iOS vs. OS X

If you asked most people what the difference between iOS and OS X is, most people would provide answers to the effect of “What’s iOS?” or “One uses a touch screen and the other, a keyboard and mouse.” A third, less obvious answer to this question is important to helping a user gain proficiency with either in the pluralistic Post-PC world we currently live in.

The first response reveals an interesting effect of the interaction design that Apple has made their priority for the past few decades. The integration of hardware and software that Apple is known for is expressed in the way that a user approaches and uses a device like the iPhone or iPad. The hardware fades away as the user focuses on and immerses themselves in the gesture-based touch interface. While this transition de-emphasizes the importance of the hardware, the direct manipulation of elements on the screen provides a more physical component to the pixels on the screen. The effect is a feedback loop of hardware and software interaction that combines the two so intrinsically that the user might not consider them as separate entities.

The second response points to an obvious difference in the input devices built into the hardware of the devices that run each OS (operating system). So far, Apple has avoided adding touch-screens to their Macs, and you’ll notice that your iPhone lacks a pointer (replaced by your forefinger).

I believe that one of the most important distinctions to be made between iOS and OS X is the management of files. First, some background. The reason why your device X has the same data on it today as it did yesterday is because it has memory (in this case, long-term). This is a physical component, usually in the form of a spinning hard drive or a solid state drive, measured in GB (gigabytes). This memory stores everything from the operating system to applications (apps) to documents, photos, music, etc. All of these categories of data are essentially just files and folders (directories), stored in a hierarchical fashion that allows the device to keep track of everything, creating a file system.

The difference between iOS and OS X is that in iOS, this structure is invisible and in OS X, it is visible through the Finder application. Of course, iOS still stores data just like OS X does, but it’s organized differently. Your iPhone’s apps individually store their own data, so if you want to get access to some bit of important data, tap an app’s icon. In OS X, if you open an app, you’ll likely want to choose File > Open and browse through a Finder window to locate the file you wish to open.

In a possible future where we live in a completely post-PC world, you could imagine a Mac that relies on the app-based storage model for your documents and data like an iPhone or iPad, using iCloud as a conduit. However, I can report that we have yet to enter this post-PC world entirely. And thankfully, this should not stop you from trying to access your documents and data on all of your devices, Mac and iPad alike.

My recommendation is Dropbox, a service that allows you to bridge the gap that I went on about at length in the previous paragraph. It uses a folder on your Mac and an app on your iOS device. And it automagically syncs them using Amazon’s servers. In some ways, it creates a file system for your iOS device, allowing you to open files from Dropbox and save files from other apps in your Dropbox, allowing them to be accessed on your Mac.

You can learn more about Dropbox on their site dropbox.com. Sign up, download, and give it a whirl!