This is a cop-out argument, though. I own an iPad, I know that it handles virtual MIDI and recording fine. So does my smartphone! It does not have world-class plugins for synthesis, recording or even performance if we're being honest with ourselves. Without velocity sensitivity or aftertouch, it's already less expressive than a $200 keyboard.
> Use a computer for computer workflows, use the iPad for things that it does better.
The iPad is a computer. I could be using the iPad for both but Apple won't let me, so now I have another cruddy MIDI controller that doesn't run Bitwig.
I have no idea what your argument is. Sounds like you bought the wrong device. You yourself admit it can use the same input and controllers as a regular computer but it adds a different interface and way of using it. It offers different types of programs with different kinds of interfaces than regular computers do. If the iPad were just a Mac, which if you’re being honest with yourself is what you actually want, then the current programs would not have been made for it. We would be stuck with what we already have. The MacBook Air already exists. If you want to use Bitwig get the right machine.
Again, your inability to appreciate how the iPad is different and offers a different way of working in no way invalidates what has been created. The combination of a touch first interface and console software distribution has created a unique system. Why people want the iPad to be a Mac or an Android tablet is beyond me.
> Use a computer for computer workflows, use the iPad for things that it does better.
The iPad is a computer. I could be using the iPad for both but Apple won't let me, so now I have another cruddy MIDI controller that doesn't run Bitwig.