Thanks Vladimir, and it’s a totally valid point that I can’t disagree with. There is definitely a large amount of geek interest that drove the idea behind the article, that definitely outweighs the actual need for me to spend any more time on this. I am much more productive on my MacBook, and will be for as long as I can see. So you could actually put it down to ineffective hobby-ism.

But tech was always so, from phone phreakers to web 2.0 to mobile apps to JS frameworks, the way forward has often been useless playing with ideas, nudging them forward, mostly results in dead-ends, but very occasionally contributing to the “new normal”. (I’m definitely a nudger, not a breakthrough-er, and have long list of dead-ends). I’d like to think I’ve retained some perspective on what the greater purpose is, but I can’t guarantee you that because without at least a drop of fanboy-ism, no one is likely to stay on a road long enough to push a hole through the “theoretical” barrier.

The discussions I’ve had since I published the article have been fascinating — from emerging iOS possibilities like ish.app, to the question of platforms shaping workflows or is it the other way around, to the amusing thought that we all edited files directly on the server in the 90s, and now might be returning there again, only labelling it as the cloud this time (as all things are cyclical…).

A colleague asked the same question as you, and the the only logic I could offer was that a base iPad Pro with keyboard is cheaper than a new MacBook Air, half the weight, twice as powerful, longer battery life, has no fan and a better (if not as large) screen. Of course the workflow barriers easily outweigh all these facts — but if those barriers were lowered, would this balance shift?

I think that’s where the last sentence of the article comes in, as a challenge to Apple (and following that App devs), if you change this playing field a bit, what will we discover?

Of course if I stuck to the logic I gave my colleague, I’d actually be testing — and feeling closer to being productive — on a Surface Pro Go. And the truth is I should do that too, and give it equal weight, or at least look for someone else who has done just that. The reason I don’t is probably just the fanboy in me (and I do admire Win10 and the Surface, but still like my iPad more). But also, using a desktop/tablet hybrid like the Surface might just encourage existing ways of thinking instead using limitations as creative challenges!