A former Apple executive doesn’t understand the usefulness of an iPad

Between 1981 and 1990, the French Jean-Louis Gassée was one of the executives of Apple. He was the founder of the French subsidiary of the apple brand. Even today, it is one of the most successful in the world. Since he left the management of Apple, Gassée remains a great commentator on Apple news.

He who never carried Steve Jobs in his heart does not hesitate today to question the legacy of the founder of Apple. In a recent statement, he returns to the iPad, a product he explains “does not understand”. In his remarks he explains that the target of the iPad is not defined and even the public does not know who this device is for.

The iPad won’t be useful until it’s better than the iPhone or the Mac

Gassée argued in particular by taking up the presentation made in 2010 by Steve Jobs himself. When introducing the iPad to Apple’s lineup, many mistakenly thought that the founder of Apple explained that it was a product between the smartphone and the laptop.

In reality, the words of the boss of the apple are quite different. He explained that the iPad was going to be a third product, which would have its own use, both close to the iPhone in certain aspects and close to the Mac in others. According to the French engineer, the contract is still not fulfilled 12 years later.

Jean-Louis Gassée explains in particular that Apple does not allow the iPad to perform better than the iPhone or the Mac on certain tasks. At no time is the Apple tablet superior to the other two products from the firm. Resuming recent uses of the iPad, such as web browsing, reading or note taking, Jean-Louis Gassée explained that Apple had to work so that these actions are better optimized for the iPad than the iPhone or Mac.

iPad: no face comparison from the Mac?

“You’re going to have to be better at these kinds of tasks than a laptop or a smartphone. Otherwise, it has no reason to exist. Today, the development of the iPad brings the tablet closer and closer to Macs and moves away from iPhones. The “third category” is merging with the second, leaving the field open to the iPhone.

This change of direction is also explained by the arrival of Tim Cook at the head of Apple. The new boss of Apple said it himself, the iPad is “the clearest vision” of individual computing. The arrival of the M2 chip in the latest version of the iPad Pro did not surprise anyone.