Boston Herald Bashes iPad

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by scottjl

Um. I already load all my own TV and movies. I've never bought a single episode off of iTunes. Yes, you have to load them in through iTunes, but you don't have to get them from there. I actually prefer to rip my own music and movies as I tend to do so at a higher quality (lame --preset extreme and HandBrake High Profile) than what Apple sells. So don't tell me you can't load your own content and have to buy from the Apple store, that simple is not true....

Um. I jailbreak my iPhones so I can tether....

But this is not the point. As long as it requires a few steps and a few conversions, most of the public will just click "buy" and be done.

If you are traveling, most will not know how to load content from another computer, even if it had iTunes on it (since the iPad will not be authorized for that computer). Again, most will then click "buy."

USB would make it easier to bypass Apple's media-selling ecosystem, which is not what Apple wants.

Originally Posted by scottjl

... Really, what's with the hatred of iTunes? While it has it's flaws, it still is a decent application for managing a music and video library....

Have you tried to load media from another, unauthorized computer? If you did, iTunes will tell you that it will erase all the current content on your iPhone, before it let's you load the media you want to load.

And in 3.1.3 you CANNOT bypass this restriction, regardless of how savvy you are.

[scottjl]

Shrug. As I pointed out, it's already possible to use your own media files, you just have to manage them with iTunes. Managing them via a file-system isn't necessarily better, just different. If most don't know how to access their computer remotely, what makes you think they'll know how to rip their own content?

Don't understand where tethering comes into any of this..

You really have no argument here. The iPad already requires a USB connection for loading up media. What you don't like is using the iTunes application for managing media. But don't all companies try to steer you towards their applications? Sony pushes the Sony Reader application, Windows Zune pushes WMC/WMP, Apple is no different here. And there are alternatives to iTunes, DoubleTwist, Banshee, Amarok, Songbird and more.

No offense intended, but you've already stated you won't buy one, so why do you care about what software is required to manage it anyway?

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by scottjl

Shrug. As I pointed out, it's already possible to use your own media files, you just have to manage them with iTunes....

Let me repeat, since you must have missed it:

"Have you tried to load media from another, unauthorized computer? If you did, iTunes will tell you that it will erase all the current content on your iPhone, before it let's you load the media you want to load.

And in 3.1.3 you CANNOT bypass this restriction, regardless of how savvy you are."

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by scottjl

@dmaul1114, if you're using GoodReader, check out the network mount (aka. Professional Transfer). It allows you to mount your iPad as a network shared drive. From there it's a simple drag and drop, folders, files, etc. using Windows Explorer or the Finder on the Mac. Far easier than the Web page method and great for batch uploads and downloads.

But then it's just in Goodreader and I can't go back and forth between that and iAnnotate or other PDF apps I may have etc.

I'm just not willing to pay $500+ for a device that I have to jump through all these hoops with third party apps to get my content on it, organized and accessible to multiple programs.

I'm in no rush to get a tablet, I can wait until there's one that fits what I want better. I'll wait and see how the various android tablets are, how battery life etc. is on Windows 7 tablets and so on.


As for iTunes--I don't have a huge issue for it. Just needs some work with books, pdfs, photos etc.--it's fine for music and movies.

The bigger issue is the lack of a file management system on the ipad. I shouldn't have to synch photos, I should be able to drag and drop them into a photo section in itunes like I can drag and drop music on to my iPod etc.

I shouldn't have to load PDFs into individual program file sharing areas, there should be a folder system and apps should have browse and open menus etc.

[scottjl]

I didn't miss it, you added that statement after I read your, unedited, posting.

No, I have not tried to load from an unauthorized computer. iTunes has never allowed you to sync content from two different machines to one iDevice. This goes back to the original iPod (and I have a 5G firewire sitting in a desk drawer at home that still works just fine). It was to keep you from copying content over to your friends. Not that there aren't plenty of ways around that restriction too.

There are plenty of applications that will let you copy content into and out of your iDevice, look around, I'm sure you will find them.

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

The bigger issue is the lack of a file management system on the ipad. I shouldn't have to synch photos, I should be able to drag and drop them into a photo section in itunes like I can drag and drop music on to my iPod etc.

Now this I disagree with. iTunes is becoming iBloated. It is great for managing music. So-so for managing Podcasts. Mediocre for managing Movies and TV Shows. Horrible for managing Apps. I don't want to throw photos into the mix too.

You can drag and drop photos into iPhoto or Aperture on a Mac and manage them easily in there, then sync those albums up to your iDevice. Please don't ask Apple to add photo management into iTunes, it is not where it belongs.

If you don't want to use either application, you can just manage them in a directory structure and sync that directory (and all selected sub-directories). This works in Windows and on the Mac. This is the method I use and it works just fine. Change the contents of the folders. Sync in iTunes, and the photos on the iDevice are changed.

Now what I'm asking Apple for is minimal management with in the Photos application to at least allow me to create new albums and move photos between those albums.

I shouldn't have to load PDFs into individual program file sharing areas, there should be a folder system and apps should have browse and open menus etc.

