and browsing web pages with it. Content consumption
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In reality it's quite wrong; Even ignoring the obvious creation tools such as Garage Band, a billion drawing programs and things like iMovie, there are so many word processors and note taking apps that people make heavy use of every day... when you can easily work on screen as it is, with a stylus, or with any USB or bluetooth keyboard why would the iPad not be a good solution for day to day note taking?
Speaking as an iPad owner and a content creator I really cannot say I agree. While true I have seen people create drawings and do some writing with iPads, I've yet to run across anybody who has really elevated that to a level of productivity.
I am happy with my iPad, it's useful to me (i.e. I'm more productive with it at work), but it is primarily a content consumption device.
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It's not what I do these days but there are a lot of people (even technical people) that have need of taking notes almost every day. Have you ever worked at a large company before?
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Actually a MacBook Air is much better suited as a meeting companion.. typing anything meaningful on an iPad in a reasonable amount of time is still futile. And, if you're going to pair the iPad with a keyboard then you may as well use a laptop... preferably a MacBook Air :-)
Speaking as someone who regularly takes a MacBook Air to meetings... I agree with you. The air may be twice the weight of an iPad, but at three pounds it's light enough that you don't really notice it (the thinness may have something to do with that as well).
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You can not write normal size print with it, which means you can only fit a couple words at a time on the screed. The iPad stylus is more like a crayon than a pen.
That is generally true but some apps overcome that disadvantage. You can write or sketch smaller than you would think.
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If you want to do a mashup of George Michael's "Freedom" and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" then lay the dubmix over your video of the BART protests and upload it to twittube then nothing, I repeat nothing, beats an iPad.
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Hey, it isn't easy to make "media" on an iPad!
There are a lot of other useful things that can be done other than writing a blog nobody reads.
IT locking down the PC... (Score:5, Insightful)
(No, I didn't RTFA.)
Being a "mainframe guy", I can't help but laugh at how PCs were brought in to break the IT stranglehold, and now after uncountabillions have been spent on virus protection and remediation (with companies still not blocking most web sites), the pendulum is now swinging back in the direction of centralized control.
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(No, I didn't RTFA.)
Being a "mainframe guy", I can't help but laugh at how PCs were brought in to break the IT stranglehold, and now after uncountabillions have been spent on virus protection and remediation (with companies still not blocking most web sites), the pendulum is now swinging back in the direction of centralized control.
I can't help but smile at how the iPads (or any mobile devices offered on "a data plan" by telecoms) are considered as "not locked down"; also smile in the anticipation of the moment in which the only choice will be "there is a cloud supported App for that". (what is the WebOS for? why wouldn't the corporations attempt to feed you strictly via a controlled channel?).
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(No, I didn't RTFA.)
with companies still not blocking most web sites
Umm. Right. Do you know why most companies don't block most websites? It's because: a) it's a form of centralized control and stifles employee creativity, research and, as the article states it, employee innovation; b) IT people don't know what websites need to be blocked vs those that don't. If you block every website and have a whitelist then the IT people are deciding what the employees doing unrelated need to research and look at. I don't think the IT people have any idea what the employees using their
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don't block most websites? It's because: a) it's a form of centralized control and stifles employee creativity, research and, as the article states it, employee innovation
What innovation is there in watching /Desperate Housewives/ at abc.go.com, playing flash games at one of the jillion on-line game sites out there or catching up on baseball scores at espn.go.com?
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Re:IT locking down the PC... (Score:5, Insightful)
You're not hanging around the same kind of IT people I do then. Most of the IT people I know, have to know at least something about the job someone is doing, in order to recommend, support, show and otherwise train people how IT can enhance their job performance and productivity with technology. We may not be intimate with the details of their job, but we know way more about what they do, than they know about we do.
What we IT people do is pure magic* to these people. They have NO clue what it takes to keep 4500 computers, across 19 sites, running everyday with a staff of only 11. All they know is that it has something to do with boxes sitting under desks and flashing lights in a rack.
*Any sufficient level of technology is indistinguishable from magic. We type magical incantations into computers, and the ghosts in the machine obey us. Magic.
Re:IT locking down the PC... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of the IT people I know, have to know at least something about the job someone is doing, in order to recommend, support, show and otherwise train people how IT can enhance their job performance and productivity with technology. We may not be intimate with the details of their job, but we know way more about what they do, than they know about we do.
