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.当华丽丽的平板电脑在市场上首度亮相时，许多人指出它主要是用来消费内容，而不是创作内容的。谁能驳斥呢？没键盘和鼠标，不能用短粗的手指来敲打和滑动。要用它来创作，怎么看都变得十分困难。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.但事物的变化是如此之慢。

我的iPad迅速就沦为了工作中不可或缺的工具。在过去两年中，我每天都用iPad来工作。

我常常撒谎说道，它是我最喜欢的电脑，即使要拿它同我功能全面的台式机iMac，或轻巧笔记本MacBook Air比起也不值得注意。iPad轻巧不易携同，电池能承托一整天，还内置无线网络，更加不用说海量的应用于，这些特征均是它的特分项。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.我找到，每次邻近圣诞假期，我对苹果iPad发布会的期望都要多达iPhone发布会。后者一般来说不会早举办，今年也不值得注意：苹果在10月如期发售了近期的iPad系列产品。

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?在这次Ultra的iPad问世之前，该系列产品的销量早已倒数三个季度下降。与之比较不应的，则是还包括苹果iPhone在内的智能手机市场规模渐渐不断扩大。这一变化模糊不清了手机和平板电脑的界限，并且抛了一个问题：iPad在我们的生活中应该扮演着什么样的角色？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（新产品中最值得注意的一款）的屏幕色彩和对比度有所提高，机身更为轻巧，还享有苹果的指纹扫瞄技术。

它还配备了更慢的处理器，所含更大的存储空间。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.我花上了两周来测试iPad Air 2。最后结论是：它既让我印象深刻印象，但同时也让我十分沮丧。在滑动文档和网页，或读取应用于时，这款平板电脑响应速度之慢，运营之流畅，令人难忘。

但当我充满著外接物理键盘，几乎把它当成移动设备时，我感觉与手机比起，iPad不过是有了一块需要展现出更大图画、更加多文字的屏幕而已。(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.)（这应当并不想人车祸，因为我最近几周仍然在用苹果最近的iPhone 6 Plus，我坚信正是用于这款手机的体验让我产生了这种感觉。

）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.与其用iPad来阅读文章，或是在YouTube上观看视频，我宁愿之后用我的iPhone，这种体验某种程度令人感觉。说来有意思，朋友们的作法和我类似于：自从披上了大屏幕的iPhone 6 Plus，他们的iPad就被拢在架子上积灰了。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.由于苹果移动操作系统iOS的近期版本在iPad、iPad mini和iPhone 6 Plus上极为相近，其产品类似性更为突显出来。

比如说，iPhone的横屏模式早已充足读者双栏文字，而之前只有在屏幕更大的iPad上才有这种效果。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.不过这没关系。如果说平板电脑就是新式的笔记本电脑，那么平板电脑和手机的界限模糊不清也就不那么最重要了。

而从另一方面来说，产品还有可能有发展空间——从工作效率的角度来看似乎如此。比如说，我乐意看到苹果发售专门iPad设计的物理键盘，配上具有用户对话和自动数据流功能的软件。我也想有分屏同时运营两个应用于的功能。

再行大胆说道个不有可能构建的点子：我还期望苹果用于小工具，在主屏幕上表明更加多信息。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.尽管iPad Air 2有这些严重不足，我还是渐渐开始喜爱它了。我找到在重新加入指纹传感器之后，关卡平板电脑时显得更为便利（它能与密码管理软件1Password同时转录），工作效率也有了提高。而有了最近为iPad公布的图像编辑工具Pixelmator，配上上新款iPad更为强大的图形展现出能力，使我更为相信它不足以代替个人电脑。

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.不过老实说道，我的情况与一般人大不相同。为了让iPad显得好用，我花上了无数时间和金钱来研究应用于和配件。我花上了大力气让iPad适应环境我的日常用于习惯，而一般人不太可能投放这么多时间。对于这些人来说，改良iPad功能的压力可全在苹果那边了。

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