The term “iPad only” (as in “I’ve gone iPad only”) has annoyed me for a while. It’s usually wrong for two reasons.

  1. People use it when they mean they enjoy using their iPad the most but still use other devices sometimes
  2. People often use it and ignore their day job 
<li>This means someone will <em>say</em> that they’ve gone iPad only, but then mention the times they still use a desktop pc at home and occasionally reveal that they don’t use their iPad at work.</li><strong>That’s absolutely fine</strong>, it’s okay to use different tools but it shows how inaccurate the term is. Furthermore, the term iPad only locks people in to attempting to use the iPad when another device might be better.

I’ve never known of anyone to claim they’ve gone “Mac only” or “laptop only”, they usually just say that they’ve bought a Mac and now use that (but have the confusion of switching to a pc at work).

So I have a suggested alternative name.

iPad power users.

This reflects the core idea behind iPad only for most people. It’s about getting powerful work done on the iPad. It can also accommodate people who use other devices and not just an iPad.

Perhaps it doesn’t sound quiet as controversial and intriguing as “iPad only” and so will attract fewer readers. But it’s certainly more accurate in most cases.

This criticism is true of writing I’ve done where I’ve often used the term iPad only/iPad as my primary device (far too long) and then made many addendums.