Can you do ‘real work’ on an iPad?

It's time to stop the snobbishness about how superior a 'proper computer' is

What constitutes "real work"? Anyone who has dug a ditch by hand would say that certainly qualifies, but when it comes to computing and screens, the distinction becomes more difficult. Since the introduction of the iPad in 2010, the insistence among some that what gets done on an iPad is not "real work", while stuff done on a computer with a keyboard running some flavour of Windows is, has become gradually more hilarious.

What stopped people from doing "real work" on the first iPad? According to various comments after its introduction, the lack of Photoshop; no access to the file system; no USB port for flash memory drives, or a spinning hard drive capable of storing 160GB, or a physical keyboard. Then there was the lack of computer-aided design/manufacturing programs, and the absence of Microsoft Office. How could you do "real work" in the modern age without touching Office?

Continue reading...