I get all that you are saying and I don’t disagree with it, but when 90% of your computer time is spent in various graphics programs, the ability to make a precise selection of a an object which you are editing trumps everything.
A cursor is basically the only workable selection device that is practical. Think of the Hype menu, often you need to select one character of text, or a line in the timeline menu. That selection point is far smaller than your finger. The problem as I see it is that simple. And it seems insurmountable to me.
Re: keyboards I pass through two high schools in the course of my work, not related to Hype, but to the educational system in a specific teaching capacity. In another position in the last 5 years I came to know several computer teachers quite well. What we talked a lot about was typing accuracy. The subject of keyboards came up, specifically the new “flat” keyboards, vs. the old “tall key” Mac key keyboards, and also their Microsoft keyboards with the same basic key heights. All teachers had the same position: typing is considerably less accurate with the flat keyboards than the “tall” keyboards, because on the “aiming point” of the flat keyboards, if you want to call it that, is larger, which seems like a good idea, but really isn’t because the edges of the adjacent keys are very close to each other, easy to hit the wrong key. The old tall keys required a more precise, more accurate placement of the fingers, which actually led to higher quality typing, not less as some might think. There are definite cultural trends that lead us to accept less accurate typing, writing, reading, logical thought etc, but that is a different problem that we will have to deal with if we don’t fix it, another story.
So apply the key problem to a touch interface. Not me, not for any project more than typing a few words, or working in a Hype document with 53 separate timelines, and hundreds of objects that have to be selected within tenths or hundredths of an inch.
Thats why I am not a fan of touch interfaces in most applications.
. In the last year, not only has the iPad hardware improved considerably with the Pro line, but iOS 11 has gained mac-like features that help on productivity tasks (like drag and drop!). Working with and importing external assets is a critical task in Hype, so perhaps these new features and power will be a catalyst for more professional production software to come out on the iPad.