Steven Sinofsky was President of Microsoft’s Windows’ division from 2009 to 2013. From his blog post about moving to an iPad as his full time machine:
Unlike many “use a product for month” tests this is not an experiment. For me this is a deeply held belief that the rise of smartphones (specifically starting when the iPhone launched) would have a profound impact on the way we all use “computers”.
The transformation spans hardware (thinner, lighter, smaller, cheaper, longer battery life, instant on/off, touch, sensors, connectivity, etc.), operating systems (more: secure, reliable, maintainable, robust, etc.), and app software (refactored, renewed, reimagined, etc.). It is the combination of these attributes, however, causing a change as fundamental as the leap from mainframe to workstation, from character-based to graphical OS, from desktop to laptop, from client/server to web — perhaps equal to all rolled into one shift if for no other reason than the whole planet is involved.
And:
Note: This is not a Mac v. Windows or iOS v. Android discussion, so no snickering please. This is about a shift to a “modern mobile” computing platform from hardware to software and the cultural changes that surround that.
I find it fascinating when folks move to a tablet as their full-time machine. I can’t imagine doing that. A big issue for me is the fact that Xcode only runs on my Mac. Add to that my frequent use of a large screen for both editing (multiple windows open side by side) and for development (side-by-side code listings and complex storyboards).
Sinofsky’s post is compelling and worth reading. Interesting that he made the choice to use an iPad and not a Surface solution.
I love my iPad to death. But the biggest problem with using the iPad is the autocorrect. I think it’s actually gotten worse. iOS turns simple messages into ridiculous and sometimes very embarrassing things. I can’t imagine typing professional documents in iOS. But I like the auto-punctionation and apostrophes. Apple needs to give the user access to those dictionaries. As-is, though, it’s unusable.
I love my iPad 3 (the orphan).
I have no desire to use it as a computer replacement. It cannot do the majority of things I do with a computer. It’s a clever little consumption device.
It is not a replacement for a computer. I don’t care if you can write a document on it. I don’t care that you can email.
I care that you can’t see the file system.
i care that you can’t truly multitask.
I care that every input method except touch is a compromise.
Are there any strong rumours yet about Xcode for iPad Pro at wwdc? I keep crossing my fingers but all I’m hearing is the Connect tab is going from the Music app
But Apple haters assure me that it’s absolutely impossible to use an iPad as a full-time computer, especially since it “isn’t a ‘real’ computer”, how could this possibly be? Inconceivable!
yes. I am so sick of the “,” (just next to space bar and easy to hit by mistake) screwing up my typing and stumping the spellcheck.
also the dictionary has learned some crap typos. I’ve even tried resetting it but they still persist.
you’re not everybody. writing documents, editing documents, and emailing are what a lot of people do.
Good for him, and good for anyone else who can do it. My parents might be next.
I really hope, however, that Apple remembers there are many of us “truck drivers” (as Steve called us) who do need a Mac. A fucking good and powerful Mac.
Well, it’s still worse than a regular windowed OS if you wish to juggle multiple apps. The split-view multitasking on iOS has significant limitations. And there are still a lot of apps that aren’t available in any form (Xcode) or in any good form (3D modeling). The macstories.com guy made the transition though and is very happy. Depends what you want to do and what your workflow is.
I keep getting a lot of “m”s when trying to delete on phone, it’s a weird one. Drives me crazy cause I’m trying to delete a bad auto corretcmmmmm and,mm k mm sound. Sort of,,,mm creepy mm yeah mmmmmmm
Lol the worst iPad. Try a pro out or a bT keyboard at the least you might find out you can do a lot more..
I’m the same as @davemark here. I can do everything absolutely everything except Xcode.
My “band aid” is like the old models, VPN WOL and a Mac mini “mainframe” that I can use full OS X when required, or ssh to run command Line tools. Paired with any bt keyboard it’s terrific. Zoom is a must on VNC though cause it is not possible to hit some smaller target buttons. Mocha VNC a very cheap and reliable client, Prompt is great for ssh. Transmit is a file transfer client but should be “Sherlocked” or bought for and on every single iOS device
I think it’s going to be possible ala GarageBand iOS. Some ways it’s better than the OS X version others it is not..
