Except when you want to type something - which is pretty much every 30 seconds or so; you have to put the iPad down on a surface, then type it with your fingers and off you go. If I am using a pencil, it is annoying as hell to type with one hand.
iPad is only great for taking notes + consuming long form content. Browsing the internet requires keyboard input.
Which is why I mentioned that with most modern tablets you can connect a mouse and keyboard. I agree it’s not for advanced users who are keystroke command junkies (like myself) but for many others — I am thinking of users like my mom, specifically — it’s great.
But you can get keyboards for your iPad. I’m using one now, a Brydge. It’s pretty decent. It’s not quite like a full-size desktop keyboard, but typing stuff like this is just fine.
Voice dictation .... if you are comfortable with sending all your input to a random 3rd party server. That's how the 2 major providers work nowadays unfortunately.
We had mediocre on-device voice dictation when Pentiums + 486's were all the rage; (ie. Dragon Naturally Speaking 1.0 in 1997) why can't we get on-device voice dictation on these ARM devices at similar or slightly better quality, since these SoC's are 10x what we could do in the 90s?
I sort of agree with the parent. I get into serious browsing/searching/etc. and I usually just end up grabbing a laptop. I can do it on my tablet but it just seems like too much work. Of course, that may reflect habits and if I were to only have a tablet I'm sure I could make it work. My dad certainly has no trouble ordering from Amazon all the time just using his phone.
iPad is only great for taking notes + consuming long form content. Browsing the internet requires keyboard input.