They are useful for pro photographers in the field, I said as much myself several times. But that guy is a huge fanboy. Both things are true.
The people who you call fanboys are usually the most knowledgable and critical of Apple’s stuff.
3x faster doesn’t mean the encoding quality is equal, though.
Knowledgeable yes, critical no. That’s kind of the definition of a fanboy.
Looked up and browsed though a few articles about/by him (he was in a podcast I listened to a while back, it appears too). I am seeing nothing fanboy about him. You say he uses a lot of Apple products for photography, which is not at all uncommon, he just talks about his experience with them. I am sure half the people on this forum would label Marco Arment a fanboy if I posted a few quotes from him. Yet his podcast is basically him bitching about Apple. I feel like I am arguing with Legowarrior again, but I know you are much more knowledgable about Apple stuff at least.
The “You can’t do work on an iPad” is starting to sound like, “You can’t do real work without a command prompt” or “real gamers use keyboards and mice.” Also, too many tech reviewers look at their normal use case – working within a cobbled-together CMS, usually – and applying their use cases to everyone. Or, they just try to use their existing thought process on an iPad for 24 hours and give up quickly. Every new tool requires some adjustment period. People who can use iPads to get shit done are called fanbois, or do work that is likely going to replaced by robots or something, because, ahem “real work requires this thing that I do, that the iPad can’t do, and blah blah blah.”
That said, the new iPads do deserve criticisms. They are powerful devices that don’t have apps that require that level of power. I think not supporting external storage is almost like cut and past support back in the day. I wish developers treated apps as iPad-first, or apps that aren’t companions apps. Scrivener, AutoCAD, Word, etc. get dinged for this. At the price and power levels these things are at, they should be able to be considered primary devices.
It’s not an entirely unreasonable position though. I’m not a tech reviewer, but this is one of the reasons I can’t use an iPad as a laptop replacement. It doesn’t work with my work’s CMS, and my work’s CMS is not going to change to be compatible any time soon. Most employees don’t get to choose the tools they work with.
Well, reviewers can talk about their experiences, but they need to be able to step outside their use cases. Slagging a device as “not usable for real work” because it doesn’t fit their needs isn’t good analysis. They need to take into account how people use these devices.
Of course, but equally, “use different software” isn’t a viable answer for a lot of users, if their employers don’t let them use different software.
Sort of. The iPad is a weird beast in corporate america. Most people who have desk jobs really can’t use them as their primary devices. So, when I talk about a primary device, I am leaving out the enterprise. Where the iPad can work, though is in a highly mobile workforce. Like people who use Salesforce all day, every day, and need an LTE connection and a decent browser.
A good tech reviewer – and there aren’t many of them – can go into their use cases, what the device is good for and what it isn’t. Too often these days reviewers are derisive of use cases that aren’t their own, and overly emphasize their workflows as a golden standard. Real Work™ is more than what a specific person does with a device.
Anyone had experience ordering Apple products from B&H Photo before? Seems like one of those semi-shady NY-based electronics suppliers - they’re not charging sales tax on their ipad sales but apparently they’ also don’t have any in stock to ship. Looks like I ordered a mobile power pack from them a couple years ago that had no issues at least.
I, uh, order all of my Apple products from B&H. Their actual store is like a mouse-trap carnival of serious efficiency. They’re great.
I tend to only order used Apple to let someone else eat some of the initial depreciation. Lightly used (9,9+ or 10 in B&H quality level) are basically indistinguishable from new.
Ok cool - any idea when they usually get the newly released products in? I want to get the new ipad pro but their support doesn’t seem to know when they’ll have them in stock. If it’ll be weeks before that happens, may as well pay tax and buy elsewhere. Thanks!
It’s usually a week or two after Apple has officially released a product.
Ok thanks! I know their support is mostly interested in getting me to place an order so good to have 3rd party info.
This thread by Panzer I think does a decent job at summarizing the pros and cons of working on an iPad.
That seems like a reasonable take, yep.
B & H has been in NYC for a long time. Very efficient store with a good selection, especially cameras and video equipment which they specialize in.
Just don’t order if you’re a White Supremacist. I kid (obviously). Their staff/management is mostly Hasidic Jews, so heads up: they don’t open on Saturdays (I think you can’t even go on their site and order on Saturdays).
Speaking of Marco Arment, here is his video review. Looking forward to hearing John Siracusa tear it apart next ATP.
I ordered an Apple Watch the day of the preorder. They said it would ship on launch day. It didn’t ship on launch day and then they went on a weeklong site wide break for a Jewish holiday the week following. I cancelled the preorder like a week ago. Horrible communication throughout the whole thing as well. I’ll never order from them again, but apparently a lot of people do and love them.