People want touchpads and mice, and if Apple brought this to the iPad, they could seriously disrupt the industry. Yes it would cannibalize Mac sales, but who cares? The amount of Windows and Chromebook customers Apple would steal would surprise people. They literally wouldn’t have to change the iOS GUI in any way, why aren’t they doing this? If I’m being honest, I would be very tempted to switch to an iPad if it had mouse support (and desktop Safari instead of mobile Safari). Stuff like this makes me think Apple needs more aggressive people steering their ship. Microsoft is very lucky Apple hasn’t brought mouse support to the iPad yet
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#299323">In reply to Jules_Wombat:</a></em></blockquote><p>Android is the volume leader in the smartphone market, but what other client have they taken over? The client that certainly Android hasn't taken over is the laptop form-factor. </p>
skane2600
<p>No doubt some people would find mouse support handy, but there's really no reason to make an iPad into a poor imitation of a Mac. IMO, all the schemes that hope to turn mobile devices or their OS's into productivity systems are missing the point. We already have good productivity systems, Windows, MacOs and Linux have it covered. We also have good systems for mobile: iOS and Android. We don't need all-platform systems and we can't achieve them anyway.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#299695">In reply to Letsmakeitbetter:</a></em></blockquote><p>I see the reason to use, say an iPad vs a Mac is task and context based, not user-based. There are plenty of people who use iPads and still use their Macs or PCs. So, for the most part I don't see users split into "serious" and "non-serious" camps. You use the best tool for the job in the environment you find yourself in.</p><p><br></p><p>I see Apple's addition of keyboards and pencils an implicit admission that the post-PC world that Jobs envisioned isn't going as planned. I don't think turning the iPad into a kind of "de-integrated" laptop is what Jobs had in mind. But IMO, the natural end-point for evolving the iPad into a productivity machine is the laptop form-factor with OS capabilities similar to what the MacOS provides. </p>
PeterC
<p>Totally agree. Let’s see what the much rumoured iPad Pro and MacBook Air refresh is this September. In particular the new iPad Pro keyboard/cover that’s coming. I was also reading about an odd shaped connector that’s been noticed relating to the new iPad Pro. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#310108">In reply to christian.hvid:</a></em></blockquote><p>The problem that MS had with Windows 8 was that some features were designed specifically for touch with mouse support only as an afterthought. Gestures really aren't appropriate for the mouse which is why you should include visual targets for equivalent functions. Remember gestures weren't created because mice were inadequate, but rather because a more appropriate approach for small mobile devices was needed.</p><p><br></p><p>Now having a true hybrid approach to the UI might spoil its aesthetic "purity", but that's the price you pay for dual functionality. The alternative is to favor one approach over the other and end up with one of the functions only half-baked. That's what happened in Windows 8.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#310742">In reply to christian.hvid:</a></em></blockquote><p>"And over in Cupertino, perfect is usually the enemy of good."</p><p><br></p><p>Fortunately for Apple, sometimes they broke that rule and got something good, while perfect remains out of reach.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#314124">In reply to MikeGalos:</a></em></blockquote><p>"When Macintosh came out, despite guidelines, many vendors just ported their MS-DOS and Apple ][ text applications to Macintosh."</p><p><br></p><p>I've never heard that (although as a non-Mac user, I guess I wouldn't have). Given that many programs of that era were written in assembly and the fact that the Mac, PCs, and Apple II's all used different processor families (and completely different OS's of course), it doesn't sound like an easy port to perform. </p>