Originally Posted by
stimpy
Well it's semantics, but an iPad is absolutely a computer. It runs a full unix OS with the Apple middleware above it.
As I said, in my old job, an iPad was all I need.
But an iPad is a very limited, locked down device, without a file system, and that makes it VERY hard to do some simple, common tasks.
So if Office Mobile isn't good, use something that is good. A great app called Bigtincan Hub displays Powerpoint perfectly on an iPad. And there are others. What the Hub does is convert PPT into HTML 4 so it works just as good as a full PC, even with animation or foreign fonts.
You know as well as I do, if you have a powerpoint with very carefully designed spacings and placements of graphics, they do not survive conversion.
If they are your documents and you can create them in the format you wish, that's great. But if you're using slide decks created by a client or another source, that's problematic.
You can absolutely make PDF annotations on an iPad. I've been doing it for a few years now. That's old hat. And search PDF's, collaborate on PDF's with others while having a VoIP or video chat window on the screen, etc. Again, you just download the right app for that.
Sure, I used iAnnotate PDF, PDF Pro, etc etc. But none of them would give me everything I needed. I need to markup, edit, use complex fillable forms, and PDF portfolios.
I had five different PDF apps to get all the functionalities i needed to work right. Or I can use Acrobat Pro on my Surface.
You can absolutely use internal websites with all the bells and whistles. As for animation, just use the right app to convert it into a format that works, such as HTML 4.
My client's GIS mapping portal uses flash. There is no way to make it work on an iPad. Period. Another client's site requires a 'mouse-hover-over' to bring down the drop-down list. Cannot be done on the iPad.
Another web app I am required to use *requires* right click inputs to bring down certain functions. Very difficult to interact with on an iPad.
Another app uses java mapping. It uses click and drag to move the map. It will not work on an iPad, period.
Are those poor implementations? Yes. Would I design them that way? No.
Do I have a choice? No.
As I said above, you can use Airplay, but if you are at a site that has old school tech, then yes that is why I sometimes bring a Mac Air with me. So I can plug in a VGA connector. Actually I think I've seen VGA connectors that will also connect to an iPad, but I haven't tried those.
Airplay won't work with the VGA connector on the other side of the room. The device feeding the video has to be sitting there (which means it's 25 feet away, and need a remote).
I haven't been to a site yet that doesn't have secure or open WiFi access for guests. Or you could use LTE. So no need for a thumbdrive in most all cases.
Good for you. Many of the places I go there is no LTE, in some there's no cell service. One place is 30 feet underground, another is in the center of a building full of servers and there's barely 1XRTT service.
Many of my clients have no guest wifi, and only their machines can hit the network. The three places I was at today have no guest wifi.
Heck, at my office on client site, my only access is wired ethernet through my Surface Pro's dock. There's no wireless and no LTE. And no, I can't put a WAP on the end of the ethernet if I'd like to keep my contract.
Again, for some people's use cases, iPads are great. Just understand that your use case and other peoples' are not the same. Just as my use case and others' is not the same.
You asked why anyone would need something more than a iPad, and I've explained it. An iPad is an amazing device, but with significant and serious limitations.
EDIT: To be clear, if my workflows and requirements allowed to my use an iPad, that all I would carry. But it doesn't.
EDIT #2: I just remembered the thing that finally drove me over the edge. You annotate would PDF for an expense report, browse to the website for your expense system, and there's a box to upload your pdf.
The "Select File" box doesn't do anything, because there's no file system. You have to do it from a computer.