Actually this is coming. Apple has mentioned a shared storage space for applications. It will be up to apps to access it.

[richman]

LOL!
Crusader Scott!
Love your blunt way about offering solutions or dismissing stuff some people say. You do have more knowledge about this stuff than most of us. Some of us are just saying we want a USB port/SD slot so it can be easier to watch our movies/mp3's on the IPAD.
Glad you wrote what you just wrote because I have been using itunes the last few years and have been able to do everything I need using it. I just bought a nano and I was trying to copy mp3's onto both my devices and I couldn't do it. I returned the nano. It ruined my itunes folder I now have 2x mp3's and a lot of my apps are doubled.
If I have a question about itunes and all the other apps , I will seek your advice. Good info. I know from your standpoint, you like the IPAD the way it is and of course you are gonna be open for IMPROVEMENTS in the future.
p.s. You are probably reading some of our messages the wrong way, for a lot of us , we need to be convinced this is good device for us, so we voice our concerns, and then have to weigh if we can live with it or not. Sometimes the people who seem most against it, are the ones who are most interested in it, or they wouldn't be in rooms like this. Make sense. You may be reading it as "bashers", but you could be listening to the voices "in their head". You know, this side "wants to like the IPAD" and the other side "finds ways not to like it".

[scottjl]

Heh. Thanks.

I like the iPad, and of course it can be improved, but any device can.

What I don't like is when people complain about problems without making any attempt at looking for a solution. Problems are opportunities, for you, or some other enterprising person, to solve.

I'm not a fan of threads going off-topic though has this one certainly has. Feel free to post up your questions or PM me and I'll help as best as I can. I've been involved in the tech industry for a long long time and love the challenges, and gadgets, that come with it.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by scottjl

Now this I disagree with. iTunes is becoming iBloated. It is great for managing music. So-so for managing Podcasts. Mediocre for managing Movies and TV Shows. Horrible for managing Apps. I don't want to throw photos into the mix too.

Agree mostly. I'd prefer straight drag and drop, and will likely just wait for some other tablet that's closer to a PC and has those kind of features personally.

You can drag and drop photos into iPhoto or Aperture on a Mac and manage them easily in there, then sync those albums up to your iDevice. Please don't ask Apple to add photo management into iTunes, it is not where it belongs.

Then they need a better feature for us PC folk who will never own a Mac. I don't know about Appeture, but I'm guessing iPhoto is Mac only. Photo syncing in iTunes sucks.

I want to just drag and drop the photos I want to move over, not have to fiddle with my sync settings, or have a separate folder with redundant copies of the photos I want on the iPad etc. as I'd want to keep them in the regular places in the My Photos folder (and sub folders in my PC)--but not want to sync all them to the iPad and waste space.

It's just a super clunky and retarded system vs. just having a file structure and allowing drag and drop IMO. But I've been using Windows my whole life, so I'm just used to that and resistant to change.

Actually this is coming. Apple has mentioned a shared storage space for applications. It will be up to apps to access it.

At least good news on that. Not ideal, but if there's a central location I'd expect most document apps to make use of it and be able to access it. So maybe by the time a 2nd gen iPad is out it will be more fitting my needs (or at least closer).

If not hopefully an Android based tablet can, or they find a way to get battery life up on Windows based tablets etc.

Originally Posted by scottjl

What I don't like is when people complain about problems without making any attempt at looking for a solution. Problems are opportunities, for you, or some other enterprising person, to solve.

To each their own on that I guess. For me, if I'm buying a gadget (especially a $500+ one) I expect it to do what I need out of the box without me having to jump through a lot of hoops and work arounds to do basic tasks.

If I traveled as much as you've said you do, I'd probably already have an iPad. But as is, I'd use a tablet maybe an hour or two a day, so I'm just not willing to pay $500 for something that's a hassle for my needs vs. just waiting a year and getting something that fits my needs better.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by scottjl

... iTunes has never allowed you to sync content from two different machines to one iDevice.... It was to keep you from copying content over to your friends. Not that there aren't plenty of ways around that restriction too.

There are plenty of applications that will let you copy content into and out of your iDevice, look around, I'm sure you will find them.

Uhm, I guess you just answered your own question about why some "hate" iTunes.

I am well aware of the two apps you linked, but neither is any help if I want to transfer a few songs or other media from my office computer onto my iPhone (which syncs with my home computer).

It shouldn't be such a chore, if there was regular USB access to the device. But Apple has made it into an extremely hard undertaking.

There was one way of getting around this on the Mac, but Apple locked it with the latest i-OS update (3.1.3).

And I am NOT talking about DRM-ed content, but about regular, non-protected music.

Apple simply wants to make it hard enough, so that most will click "buy."

----

As far as photo management, I personally would not go near iPhoto. It is another idiotic scheme which places your photos within various folders, tagged and distributed in accordance with such proprietary scheme.

I had an iPhoto database get corrupted, and left me with thousands of photos strewn around random folders, with the date of EVERY photo hardcoded as the date of the database crash.

