“What does the ‘Pro’ in iPad Pro really mean? And does calling a device a ‘Pro’ computer mean it’s an enterprise device?” Kevin Tofel reports for ZDNet. “Perhaps Apple should have called its new larger iPad the iPad Plus. Maybe then people would be talking about it differently.”
“By using the word Pro to describe the 12.9-inch iOS tablet, Apple has actually muddied the waters a bit. It also doesn’t help clarify matters when Apple CEO, Tim Cook, recently [asked] ‘Why would you buy a PC any more?’ when discussing the iPad Pro. With a comment like that and ‘Pro’ in the name, I think Apple has a small PR challenge,” Tofel reports. “Cook’s comment makes it pretty clear that he thinks for many people, the iPad Pro can take the place of a new laptop or desktop computer running a non-mobile operating system. I tend to agree with him, but only to a point: If you want or need to use Windows (or Mac OS X) apps, the iPad Pro isn’t a good replacement choice without a great deal of compromise.”
“Is ‘Pro’ the right moniker, then? For many people, clearly it isn’t. For Apple, though, it is,” Tofel reports. “Why not call the iPad Pro the iPad Plus? … Adding the word ‘Pro’ to a product name means different things to different people and even though we’re in the midst of a transition from desktop to mobile, some are still going to compare the latest iPad to current Pro-style desktops and laptops by confusing form factors with computing activities. Maybe iPad Plus would have been a better name after all.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Throughout its history, Apple has challenged the status quo. They killed floppies dead, for one famous example.
Apple leads.
They are making a statement with the “Pro” in iPad Pro. This is the future of computing for the vast majority of people, as it performs the actions for which the majority currently uses computers better than traditional PCs. That said, there’s nothing “Pro” about that – this is the immediate future of the general public’s personal computing experience, not yet the pros’; that’s still quite a ways off – and far enough away that “iPad Plus” makes more sense today. However, all that said, Apple is fighting a bit of intractable FUD that the iPad is mainly or even only a “consumption” device, so that’s likely why they decided to force the issue to the forefront by naming it “iPad Pro” and, in effect, saying, “Hey, in your face, this is not just a consumption device, but a powerful productivity tool, too.”
“iPad Plus” would make it seem to be just a larger iPad, ignoring things like Split View, the powerful Apple A9X SoC, 4GB of RAM, and other things that make it unique. “iPad Plus” naming would allow the “it’s for consumption only” naysayers to continue their lies. “iPad Pro” forces people to look at the device in a new way.