Beyond the good points you have already made, IT knows how the entire organization works. We work with everyone in the organization, from the C level executives down to the personal assistants and everyone in between. We know what systems people use and we know why people use those systems. When people need new functionality, we understand the business needs that drive the requirements. In most organizations, the head of IT is probably one of the most clued in people in the organization by the simple virtue of needing to be in order to do their job. (Jokes about IT being the last to know aside)
I guess tablets can't be an app server client (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like someone likes his PC just a little too much and doesn't want to get left behind or have to learn a new trick.
LoB
Hmmm... (Score:3)
[...] end-users can't install software they might find helpful in their day-to-day work or might increase efficiency in their departments.
I, personally, don't know a single IT professional that would not allow someone to install a piece of software like that. It would have to be vetted first, of course, but that would mostly be to ensure it gets installed properly and doesn't expose any backdoors. The problem is that most end-users want to install games or silly system doodads that will compromise a machine, bog it down or otherwise be inappropriate for the work place.
I do take issue with the capability argument. Sure, the current generation of tablets (I am gonna lump Androids and others in with the iPad as the hardware is almost all the same) aren't as capable as a modern, mature desktop or laptop platform. But, the rate at which these devices are evolving is significant, and I do see a very near future where a tablet is to a laptop what a laptop was to a desktop as far as a step in capability goes. I may dare say the laptop days may be numbered. It might take 10 years, but it might happen. Depends on what hardware advances come to market between then and now.
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The only way I can see tablets closer to the current format taking over for anybody
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Ironically, one of the major values the medical people imagine for tablets is to get the nurses & physicians directly involved in entering Medicare/Insurance company codes and to establish homogeneity of care. This generally amounts to checking off boxes on a list which are then either tabulated into a code or used to confirm that all aspects of a recommended diagnostic or treatment were performed.
I do hope you aren't serious. The coding is an entirely separate aspect of the medical record and pretty much the last people you want to input the data are the clinicians. In any sort of rationale world, coding would reflect what the clinicians did but at least in the US the coding dictionary (ICD 9, CPT) is a bizarre and ancient construct that reflects medical terminology in the late 19th and early 20th century. US insurers (and the AMA and the hospitals) have stamped and seized and held their breath
PC have bigger screens and multi screen (Score:2)
PC have bigger screens and multi screen
Now try to take a work flow that is good on a big / more then 1 screen and try to take it to the ipad.
Pc's have better multi tasking then Ipad (Score:2)
Pc's have better multi tasking then Ipad.
Like for 1 thing BEING ABLE HAVE MORE THEN 1 APP on screen at the same Time.
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The iPad has integrated spell check though.
the Ipad does not have Ethernet (Score:3)
the Ipad does not have Ethernet and PC have bigger HDD's as well.
and in some places Wifi does not work that well or is a security issue. 3g is high cost and slow speed at times.
Also for big work loads with big files you want to do work locally or have a good fast link to the sever.
For laptop uses having a big HDD makes it easy to keep big files with out having to be tied to the cloud over the world of WIFI on the go / 3g / 4g data cards with cost at $50+ for 5GB + $10 per GB after that.
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VMware and Citrix (Score:2)
... and several other vendors deliver desktops and apps to end-user devices remotely and increasingly efficiently. TFA is on the wrong side of history - IT will own and control the apps "locked down" and delivered remotely, device-independently. Administration of the endpoint device is a nightmare, and through VDI and app delivery endpoint management is becoming nearly irrelevant as these technologies improve. In fact, the end point becomes irrelevant - the always-on, use anywhere application service is
Just wait until Windows 8 (Score:2)
It will include IE so the CIOs can work with their intranet activeX sites and can be locked down by I.T. It will fill the disadvantages of the IPAD.
I have a feeling it will take a large hit out of the IPAD market and hard Android. It wont kill it but it will make it very popular for business executives
Innovation? (Score:2)
If by innovation, you mean playing Angry Birds, then I'm with you.
Where I come from, innovation means coming up with something new. Which, by definition, means that there isn't something available at the App Store to do what you want.
When I can install gcc (or Eclipse) on an iPad and build a native custom app to do exactly what I need, call me.
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I've used Textastic to do some development on the iPad, sending the source up to a server for compilation. I wouldn't want to use it as a daily machine, but given the constraints (working while travelling in a car), I actually found the iPad to be more comfortable than my laptop in this case. Development on the iPad certainly isn't out of the question.
I know that's not exactly what you want, but assuming you are a developer in the eyes of Apple, there is technically nothing stopping you from installing gcc
This is weak. (Score:2, Interesting)
First, it's a sunk cost.
Just because you've dumped money into it doesn't mean you should continue. Bad money after good and all that.
Second, it's more capable.
