A seemingly rare treat to get an Apple focused essay from Craig. But I think Craig is missing (at least part of) the mark with this one.

"The iPad should be radically (though obviously) touch-only. No keyboards. No pointers. No mice. No trackpads. Just your disgusting fingers flopping over the screen and mooshing into icons. It should not have any window’d modes. Each app should fill the whole screen and only the whole screen."

My hot pink iPad is just that—touch-only. I don't pair a mouse with it. No trackpads. My greasy nubbins flop and moosh all over the thing while I cook in my kitchen with it. While it is capable of all the things Craig describes, I choose not to engage with them. That's where I think Craig is missing the mark. He's ignoring the flexibility and adaptability in the iPad's hardware.

"No more keyboards or mouse support for iPads. Touch only. Nix half the iPad lineup, simplify simplify simplify. Gut iPadOS and rebuild it around touch fluidity and fluency and focus."

I'm not sure what half of the iPad lineup they'd get rid of, maybe just the base iPad? I feel like the size of the mini makes it a valuable slab in the lineup. The iPad Air feels like the default as the Pro creeps higher and higher in price.

Touch-only feels like a regression of the highest order for Apple's most flexible kit. It would negate so many workflows and accessibility scenarios. iPadOS is still touch-first and is the only way I use my iPad. I know the other modes and methods exist, but I choose to use the iPad the same way Steve did when demoing the first.

Craig's frustration comes in part, I think, from having the "knowledge of fire," which I crib from one of the all time greatest trailers—Red Dead Redemption 2: Official Trailer #3.

"You have to love yourself a fire. It's one of the blessings. Sure, we can have fire...And we can have the knowledge of fire...But with that comes the knowledge of everything."

Craig and all us Apple nerds know what the iPad is capable of, especially those M5 iPad Pros with their absurdist performance potential. I think that untapped potential frustrates us. We see stagnation or even regression in the face of unparalleled hardware progress. "Why is the iPad trying to be a laptop?! Why does it cost more than a laptop for a keyboard and trackpad? I'll just buy a Mac instead." We have the knowledge of fire (an OS and hardwares full capabilities) and that means we are cursed with the knowledge of everything (ohmygodwhy)

But, you don't need to attach a keyboard. No one is forcing you to. Tim Cook would like you to buy one. Nothing in iPadOS is forcing you to use windowing or Stage Manager. Want those big, beautiful, mooshy iPad apps? Use 'em. Want iPad-first apps? They exist and excel where their iOS and macOS counterparts do not. I think of Mela, my favorite recipe app. It sings on the iPad. I never want to cook without it.

Forcing the iPad back to touch-only would be a loss. We can't and shouldn't go back. The experience Craig wants on his iPad is there already. I think he just needs to treat the slab the way he wants.