Chromebook deployment...

[Richard Gaskin]

Geoff Canyon wrote:

 > On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 1:07 AM, Richard Gaskin wrote:
 >
 >> I just wish Apple would hurry up and announce the merger of OS X and
 >> iOS....
 >>
 >
 > Puttin' on my holy war pants... I hope they never do this. I've seen
 > what Windows 10 looks like on a tablet, and (to my eye) it's a
 > usability mess.

When did Apple ever implement something in the way Microsoft does?

Apple's desktop OS has always been distinguished from Microsoft's, their 
mobile OS is very different from Microsoft's; there's no reason to 
believe a convergence design would become the one area where Apple feels 
the need to start emulating Microsoft.


 > Touch and trackpad/mouse are too far apart to share a UI.

They are very different, yet consider the capabilities of the iPad and 
the popularity of docking keyboards for them.  Apple even makes one 
themselves now.

By docking a keyboard you get half your screen back and a much better 
typing experience.  At the point the device ergonomics are already like 
a laptop, with one serious downside: the "gorilla arm" Steve Jobs 
discussed as a problem with using touch screens with laptops.

Touch is great for convenience, but pointers are great for precision. 
Neither is best in all circumstances; both are excellent for their own 
respective tasks.

Why not put a trackpad on the docking keyboard, and have the best of both?

Just as the Outbound predated the first Mac portable, someone's already 
shipping a docking keyboard for the iPad that has a trackpad:
<http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/02/crux-loaded-case-almost-turns-your-ipad-into-a-laptop-for-250/>

The alternative to an OS design that can gracefully adapt to different 
input modes is a requirement to carry both an iPad and a Macbook, one 
for convenience tasks and the other for when you're doing any serious 
work like typing or graphics - or risk "gorilla arm" with a docking 
keyboard that has no trackpad.

Anyone who believes Apple is unable to produce a great convergence 
design underestimates them, and overlooks a long and distinguished 
history of excellence where others look clumsy.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com