some people consider the ipad a very useful instrument. others, like my humble self, totally despise it because it doesn’t offer any physical feedback to what you’re doing on the screen thus effectively banning the device from the music hardware realm.
HOWEVER there are some crazy people out there, who want to change this:
HOW COOL IS THAT??? (between not cool and almost-as-cool-as-the-recently-announced-fleshbot-faux-vagina-ipad-case cool)
As long as you only use one app at a time that only has a single page of control, this might be cool, as long as the knobs can remain stable. But what do you do if there’s more than one page, or you use more than one app?
And you should get over your iHate…there’s some killer tools available in iOS.
it’s not iHate, it’s just that i got used to full-on tactility of hardware instruments, a tablet just doesn’t cut it for me. come to think of it, using it for music gets you a bit further than software (because you finger-operate it directly, not thru a keyboard/mouse/touchpad) but at the same time - gives less than hardware (because all you do swipe on glass with no physical feedback whatsoever) and that annoys me. so being totally aware of the ipad’s potential, i really hope this knob thing works
on a sidenote - i’d like to think i’m still within the normalilty spectrum. I have friends who will disregard any hardware if it has endless encoders and/or parameter pages 
I, too, dislike the lack of tactile feedback on the iPad - not that Android tablets are any better in that department. This is obviously closely related to my two other pet peeves with making music on this platform:
Onscreen piano style keyboards. It’s a pain to play any black-key note because the black keys are smaller so one is more likely to play a white-key note by accident, and you don’t have the tactile experience of a real piano keyboard. Onscreen 2D piano keyboards are just silly for this reason.
Onscreen knobs! They never seem to turn in the direction I expect.
OTOH, the iPad has quickly become a very useful mobile music-making platform for me on my daily commute on public transit. So much more convenient than a laptop. Apps that take advantage of multi-touch are a particular joy to use. I get around my two pet peeves by using step sequencing and alternative controllers like Gestrument, iFretless Bass, and Orphion (although it’s best used as a standalone instrument). I plan to look into Lemur for other control options too - someone already created a usable Lemur template for use with iVCS3 which is gorgeous to look at but, again, has all those damn knobs. BTW, Mitosynth has a great ribbon keyboard option.
I’ve got the OP-1 to cover that department 
I’ve got the OP-1 to cover that department ;)[/quote]
Me too!
I originally got the iPad because my laptop was starting to fail and I wanted to bring a lightweight web browsing machine for my 3-week vacation. The apps just started to accumulate.
I now rotate between iPad, OP-1, and Nintendo 3DS as my commute-time music workstations, depending on what I’m working on or just feel like exploring.
Do what you can to avoid getting an iPad. AAS (App Acquisition Syndrome) runs rampant among us iPad users - so dangerous because they’re cheap individually, but can add up in cost very quickly. OTOH, a number of IOS developers respond more quickly to user feedback than on the other two platforms (which I do love!).
Actually not a new idea :I remember this a few years back on a PC laptop
Personally iPad screen real estate is a premium i would go with a portable controller like Arturia Beatstep or Korg Nano series.
But as always if it works well and comes in at an affordable price point, might be an interesting addition to a portable setup.
Not on iOS and not a controller you can attach to a screen but I think these are worth mentioning ( I find myself often carrying my laptop along with my iPad
Personally iPad screen real estate is a premium i would go with a portable controller like Arturia Beatstep or Korg Nano series.
Pretty much this. I find the best way for me is to map up things to controllers or parameters on the Elektrons to lock so I can keep the touchscreen available for the things it is best for.
As a proof of concept I think it is cool tho.
it’s awesome to see this happening. a concept for this type of thing was displayed about 7 years ago, only it was shown as being useful for vertical screens.