At this point, there's two fundamentally different types of computing that will likely never be mergeable in a satisfactory way.
We now have 'content consumption platforms' and 'content creation platforms'.
While attempts have been made to try and enable some creation on locked-down touchscreen devices, you're never going to want to try and operate a fully-featured version of Photoshop, Maya, Visual Studio, etc on them. And if you've got a serious workstation with multiple large monitors and precision input devices, you don't want to have dumbed-down touch-centric apps forced upon you Win8-style.
The bleak future that seems likely is that the 'content creation platforms' become ever more niche and far more costly. Barriers to entry for content creators are raised significantly as mainstream computing is mostly limited to locked-down content consumption platforms. And Linux is only an option for as long as non-locked-down hardware is available for sensible prices.
Kinda weird to exclude Procreate, Affinity, Final Cut, Logic, etc. from your definition of content creation. The trend has clearly been more professional and creative apps year over year and ever more capable devices to run them on. I mean, you're right that nobody wants to use Photoshop on the iPad, but that's because there are better options.
Honestly, the biggest barrier to creativity is thinking you need a specific concept of a "serious workstation" to do it. Plenty of people are using $2k+ desktops just to play video games.
In these cases, it still seems that tablet-based tools are very much 'secondary tools', more of a sketchpad to fiddle with ideas while on the move, rather than 'production tools'.
Then there's the whole dealing with lots of files and version control side of things, essential for working as part of a team. Think about creating (and previewing, and finally uploading) a very simple web page, just HTML and a couple of images, entirely on an iPad. While it's probably quite possible these days, I suspect the workflow would be abysmal compared to a 'proper computer' where the file system isn't hidden from you and where you're not constantly switching between full-screen apps.
And that's before you start dealing with anything with significant numbers of files in deep directory structures, or doing more technical image creation (e.g. dealing with alpha channels). And of course, before testing your webpage on all the major browsers. Hmm...
There are so many artists who exclusively work on their iPad. It does seem cumbersome for a whole studio to use iPads, but they can be a powerhouse for an individual
But nobody is using iPads as a sole production tool. It's part of the production tooling but it's not exactly an essential part or a part that can't get rid of or replace easily, unlike a "real" computer.
It's rather disingenuous to pretend that an iPad can be sufficient. At its price tag it is still a rather extremely expensive accessory and people pretending otherwise are just full of it. There are enough reviews/testimonies saying as much (even from the diehard fans) for it to be an obvious fact.
> At this point, there's two fundamentally different types of computing that will likely never be mergeable in a satisfactory way.
This is a completely artificial creation by Apple and Google to extract more money from you. Nothing technical prevents one from using a full OS on a phone today.
On the other hand, a $4000 mid-game Macbook doesn’t have a touchscreen and that’s a heresy. Granted, you can get the one with the emoji bar, but why interact using touch on a bar when you could touch the screen directly?
Maybe the end game for Apple isn’t the full convergence, but just having a touch screen on the Mac.
Why would you want greasy finger marks on your Macbook screen?
Not much point having a touchscreen on a Macbook (or any laptop really), unless the hardware has a 'tablet mode' with a detachable or fold-away keyboard.
Mouse and keyboard is still a better interface for A LOT of work. I have yet to find a workflow for any of my professional work that would be faster or easier if you gave me a touchscreen.
There are plenty of laptops that do have touchscreens, and it has always felt more like a gimmick than a useful hardware interface.
> Barriers to entry for content creators are raised significantly as mainstream computing is mostly limited to locked-down content consumption platforms. And Linux is only an option for as long as non-locked-down hardware is available for sensible prices.
Respectfully, I disagree partially. It has never been easier or more affordable to get into creating content. You can create cinema grade video with used cameras that sell for a few hundred dollars. You can create pixar level animation on open source software, and a pretty cheap computer. A computer that can edit a 4k video costs less than the latest iPhone. There are people that create plenty of content with just a phone. Simply put it is orders of magnitude cheaper and easier to create content than it was less than two decades ago, which is why we are seeing so much content getting made. I used to work for a newspaper and it used to be a lot harder and more expensive to produce audio visual media.
My strong feeling is that the problem of content being locked into platforms has precious little to do with consumption oriented hardware, and more to do with the platforms. Embrace -> extinguish -> exlcusivity -> enshittify seems to be the model behind basically anything that hosts user content these days.
We now have 'content consumption platforms' and 'content creation platforms'.
While attempts have been made to try and enable some creation on locked-down touchscreen devices, you're never going to want to try and operate a fully-featured version of Photoshop, Maya, Visual Studio, etc on them. And if you've got a serious workstation with multiple large monitors and precision input devices, you don't want to have dumbed-down touch-centric apps forced upon you Win8-style.
The bleak future that seems likely is that the 'content creation platforms' become ever more niche and far more costly. Barriers to entry for content creators are raised significantly as mainstream computing is mostly limited to locked-down content consumption platforms. And Linux is only an option for as long as non-locked-down hardware is available for sensible prices.