{"id":13006,"date":"2026-05-19T15:50:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advisorator.com\/members\/?p=13006"},"modified":"2026-05-22T03:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:22:09","slug":"my-fancy-ipad-is-worthless-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisorator.com\/members\/2026\/05\/19\/my-fancy-ipad-is-worthless-now\/","title":{"rendered":"My fancy iPad is pointless now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The MacBook Neo spoiled the iPad for me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plus: Googlebooks, an alternative camera app, and more refurb tech deals<\/h3>\n\n\n
Jared Newman<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>May 19, 2026<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
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Hey there! I’m Jared Newman, a longtime tech journalist, and you’re reading the free edition of Advisorator, my weekly tech advice newsletter.<\/em> Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up<\/a> to get it every Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heads-up:<\/strong> Next week’s Advisorator will arrive on Wednesday, rather than Tuesday, to account for the long weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After trying to replace my laptop with an iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard, it turns out that what I really needed all along was a Mac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve spent months making the iPad-as-laptop thing work<\/a>, lured by the promise of a modular, lightweight device that could start up instantly for both work and play. My previous attempts at this had failed<\/a>, but my hope was that better hardware and improvements in iPadOS 26 would finally make everything click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, though, some little frustrations with the setup wore me down …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read this week’s full feature story with an Advisorator membership.<\/strong> Learn more<\/a> or pick a plan to get started:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAnnual: $50 per year<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tMonthly: $5 per month<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Some more stuff I wrote for Fast Company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Got a couple new stories out at FastCo over the past week that I hope you’ll enjoy reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Internet Archive at 30<\/a>: The Internet Archive is an invaluable resource, not just for looking up old versions of web pages, but for exploring live concert tapings, old DOS games, public domain e-books, and all kinds of other digital treasures. Suddenly AI is making its mission a lot harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worrisome changes at Bitwarden<\/a>: The company quietly replaced its CEO in February with one that touts experience in mergers and acquisitions, while also removing “Transparency” and “Inclusion” as tentpole company values. I asked the company if it would commit to not removing any features from its free plan, and it notably did not do that. Bitwarden is still my preferred password manager<\/a>, but now I’m uncomfortably on alert about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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News in brief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google dropped whole a bunch of Android news last week, presumably, so it can spend its entire I\/O conference this week focusing on AI. Here\u2019s what you need to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Googlebooks<\/strong> are a new line of Android-based laptops<\/a> coming later this year from PC brands like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. There’s a big focus on AI, including contextual suggestions from Google’s Gemini assistant when you wiggle the cursor over something. Google says it’ll keep supporting Chromebooks, which are a hit in schools, with new models planned through next year<\/a>, but the future beyond that is murky. I’d avoid buying a Chromebook until we get more details on what the transition looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gemini Intelligence<\/strong> is a catch-all term for new AI features coming to high-end Android phones<\/a>. These include custom AI-generated widgets, AI-powered voice dictation (akin to Wispr Flow<\/a> and Superwhisper<\/a>), and letting AI take control of your phone to automate certain tasks. Google plans to start releasing these features over the summer, but most older phones won’t get them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Android-related tidbits:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n