<i>How long will it take to complete this Old World to New World shift? My guess? The end is near when you can bootstrap a new iPad application on an iPad. When you can comfortably do that without pining for a traditional desktop, the days of Old World computing are officially numbered.</i><p>The bad thing about the keyboard/mouse/screen workstation is that it is designed to efficiently soak up all of your attention, and the overhead of entering/leaving the active use mode makes this an all-absorbing proposition.<p>That is a big disadvantage of the workstation interface, versus the iPad, a Kindle, the morning Newspaper.  Those can soak up your attention, but you can also set them down pretty quickly to get up and open the door.  The mode switch isn't such a large overhead.  So these interfaces blend in more harmoniously with everyday life.<p>But for programming, a workstation is <i>great</i>!  In fact, for any activity requiring extended, deep concentration, a workstation is a very good proposition.  For programming?  I think it's pretty fantastic.<p>We have cars today that might as well have the hood welded shut, or at least with a lock open-able only by the garage.  But we also have cars like the Ariel Atom, that are so focused on function, that they even lack body panels.  We still have car modders and hippie enclaves with 3 Mercedes Diesel 240DLs in a garage shed out back.<p>Hacking is not going away.