Define capable. Can it run more programs, and is generally better for content creation type activities as opposed to simply consuming (reading email, reading web pages, etc.), well sort of. On the other hand my iPad is so small and light, has instant on, has WiFi and 3G connectivity and the battery life is such that it lives in my bag and I just pull it out to use it quickly more than I ever did when
Bob Lewis is full of FAIL (Score:5, Insightful)
Once again the "apples and oranges" comparison of PCs and Ipads rears it's head. True wisdom comes from understanding that they're tools that serve different needs; any comparison of a tablet (of any stripe) to a PC (of any kind) is nothing more than some idiot making noises to drive up clicks to the website.
I own one of each - and a laptop, too. Which one am I using right now? You can't tell. For short posts to a website or making notes, any one of them will serve the need. Each offers advantages and drawbacks and it's always best to choose what works for you and your tasks, not what some random commenter on this site insists is the "one true way.
Would I try to write Klines of code on the Ipad? No. Can I go mobile with the PC? No. Am I going to be away for a whole day with no chance to recharge? Notebook won't do, but an Ipad would.
What's right for you might not be right for someone else; no matter what PC you're talking about or what tablet you're talking about - they're not intended for or capable of the same tasks.
Apple makes cloudy (Score:2)
Stop allowing Apple to cloud up the argument by making you think that the form factor and interface is bound by definition to the UI design and feature list of the OS it runs.
Argument 1: What if the iPad could run, say, Win7 or Linux or some other OS? It adds wide-open capability, and gives way to content creation. But the form factor and UI frustrate.
Argument 2: What if there were a PC out there with a huge 32" touchscreen display and gesture UI, and it ran iOS. Could a stockbroker be happy with it?
Argu
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Argument 4: What would be gained by mouse-enabling an iPad? Who uses an iPad with mouse to access a PC via Remote Desktop? How is that working out for you?
I know people who do and it works just fine. Linux admins get SSH. Windows admins get RDP or Powershell. RDP works fine on an iPad / iPhone. Obviously it is not a full blown interface but for quick tasks where you don't want to fire up a full blown VPN connection on a laptop / netbook, it works fine.
Bob Lewis FAIL (Score:2)
Bob Lewis has obviously not heard of Citrix, or if he has he conveniently ignores it. I am by no means an Apple fanboy and I do not own an iPad, but a few people in my organization do. I can present all of their apps to them via Citrix, from RDP to our Line of Business applications. Now obviously anything that is input intensive would be better done with a keyboard. Having said that, a Citrix session is just a Terminal Services session so for all intents and purposes, their applications is running on Wi
Please... (Score:3)
Why would choose an ipad for Business? (Score:3)
Being able to draw on an ipad is pretty sucky compared to a pen and paper or a whiteboard and in either of those cases if it's worth keeping i'll just take a photo on my phone and i can email it.
iPads provide a superior user experience (Score:3)
If you need to do heavy duty or highly specialised stuff then a PC would make more sense. I think having alternatives is better for innovation than mindlessly sticking with the one choice you're given, look at Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, that's a direct reaction to the emergence of iOS.
Useful tool for some tasks (Score:4, Insightful)
I didn't read TFA, that would be blasphemy, but as a long-time PC advocate and a more recent iPad user, I do agree with a lot of the comments here. The iPad is a relatively good tool for consumption and as an organizing aid. It's great to take to meetings and have access to my calendar and contacts and it's reasonably ok to take notes on. For light email use it's ok, but the mail client is missing a LOT of features compared to a full-featured mail client like Outlook, Thunderbird or Evolution.
For any real creation work it becomes tedious very quickly. Also, if text entry requires anything more than the normal A-Z, it is EXTREMELY tedious, especially if you need to enter special characters. Just entering the paragraph end tag requires an ungodly number of taps and finger dancing (it's 10, I just checked). The available special characters are also quite limited, for example there is no degree symbol.
Given a choice between a normal laptop and the iPad, if I was forced to take one over the other, it would be a laptop. But used in combination with a laptop the iPad is a useful tool for some tasks.
cant do much with an ipad (Score:3)
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You idiot, we don't pee from there. We pee from a tiny orifice just in front of there. Thanks for playing.
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Plenty of valid objections, actually, starting with plucking pubic hairs out of my mouth for hours afterward, and choking on them for days afterward. And don't say "I shave", I like my men hairy, thank you.
Looks like you're boned, to borrow an Americanism.
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It's late and I'm feeling generous.
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What do you want, a medal?
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LoB
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And for $399 you could get an even more power and versatile PC or laptop. Thanks for playing.
