iPad Air 2可以取代個人電腦

When modern tablet computers first arrived to market, many people thought they would be primarily used to consume, rather than create, content. And who could argue? Without a keyboard or mouse, and only a stubby finger to flick, creation seemed like it would be troublesome at best.

當華麗麗的平板電腦在市場上初次亮相時，許多人認爲它主要是用來消費內容，而不是創作內容的。誰能反駁呢？沒有鍵盤和鼠標，只能用短粗的手指來敲擊和滑動。要用它來創作，怎麼看都顯得十分麻煩。

My, how things change. My Apple iPad has quickly become an indispensable tool for work. For the last two years I’ve worked from an iPad on a daily basis. I often tout it as my favorite computer even when I’m asked to compare it to my iMac, a full-fledged desktop, or MacBook Air, a featherweight laptop. The iPad’s portability, day-long battery life, and built-in cellular connection—not to mention the broad selection of apps—only help.

但事物的變化是如此之快。我的iPad很快就成爲了工作中不可或缺的工具。在過去兩年中，我每天都用iPad來工作。我經常吹噓說，它是我最愛的電腦，即使要拿它同我功能全面的臺式機iMac，或輕薄筆記本MacBook Air相比也不例外。iPad輕便易攜，電池能支撐一整天，還內置無線網絡，更不用說海量的應用，這些特徵皆是它的加分項。

As the winter holiday season approaches each year, I find myself more excited for Apple’s iPad event than I am for its iPhone event, which typically precedes it. This year was no different: right on schedule in October, Apple introduced an updated iPad lineup.

我發現，每次臨近聖誕假期，我對蘋果iPad發佈會的期待都要超過iPhone發佈會。後者通常會更早舉行，今年也不例外：蘋果在10月如期推出了最新的iPad系列產品。

The improved iPad line comes at a time when Apple AAPL -0.73% has seen a decline in that product’s sales for three consecutive quarters. The decline itself coincides with a trend in which smartphones, including Apple’s own iPhone, are growing in size. The shift blurs the line between phone and tablet, and prompts the question: where should the iPad fit in our lives?

在這次升級版的iPad問世之前，該系列產品的銷量已經連續三個季度下滑。與之相對應的，則是包括蘋果iPhone在內的智能手機市場規模逐漸擴大。這一變化模糊了手機和平板電腦的界限，並且拋出了一個問題：iPad在我們的生活中應當扮演什麼樣的角色？

The new iPad Air 2 (the most notable model of the new crop) offers a display with improved color and contrast, a slimmer profile, and Apple’s fingerprint scanning technology. It also has a faster processor and more storage.

全新iPad Air 2（新產品中最值得注意的一款）的屏幕色彩和對比度有所提升，機身更加輕薄，還擁有蘋果的指紋掃描技術。它還搭載了更快的處理器，含有更大的存儲空間。

I spent two weeks testing the iPad Air 2, and at the end of my time with the device, I found myself equally impressed and disappointed. The tablet is impressively responsive and smooth when it comes to scrolling through documents or web pages and launching applications. Yet when I set aside the physical keyboard that I used with the device and attempted to use it strictly as a mobile device, I often felt as if the iPad was nothing more than an extra screen offering bigger pictures and larger text than my phone.

我花了兩週來測試iPad Air 2。最終結論是：它既讓我印象深刻，但同時也讓我非常失望。在滾動文檔和網頁，或加載應用時，這款平板電腦響應速度之快，運行之順暢，令人難忘。但當我拋開外接物理鍵盤，完全把它當作移動設備時，我感覺與手機相比，iPad不過是有了一塊能夠展現更大圖畫、更多文字的屏幕而已。

(It should come as no surprise that I have been using Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus in recent weeks, which I’m sure helped contribute to the feeling.)

（這應該並不讓人意外，因爲我最近幾週一直在用蘋果最近的iPhone 6 Plus，我相信正是使用這款手機的體驗讓我產生了這種感覺。）

Instead of picking up my iPad to read an article or watch a video on YouTube, I would find myself remaining with the iPhone, the experience just as pleasant. Anecdotally, friends have told me similar scenarios: since upgrading to the iPhone 6 Plus, their iPad sits on a shelf, collecting dust.

與其用iPad來閱讀文章，或是在YouTube上觀賞視頻，我寧願繼續用我的iPhone，這種體驗同樣令人愉悅。說來有趣，朋友們的做法和我類似：自從換上了大屏幕的iPhone 6 Plus，他們的iPad就被擱在架子上積灰了。

The similarities are underscored by the fact that the latest version of iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, is exceedingly similar between the iPad, iPad mini and iPhone 6 Plus. For example, there is now enough room on the iPhone for two column-views in landscape mode, something only the larger iPad previously enjoyed.

由於蘋果移動操作系統iOS的最新版本在iPad、iPad mini和iPhone 6 Plus上極其相似，其產品類似性更加凸顯出來。比如說，iPhone的橫屏模式已經足夠閱讀雙欄文字，而之前只有在屏幕更大的iPad上纔有這種效果。

But that’s alright. If the tablet is the new laptop, the blurred line between it and the phone matters less, and there may be room for growth at the other end—certainly from a productivity standpoint. I would love to see Apple release a physical keyboard built specifically for the iPad and with software support for custom interactions and auto-correct. I would love the ability to run two apps in a split-screen arrangement, for example. And going out on limb that’s sure to fall, I’d love to see Apple bring more information to the home screen using widgets. Yes, widgets.

不過這沒關係。如果說平板電腦就是新式的筆記本電腦，那麼平板電腦和手機的界限模糊也就不那麼重要了。而從另一方面來說，產品還可能有發展空間——從工作效率的角度來看顯然如此。比如說，我樂於看見蘋果推出專爲iPad設計的物理鍵盤，搭配帶有用戶互動和自動糾錯功能的軟件。我也想要有分屏同時運行兩個應用的功能。再大膽說個不可能實現的想法：我還希望蘋果使用小工具，在主屏幕上顯示更多信息。是的，小工具。

Despite these shortcomings, I developed an appreciation for the iPad Air 2. I found the addition of the tablet’s fingerprint sensor for secure access convenient (it works with the handy password manager 1Password) and a productivity boost. The recently released Pixelmator for iPad, an image editor, combined with the new model’s improved graphics performance has helped reaffirm it as a PC replacement for me.

儘管iPad Air 2有這些不足，我還是慢慢開始欣賞它了。我發現在加入指紋傳感器之後，解鎖平板電腦時變得更加方便（它能與密碼管理軟件1Password同時激活），工作效率也有了提升。而有了最近爲iPad發佈的圖像編輯工具Pixelmator，搭配上新款iPad更加強勁的圖形表現能力，使我更加確信它足以取代個人電腦。

But let’s be honest: My use case is far from the norm. I’ve spent countless hours and dollars researching apps and accessories in order to make the iPad work for me. I have forced the iPad to fit into my life. The average person is less likely to invest that kind of time. For those people, that burden lies at Apple’s feet.

不過老實說，我的情況與一般人大不相同。爲了讓iPad變得好用，我花了無數時間和金錢來研究應用和配件。我花了大力氣讓iPad適應我的日常使用習慣，而一般人不太可能投入這麼多時間。對於這些人來說，改進iPad功能的壓力可全在蘋果那邊了。