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初次亮相时，许多人认为它主要是用来消费内容，而不是创作内容的。谁能反驳呢？没有键盘和鼠标，只能用短粗的手指来敲击和滑动。要用它来创作，怎么看都显得十分麻烦。
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快。我的iPad很快就成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。我经常吹嘘说，它是我最爱的电脑，即使要拿它同我功能全面的台式机iMac，或轻薄笔记本MacBook Air相比也不例外。iPad轻便易携，电池能支撑一整天，还内置无线网络，更不用说海量的应用，这些特征皆是它的加分项。
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.
我发现，每次临近圣诞假期，我对苹果iPad发布会的期待都要超过iPhone发布会。后者通常会更早举行，今年也不例外：苹果在10月如期推出了最新的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?
在这次升级版的iPad问世之前，该系列产品的销量已经连续三个季度下滑。与之相对应的，则是包括苹果iPhone在内的智能手机市场规模逐渐扩大。这一变化模糊了手机和平板电脑的界限，并且抛出了一个问题：iPad在我们的生活中应当扮演什么样的角色？
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升，机身更加轻薄，还拥有苹果的指纹扫描技术。它还搭载了更快的处理器，含有更大的存储空间。
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.
我花了两周来测试iPad Air 2。最终结论是：它既让我印象深刻，但同时也让我非常失望。在滚动文档和网页，或加载应用时，这款平板电脑响应速度之快，运行之顺畅，令人难忘。但当我抛开外接物理键盘，完全把它当作移动设备时，我感觉与手机相比，iPad不过是有了一块能够展现更大图画、更多文字的屏幕而已。
(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.)
（这应该并不让人意外，因为我最近几周一直在用苹果最近的iPhone 6 Plus，我相信正是使用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上观赏视频，我宁愿继续用我的iPhone，这种体验同样令人愉悦。说来有趣，朋友们的做法和我类似：自从换上了大屏幕的iPhone 6 Plus，他们的iPad就被搁在架子上积灰了。
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的最新版本在iPad、iPad mini和iPhone 6 Plus上极其相似，其产品类似性更加凸显出来。比如说，iPhone的横屏模式已经足够阅读双栏文字，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也就不那么重要了。而从另一方面来说，产品还可能有发展空间——从工作效率的角度来看显然如此。比如说，我乐于看见苹果推出专为iPad设计的物理键盘，搭配带有用户互动和自动纠错功能的软件。我也想要有分屏同时运行两个应用的功能。再大胆说个不可能实现的想法：我还希望苹果使用小工具，在主屏幕上显示更多信息。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有这些不足，我还是慢慢开始欣赏它了。我发现在加入指纹传感器之后，解锁平板电脑时变得更加方便（它能与密码管理软件1Password同时激活），工作效率也有了提升。而有了最近为iPad发布的图像编辑工具Pixelmator，搭配上新款iPad更加强劲的图形表现能力，使我更加确信它足以取代个人电脑。
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，我的情况与一般人大不相同。为了让iPad变得好用，我花了无数时间和金钱来研究应用和配件。我花了大力气让iPad适应我的日常使用习惯，而一般人不太可能投入这么多时间。对于这些人来说，改进iPad功能的压力可全在苹果那边了。