I would not be surprised, and I would be extremely happy too! It might not compile or something like that, though if a simulator is possible that would be amazing. I doubt playgrounds would be doable but who knows?!
(No compile/ or store submission maybe you’ll need to finish up on desktop Xcode but imO the machine is capable of it, fingers crossed they’ll release it to the public. (you /know/ they have it somewhere already haa)
There are some great autocad / auto desk apps out there but for full on oil platform engineering I’m not sure, Im a software and network engineer so I’ve seen some of those Insanely complex CAD tools and plotters etc.. It’s possible but another case where a desktop may be the better option.. Especially factoring the Plotter part!! And if you weren’t using a Pencil or zooming in very close you could make a pipe too thin or not strong enough for that load or temp ……yeah
Split view I detest at present but that is more about my work flow – I turn it off straight away! But give it a little more time, I’m sure apps that would benefit their devs will turn it on, Apple might do a Moses call “make all apps with variable size and constraints or they’re not on store”
IMO Xcode light or iOS X ode is around the corner…
I want a mini redesign, make it ‘the tinkerer’ Again, let us have 128gb of ram and slots for multiple GPU/ some sort of USBC breakout thing or thunderbolt for the pro users that need ridiculous power. Mac Pro is too expensive for most of us on budget and for a large org reasonable Mac minis with a lot of power would sell like hot cakes
My. Nightmare vision of the next Mac mini is
AppleTV 4 sized
Pink, Grey, silver, gold. Anaemic MacBook CPU (and no option to get the Big Boy chip) one usb C and a power connector. Guess they’d need hdmi too. Please no!!
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I agree with your closing paragraph but that is also something Steven pointed out. It really is horrible that people’s fear of the different and new, and especially media augmenting that fear was a very bad thing for computing.
Windows 10 great as it is is a step back in the wrong direction. He should be the one leading Windows, as he and only he was the last true visionary. The rest are salesmen, business people.
He would have chosen a Surface if Windows have continued in the inspired direction he gave to Windows 8. Windows 10 is bad experience for tablets, it is heavy on low cost devices, and it doesn’t have the ability to adapt as much as they advertise. It’s clearly leaning towards Desktop use.
Slightly surprised that you can’t think yourself into the space of someone who doesn’t have to do Xcode on a machine, David. Those closing sentences seem strangely PC “We have to put in a counterargument to make us look fair”.
Here’s the thing. The vast majority of real world users need nothing like the power of either a desktop or a laptop machine. In the 90s they were definitely oversold home computers which they didn’t need, because, I don’t know, progress?
These days with the iPad and reluctantly other tablets I suppose. Everything that these users want to achieve is easily reachable. Real work is not for them, and this is not a criticism, it’s really not needed.
There are a couple of interesting apps, but what I really want is a great poly- or subD-modeler, not the seemingly patch-based modelers. And one of the problems with split-view is simply going to get worse as more apps support it — that chooser list will quickly become unusably long.
Steven Sinofsky certainly can choose whatever device he wants to use but I see it as bad blood when going out of his way to write a story about using a competitors product. His departure from Microsoft was not to his liking. Get over it Steven. I am sure you have a ton of stock. Enjoy it and stop promoting other products. there are plenty of other people out there already doing their part.
I just read the article and saw little evidence of the petty vindictiveness you’re accusing him of. He deliberately went out of his way to explain that this wasn’t a platform or product comparison. All he did was describe workflows using the gear he happens to have settled upon for now.
Where’s your anger coming from? Do you believe he was trolling you, personally?
Yeah it needs a similar to safari tab zoom out or like expose on the Mac. I think the app switcher and split screen will be figured out in a far more elegant way than current “scroll for ever give up use Siri” method at the moment.