iPads, Future Laptops?

Wayyy back in 2010, 8 years ago (No 2010 wasn't 3 years ago! I know right ) Steve Jobs said something that really made people go what? To quote Steve

"When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks, because that’s what you needed on the farm,But as vehicles started to be used in the urban centers, cars got more popular. Innovations like automatic transmission and power steering and things that you didn’t care about in a truck as much started to become paramount in cars. … PCs are going to be like trucks. They’re still going to be around, they’re still going to have a lot of value, but they’re going to be used by one out of X people."  

People at the time greeted the statement with incredulity, including yours truly. Keep in mind this is 2010 we're talking about a time before every 10 year old had an iPhone or an iPad. Back then  I used my computer for everything from playing games to doing homework to viewing pictures taken on a dedicated point and shoot camera. I was unable to think of a world where all of this could be done buy something which I could hold in my hand and walk around with. Like how could I read wikipedia on something like that or watch movies? I still remember how skeptic I was reading that comment. Fast forward 8 years and that prediction is totally true none of use use a PC for anything that I earlier described, Do most of you even own PCs anymore? We are at the cusp of such another drastic change in 2018. Allow me to elaborate.

iPads Are Going To Be A Lot More Functional

iPads and tablets really exploded in popularity with sales booming in 2012  and reaching a crescendo in 2013. People at the time expected too much from the device and it feel short of their expectation and the iPad or any tablet for that matter was mature enough to meet expectations. Tablets in those days were just blown up versions of smartphones and could do basically everything your smartphone did but on a bigger screen. So the PC lived although it became a much more niche product as most of the trivial things done by the PC could now be done by tablets. But that was a long time ago and now its time for a rematch. Ever since iOS 9 Apple has been adding  features to make the iPad more of a productivity machine rather than a Netflix delivery machine. They've more or less succeeded at that and I believe that the iPad is finally ready to take on its laptop cousins. Please I'm not talking about the Pro market , not the person who makes sick beats using Logic Pro or the college student who majors in computer science, But the general population. 

Do We Really Need Laptops Around Much Longer?

 

Take the case of the average college student, one of the last bastions of the laptop that isn't a pro user.

Does he/she really need a fully fledged laptop? You have to check your email, submit assignments write an essay or two and consume media. The iPad fits this bill perfectly, And in some cases it will probably be more useful than a conventional laptop. Now I can hear you already typing the iPad Pro or the 12.9 inch iPad costs as much as a fully fledged laptop with a proper desktop OS. But thats the kicker iOS has gotten so good that the cheaper iPads are much more capable. Sure the 2017 iPad might not have the smart connector or Apple Pencil support, but it does have bluetooth it should be simple enough to slap a bluetooth keyboard on your iPad and there are plenty of cheap keyboards out there that undercut's Apples keyboard by a large margin. So you're essentially getting a no frills laptop for about $330. More than what most students need. Now this doesn't apply to all the pros or gamers out there you still need a laptop. Apple is rumoured to bring out an even cheaper iPad at $270. This brings the iPad within reach to a larger group of people. Honestly Apple's cheap iPad strategy has been paying off while the tablet industry resembles a sinking ship the iPad has been growing for the past two quarters. This new iPad will just accelerate the revival of the iPad.

So in another 8 years we might look back in wonder and wonder how we could use laptops for things such as typing out essays.

Note: This article was written on an iPad running iOS 11