Can iPads Make PCs Obsolete

Since the very first day of the iPad’s launch, a lot of people have been wondering if the time has come for a tablet to eradicate PC dominance through the decades. A couple of years after that day the answer to that question is still a “no.” At present, PCs and tablets, of which the iPad seems to be the most preferred by the market, continue to exist side by side. In fact, some people possess and use both devices for different reasons. While at first glance a tablet has features that will make people think that they can do away with their PCs, there are still several essential PC features that tablets do not have.

Therein lies the temptation of some people to sell their used iPad and stick to their desktops.

One major advantage of PC is their keyboard. If users need to type a lengthy document or email, the iPad’s touch screen interface may pose a difficulty. The virtual keyboard of the iPad is not that user-friendly for everyone. There are still a lot of people who find that they cannot type fast or accurately enough on a virtual keyboard. Although it can be argued that one may connect an external keyboard to the iPad  (a lot of iPad protective accessories are sold with keyboards already), this will entail an extra cost. Aside from that, lugging around an extra keyboard just in case you need to write something would compromise the mobility and convenience that most people say is the main reason they have an iPad in the first place.   Moreover, the additional keyboard will only add weight and girth to the device, something which can be unwelcome to owners who are very conscious of their device’s thickness and bulk.

More important perhaps than the keyboard issue are storage capacity and performance. In these two aspects, a PC still has an edge over a tablet, even if it is an iPad. In terms of storage capacity, a tablet has to compromise in order to have low power usage and faster access.  Even if an iPad’s storage can be expanded, thanks to hyper drives, the total storage space it would have still cannot compare to the storage space a PC can have, which can total up to hundreds of gigabytes, depending on how many hard drives it has.  This doesn’t mean you should sell iPad right away.  Who needs that much storage space anyway?

As for performance, both devices can go head to head on simple tasks such as browsing, playing audio or video files, and reading documents. But when you have to do more complex and resource-intensive tasks such as video and image editing, a PC can do it faster and easier than an iPad.

So, to answer the question in the title, there’s no way iPads will make PCs obsolete.  Unless Apple can make the iPad as powerful as a PC, then it  can’t replace the PC in a lot of functions.  Moreover, adding storage space and processing speed to an iPad will most likely make it thicker or larger, which may be a turn-off for people who always want their devices sleek and handy.  Anyway, PCs and iPads don’t have to outlive each other.  They can co-exist and even have the same users.  So, if you’re an iPad user, you don’t have to sell your iPad, especially if you have to use a device when you’re on the go.