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I want to just drag and drop the photos I want to move over, not have to fiddle with my sync settings, or have a separate folder with redundant copies of the photos I want on the iPad etc. as I'd want to keep them in the regular places in the My Photos folder (and sub folders in my PC)--but not want to sync all them to the iPad and waste space.

You need to take a look at iTunes, because it will do this.

Basically you point it at a parent directory. It, and all sub-directories within can then be synced over to your iDevice, or not. It will give you a list of the parent and all sub-directories, you simply check the directories you want synced over (which show up as albums on the iDevice) and leave un-checked the directories you don't want synced over.

There is no need to make duplicate copies of the image files if you don't want to.

Only two notes. You have to have your photos all within a single parent directory, you can't specify two parent directories. iTunes will create an index directory within that parent, it's up to your other applications to ignore that, just as iTunes will ignore non-image files in the directory structure.

So you'd still have to use iTunes to sync, but you can use your folder structure for photo management.

You can't leave some interaction with iTunes out of the equation when you have an iDevice. You're going to need it at some point for upgrades or managing applications, and definitely for making backups. If you absolutely hate iTunes and won't install it on your system, then an iPhone/Touch/iPad is definitely not a device for you.

The same argument is going to go for other devices. Dell is going to come out with their Android based tablets, do people think they won't be releasing their own content manager application that goes along with it? I sure hope they include something to help make backups at the least. But you know they'll come out with some graphical interface for managing your media (or you'll use Windows Media Center). Drag and Drop will hopefully be an option as well, but we won't know until we see the devices and their operating systems. Anyone remember Palm, Palm Desktop Manager was everywhere and you used it for managing your content and making backups. There were alternatives to that as well.

[scottjl]

@Sonist, you've made it pretty clear in your posts that you have a dislike of Apple and their products. So why do you spend your time here? You've posted up problems, I've posted up answers, so you dig up new problems to complain about. I get it, you don't like the iPad, iTunes, iPhoto and Apple's restrictive ways. Maybe your time would be better spent on an Apple and products complaint forum. My time will be better spent helping people who have a genuine interest in being helped.

I wish you the best in finding your Android/Windows 7 based tablet that is as savvy as the iPad is, has the outstanding battery life and as good of a display, doesn't cause you any eye strain or headaches, has integrated applications, good management and backup software, is malware free, and available at a reasonable price and is 100% bug free. While you're waiting, I'll keep using my iPad.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by scottjl

@Sonist, you've made it pretty clear in your posts that you have a dislike of Apple and their products. So why do you spend your time here? You've posted up problems, I've posted up answers, so you dig up new problems to complain about....

Scottjl, there is a very good chance that Apple has received considerably more of my money in exchange for their products, than from most on this forum.

As to "helping," you did not provide answers, you only made excuses and extolled the virtues of iTunes and iPhoto.

I merely pointed out that both have serious shortcomings, when compared with other methods of content management.

I like many things about Apple, but do not like the direction they are pushing with the i-ecosystem.

If you really have an answer relating to how to import non-DRM content from two or more computers onto the same i-device with updated OS, please tell, and I'll happily say "thank you."

P.S. You did notice that the title of the thread where we are currently debating is "Boston Herald Bashes iPad," right?

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by scottjl

So you'd still have to use iTunes to sync, but you can use your folder structure for photo management.

True, I keep forgetting to look for that check/uncheck folders option as we didn't notice it and thought you could only select a folder or a folder full of folders of picture.

It's still clunky vs. having drag and drop, but that is better than what we found. For me it's moot as I couldn't give a shit about having photos on my tablet or laptop etc. to show people. That's what Facebook is for.

You can't leave some interaction with iTunes out of the equation when you have an iDevice. You're going to need it at some point for upgrades or managing applications, and definitely for making backups. If you absolutely hate iTunes and won't install it on your system, then an iPhone/Touch/iPad is definitely not a device for you.

I don't mind it, just allow drag and drop within the program to the file system on the iPad.

The same argument is going to go for other devices. Dell is going to come out with their Android based tablets, do people think they won't be releasing their own content manager application that goes along with it?

And that's fine. My Creative Vision M mp3 player requires me to use the Creative Vision Explorer software--but it just shows the file structure on the device and lets me drag and drop my music, videos and documents to the relevent central locations.

If Apple adds folders for file types on the the iPad and lets me drag and drop in iTunes and then apps can access those locations--a lot of my gripes will go away.

And you're right that Android may be no better--but that's an open OS so at least different hardware companies can make their own options. I'm sure there will be something that's more like a PC and just has an open file system.

If not, maybe it's just a matter of waiting for a few years for windows based tablets to get battery life up to 10 hours, get a good UI down etc. At the end of the day that would probably be ideal for me, even though I don't need full computing power/options.

[richman]

When the IPAD hits 299 for the 16 gig version, I'm in no matter what it can or can not do!
At 499 at launch and not really knowing what the IPAD can do with all the APPS going to come out , I can't justify it yet. If I was doing a lot of traveling like scott I probably would like to have fun "playing with my new adult toy". I think a lot of people are like me, we are trying to justify it as to where it falls in our gadget box.