This proves you can’t create on the iPad

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Nick Bilton was right… oh wait!



  • rattyuk

    I notice, that being an Adobe product, he seems reluctant to use the word iPad save in a couple of places towards the end. Everywhere else it is the generic “tablet”.

    • lucascott

      why would they go to the added expense of making a separate video for Android, Windows 8 etc. They can just have one and use a generic term.

  • http://twitter.com/mattrich0722 Matt Rich

    That’s not creation, it’s art. :)

    Poor Nick, so little vision.

  • bkx029

    Nick Bilton is too busy crying about being called an idiot…

  • Gonji

    Lucky he had a stylus…Oh wait!!

  • Lukas

    I don’t think anyone ever claimed that it was impossible to create anything on the iPad. This whole thing feels like such a stupid, pointless argument.

    Random Internet Dude: “Most iPad owners only use the iPad for consumption.” or “The iPad still has big issues when it comes to actually creating stuff.”

    Apple journalists: “Another moron claiming you can’t use the iPad for creation! Doesn’t he know about the artists making paintings on iPads, and people making music! In fact, I’m typing this on an iPad!”

    Citing anecdotes about people who use the iPad for creation doesn’t disprove the claim that most people do, in fact, use their iPads mainly for content consumption.

    • crssczch

      …just like any other computer, for that matter.

    • Jay Martin

      You’re missing the point. The people who are targets of the derision aren’t claiming that tablets aren’t used primarily for consumption (as are most computing devices – crssczch is right about that), they’re claiming that tablets aren’t suitable for content creation. For that, they deserve a constant reminder of how stupidly wrong they are.

      • http://twitter.com/shycophante Shyco Phante

        You’ll always get pissed on repeatedly by Gruber, Dalrymple and Siegler should you dare go publicly negative about an important Apple product.

        • Jay Martin

          I don’t find that true at all – the only repeated criticism I see is when the original claims are idiotic, such as the claim by Bolton (at least in the case of Gruber and Dalrymple).

          Can you show otherwise?

        • Sharon_Sharalike

          You realize that attacking the messengers instead of the message is a logical fallacy, right? That it’s not a legitimate argument?

  • iPad=Netbook_Killer

    The iHaters believe that nothing can be created on any Apple product. True creation can only come from some Windows device because that’s how their mindset works. But really, who gives a damn what the Windows fanbois think? They live in their own little narrow-minded world after being brainwashed for years about the way of Windows and they’ll never learn about anything else until the Windows hegemony dies out.

    • http://twitter.com/shycophante Shyco Phante

      Unfortunately most of what you have written can be turned around and used against a good portion of The Loop readership in regards to blind love for all things Apple.

  • Prof. Peabody

    As an artist, I must say that we will still need a “proper” stylus before art creation can rally switch to iPads and other digital forms.

    If you notice, all his lines are sketchy and imprecise. Not all of us draw that way. Like many current iPad artists, this is “fixed” by being able to zoom in almost infinitely on particular areas to “fake” the level of precision that isn’t there in the original design.

    Whether or not we get a stylus for the iPad isn’t a “new vs. old” tech argument as it’s typically framed, it’s an essential part of drawing to use a stylus if you want any kind of precision. It’s been that way since literally neolithic times.

    Yes, you can paint with your fingers, but no, your fingers will never be able to replace the precision of a stylus.

    • lucascott

      I know several artists that would disagree with you. a stylus, they would say, is nice but is far from needed.

  • Mendes

    That isnt an iPad. But i get your point.

  • http://twitter.com/shycophante Shyco Phante

    Poor Nick Bilton he really did upset the Apple bloggerati all stars with his opinion piece.

  • http://YousefA.com/ Yousef ALBuraq

    He is a rare user. The normal wouldn’t do that. He will just consume the iPad.

    Jim, you’re overrating it.

    • lucascott

      The point isn’t how rare a user it. The point is all the folks, including Microsoft, putting out this false claim that you can’t do any creation on an iPad.

      • http://YousefA.com/ Yousef ALBuraq

        Anyway, I agree with Nick Bilton 100%

  • Ostan

    Cute guy….and talented.

  • lkalliance

    I think the truth is somewhere in between. Showing an artist working on art content on the iPad feels like an exception to me. Making absolute or even extreme statements: “You can’t create or be productive on an iPad”, that’s incorrect, as SOME people can. But the spirit of the comment should be addressed.

    I think the folks that make statements in this vein are really looking to say that “an iPad is not a replacement for a laptop.” Well, you can type on it, you can post things on it. I’m pretty sure if “there’s an app for that” you can do whatever you like on it. But would you rather do it there than on a laptop? I think that’s the million-dollar question. And then even if you would prefer a laptop for some things, then the question moves on to what percentage of the “productive” things you do does that comprise? If it’s a significant amount wouldn’t you be toting a laptop anyway?

    I guess the real relevant question is “should it matter? They are different things!” Fair enough. But if I’m going to carry around a device, I personally would rather have one or the other. I have my iPhone, I do a lot of email on it, both personal and business. I manage my budget on it. I mostly “consume” on it otherwise. Would I be OK just with my iPhone? With just an iPad? I don’t think so, but my input would be just as anecdotal as anyone else’s.

  • http://darcyfitzpatrick.tumblr.com/ Darcy Fitzpatrick

    He uses the term “mobile” here a few times, which would indicate that he likes the fact that he can do still work when he’s away from his computer. That thing he does the majority of his work on.

    You can edit video on the iPad. No one at the production company I work for gives a shit because the work we do editing video far exceeds – far, far – anything an iPad can do.

    Arguing against someone who says you can’t create on an iPad is idiotic. Of course you can. So you win the argument because there is no argument. It’s what you can create on the iPad, it’s value, it’s actual value vs. it’s novelty, that is what’s worth investigating.