Way back before the Macintosh made its first appearance, before the mouse and the graphical user interface made computing effortless, Steve Jobs had a vision for Apple that far exceeded the technological capabilities at the time: "Apple's strategy is really simple. What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes. That's what we want to do and we want to do it this decade."
It wasn't until 2010 that Jobs seemingly realized his dream, manifested in the form of a what he called a post-PC device, an easy-to-use multitouch slate that accomplished basic computing tasks with ease and provided hours of entertainment. It changed the way we thought of computers, file structures, documents and portability, and dramatically transformed the way we worked.
But as much as the iPad is a revolution in computing, launching a sea of copycats all vying for a piece of the future, there's still a sizable gap between tablets and PCs. And nothing has been able to bridge it — not netbooks, not ultrabooks, not Chromebooks and certainly not the Surface.
The truth is, the iPad is only a post-PC device if you're a person who isn't looking for the "incredibly great computer in a book" that Jobs predicted three decades ago. It may be true that people are buying a lot fewer PCs, but anyone who uses a Mac for something their iPad can't do — serious photo editing, design work, video rendering, etc. — has probably bought one within the last year or two. For them, a true post-PC device hasn't really been made yet.
The Surface Pro tried and failed. But its failure wasn't the result of poor design or functionality (in fact, the kickstand and Touch Cover were rather ingenious). Rather, the Surface wanted to be too many things at once — a PC and a post-PC device, all wrapped into an ultraportable package. Really, it was doomed from the start.
What makes the iPad so successful is that it doesn't try to be a PC. It may be able to handle many of the simple tasks we turn to our computers for, but it can't begin to supplant them, just as adding Multitouch to a laptop display can't replicate the tablet experience. They're tandem devices, not replacements.
There may be forums filled with people calling for a touchscreen iMac or MacBook, but it's just not realistic (no matter how many accidental fingerprints you may find on our screens). As Microsoft proved with its attempt at a hybrid version of Windows, designing an app for OS X and iOS are very different things, and Mavericks would be a mess if Apple decided to suddenly add touchscreen support. (Just try using a VPN app on your iPad for more than a few minutes if you don't believe me.)
With iWork '13, however, Apple might have tipped its hand. Not only did it redesign the iPad and iPhone interfaces to fit the new iOS style, it dramatically overhauled the Mac version — to the point of mild uproar — and introduced a full-featured web client at iCloud.com (which incidentally doesn't work on iOS devices). There's a tremendous synergy between each segment, with syncing and instant collaboration keeping everything neat and tidy, and a sense that Apple is heavily investing in the office suite, to the point where it's willing to upset longtime users in the name of seamlessness and simplicity.
But it's the web app that's most interesting. While the Mac version keeps its gray toolbar and rearranges some things, the iCloud.com version introduces an entirely new interface unlike anything we've seen from Apple — dark and unobtrusive, with floating menus and a minimal toolbar that seems to straddle the worlds of OS X and iOS. It's still in beta despite being very functional, and I wonder if Apple isn't testing more than its functionality as an online tool.
It also makes me wonder how well it would work on a Surface Pro.
I'm thinking that's where an iPad Pro would land, right between the iPad and the MacBook, with a new look and a new operating system, one that runs iPad apps but offers developers a platform with a bit more power and versatility. Something that encourages touch, of course, but feels just as natural hooked up to a keyboard. It won't be a hybrid, nor will it run OS X (at least not the same version that we see on our desktops), but I can't see iOS working on a much larger screen, either. It already feels stretched on a 9.7-inch display, and would-be users would inevitably expect something with more power and versatility from anything larger.
Any similarity between the current iPad Air and the iPad Pro will be in shape only. The experience will be vastly different from what we know today, and the way we interact with it will usher in a new level of computing, tablet or otherwise.
It just might be the first post-PC device for actual PC users.
沒有留言:
發佈留言