And those $399 laptops weigh about eight pounds - not really what most people want to be carrying around all day. But hey - thank YOU for playing.
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And those $399 laptops weigh about eight pounds - not really what most people want to be carrying around all day.
My gaming laptop weighs six pounds and it's packed with goodies. My netbook weighs about three pounds and while the keyboard isn't great it's certainly a heck of a lot better than a touchscreen. The first $399 laptop I could find on the web weighs under five pounds.
And, frankly, if you're really 'carrying it around all day' then you probably are the target market for iPads and the like because you won't want to be wasting time opening and closing the laptop to use the keyboard and screen. But most people do
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For 399 dollars, or in other words a pittance in financial terms, iPads can do ANYTHING the enterprise devs can dream up.
If by "ANYTHING" you mean checking email and editing documents all at a much slower pace than one could on a real computer, then sure. Unfortunately, I have to do real work at my job instead of wasting time playing with an iThingy and cashing in a paycheck on the backs of a bunch of poor hapless engineers, so that doesn't really work out for me.
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By "anything" I mean anything a developer can convince a computer to do.
My hamster can do anything a dog can, but playing 'fetch' with him is pretty dull when he takes five minutes to run to the stick and half an hour to drag it back to me.
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For 399 dollars, or in other words a pittance in financial terms, iPads can do ANYTHING the enterprise devs can dream up.
Like display two different third party apps on the screen at the same time? Sorry, these tablets are great and all, but there is still a lot that they cannot do well. For something as simple as visiting a clients webpage and writing copying their information to an address book or adding a meeting to a calendar, both Android and iPads have trouble. Sure, they have the apps required but they both lack the ability to maintain context. For that same 399, you can get a PC that won't be entirely off the market af
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On the contrary, change (can) be good. So computers you can change and experiment with are better than walled gardens.
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This afternoon the lameness filter stopped me from rebutting a troll with the output from a tracert (too many padding characters), even though it didn't malform anything at all.
But the lameness filter actually allowed this spam through???
I've got some news for you, /. devs, your lameness filter is, er, lame. Sort it. I want to post output from the console. My "fans" lol want the output from that console (it could have proved a point which was left unproven!). Nobody wanted this (repetition of URL was blatan
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Unless they make a tablet device with a mouse and keyboard *cough laptop cough*
My favourite new gadget:
http://www.asus.com.au/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/ [asus.com.au]
Also has USB host mode, so you can plug in mice, keyboards, nice big external drives, etc.
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Odd. Yesterday when I unplugged my desktop computer from the mouse, keyboard, and monitor and put it in my bag it didn't work at all during the long train journey home.
Suppose the batteries must have been flat.
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Not to mention that any user can root the iOS device, trivially. "Jailbreak" is fine if you're a home user chafing at Apple's restrictions, but rooted devices are a fucking nightmare if you're corporate security trying to make sure that things don't join the network loaded full of intrusion tools.
And I can hear the cries from dickwads, just like the last time we had this discussion, "well just make your network secure then and you won't care what's on it and I can run what I want." By that logic if we have
Re:Summary (Score:4, Informative)
The problem is that your fingers obstruct your vision, so touching is not that useful to me. The day one table can handle pen input the same way as my wacom tablet does, we'll talk. The moment I can drag and drop small numbers in an editor or spreadsheet without losing visibility because of my fingers, or needing a massive cell space for each number, we'll talk.
The moment I can play a "touch" game without the freaking finger getting in the way, we'll definitely talk.
Alternatively, when our fingers are totally transparent we'll talk.
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For that matter, every high school I can think of offers 'keyboard' (used to by typing). If you don't know how to type you have *actively* refused to learn. Again, don't whine.
The answer is, get yourself prepared for employment, not get a machine they *can* use.
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You don't need to lock them down. Jobs has taken care of that for you. Granted, its not as great a setup as BlackBerry has with corporate clients. They get set up with their own back office severs and can push their own suite of apps to their users. But eventually (maybe) Apple will offer something similar.
What you have done with iWhatever is outsourced your IT responsibilities to the App Store.
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Troll rating: 2/10.
Re:ipads are a success for me. (Score:4, Informative)
Listen to yourself man!!!! (Score:3)
The only reason the PC is insecure is because it doesn't restrict the user. But to say it's less secure is a stretch.
Do you honestly not detect the incredibly powerful waves of irony drifting from your words?
Oh yes PC's would be way more secure if PC users were all drones doing only what you told them. Almost as if their own mind were "locked down". But then what is the real advantage over an iPad for them in the end if they are constrained in what they can do anyway, even if it's only self-constraint?
Ne