Out of interest, how do you get content onto your iPad?
I plug mine into my MacBook and copy stuff to it.
Depends what I'm sending and where from, but if it's from one apple device to another it's either 'automatic' if it's same app stuff (obviously it's just backing up in the cloud), I have a Dropbox account that I keep a lot of stuff in, I can send files and stuff via Airdrop, or I just rely on the wifi. AirDrop is pretty fast, I've used it in the past with colleagues who used Mac laptops to send and receive large files. Dropbox is really useful too, provides a backup as well as making sure I can get to files on any device.
I'm obviously not pro and to get my images from my camera to my iPad I just connect via wifi, doesn't take long. Maybe if I was shooting weddings with 800 images I'd think a cable would be easier! Also backup hard drives from laptop would use cables, but that's not connecting an iPad of course.
None of this stuff is about being pedantic, I just genuinely don't see why there would be a need to use wires to connect an iPhone or iPad to a computer unless there is some specific reason or to charge it. It's always been fast enoug for me but maybe the files are smaller.
I use my iPad for music, photo editing, email, web browsing. I'm a trustee for a charity so I use apps like Pages, I use Numbers extensively, I manage a large mailing list on Mailchimp and events on EventBrite and make and distribute posters and leaflets from the iPad. I work with a small team of around 70 people who are our people on the ground with the charity, I communicate with them exclusively via the iPad. I also use it to play games (Football Manager can eat days of my life if I'm not careful), I watch Sky via the Sky Q app, the iPad also controls the lighting throughout my house and when I get the new system installed it will control the heating and all the individual radiators. I can print, control what's on TV and the music, and do all my banking on an iPad. Everyone knows most of this stuff, I do think a lot of people have an iPad and mostly just use it for a bit of reading or watching and don't get anywhere near the most from it.
I set myself a challenge 3 years ago to see if I could switch exclusively to an iPad and iPhone and not use a computer at all. I've managed for 3 years, in the early days some things were challenging but it got easier.
I only really want a laptop because I'm missing out on a lot of functionality in Lightroom and Photoshop, I have an Adobe CC account and the iPad apps although good and mostly adequate I just feel I could get more with a laptop. Really I could just get a used MacBook Pro for maybe £600 and it do all I need, but I love new toys and will likely spend a lot more on a new machine.
My 13 year old son has 2 iPads, one is for his music and videos and he takes it to school, thenother is an old iPad Mini that is in an indestructible case and locked to the Proloquo2Go app. He is severely autistic and non-verbal, we are slowly setting it up to contain a usable dictionary of everything he may want to say. Through this app he can ask for things he could not ask for before. Life changer. One day he may use it for all his communication rather than a gimmick now and then. Before the iPad and this £200 app the only devices that came close cost around 8k and were nowhere near as flexible or upgradable.
Apple is an expensive brand. I use it for the reliability and ease of use. My 3 kids all have disabilities, all have a Mac mini, they all have very different needs and do different things on them, all use them every single day. The newest is nearly 3 years old (it replaced one that just got too slow formmy eldest to enjoy - his was one of the first gen Mac Minis from around 2003), the oldest mini I think is 8 years now. Hand on heart I've never had any issues with any of them. The kids all have iPads, all use them for different things. I don't have to worry about what they are doing, if they want to download an app, music, anything, I get asked if I will let them andnif I will pay for it. You can do this stuff with Microsoft I'm sure, but I'm just not sure it would all be as stable and easy to use, I'm rubbish with computers when it comes to fixing stuff that's gone wrong, I just want them to work.
The new MacBook Pro is expensive, but it will hold a lot of its value as all Apple kit does. Go and try and sell a 3 year old Levano laptop vs a 3 year old MacBook Pro. I sold a 3 year old MacBook Air that I had got via the education disacount scheme, I paid £950, maybe a bit less. I sold it for £600, it was immaculate but that's not bad for 3 years use. People don't have to buy this stuff, they don't need to be brand loyal, we all have options. Personally I don't think there's anyone out there hat offers the same user experience for anywhere near the price Apple charges. I could pay more and I wouldn't get all of the stuff I listed above, especially when it comes to a communication device for my son.
