Why there will never be another like the iPad

Just like that, the iPad has turned 16. From a simple, large-screened device to an elegant slab with as much power as a high-end PC, Apple's slate has come a long way. With rumors of a foldable iPhone debuting this year, it's natural to wonder if the tablet category has run its course, but no iPhone Fold can replicate the magic of the iPad.

The unapologetic device

The iPad is neither a phone nor a computer. It sits snugly in between. As phones grow larger and laptops grow thinner, some question why the iPad still exists. Yet, it remains unparalleled and unchallenged.

For most, the iPad is a casual, in-between device that you reach for when you have had enough of your workstation and your smartphone. It's neither a communication tool nor a de facto productivity device. It's simply, stubbornly, the iPad.

No one quite knows what it's supposed to do. It can be your companion when you are loitering in the living room. It can be a tool to supercharge your productivity if you are into that sort of thing.

That's the beauty of the iPad. It can adapt to your use case and be whatever you want it to be. And it can do that without trying to be something else.

Foldables can never

Foldable phones open up into tablets, but in their current state, they can't replace tablets. For one, foldable devices can be thick when folded, though recent ones have mostly done away with those complaints.

But charm isn't found in a compromise. I personally pick up my tablet when I want to unplug, and that would never be possible with a phone that pings more times than it has any right to.

A foldable phone is trying to be too much, and that precisely is the problem.