iPad Things the iPad Does Not Do

[dmaul111478]

Originally Posted by scottjl

But those are your expectations, not necessarily mine, not necessarily John Public's. Take that 100yo woman who recently got an iPad that was all over the web. Do you think she expected a USB port? A SD slot? Do you think she cares about a "true file system" (from a technical standpoint, this term doesn't make any sense, the iPad does have a "true" file system, you just can't get to it the way you would like to)? She's just happy she can read the screen due to her vision problems, the iPad's large fonts and bright display make it easy for her. She has no expectations other than being able to read the screen.

I think Nikkie has the best of intentions listing things that aren't included in the iPad but to say that they were expected and missing is definitely misleading. I have an old PC "tablet" (more like stone tablet compared to how thin the iPad is) from 10 years ago (buried in dust in the basement), it has a 9pin serial port and a VGA port, today's PC tablet's don't include them, they have USB and HDMI. Should I complain that I was expecting one and the device is a failure?

You're just taking this too seriously.

It's just a list of things various people (not myself or any one specific person) might expect/want in a tablet device that the ipad lacks.

It's getting to be pathetic how defensive you are about any negative comment about the iPad. It's not a perfect device and this isn't an Apple specific site where the mods don't allow negativity.

If you can't handle something as innocent as a list of features that some people may be wanting in a tablet, then you should head back to the Apple forums you left here for a while back.

Your constant defensiveness is just leading to arguments and pulling threads off topic rather than allowing for mature discussion of the pros and cons of the device--which is what the device specific forums should be.

This thread can be a great resource for people interested in a Tablet who don't know much about about what the iPad can and can't do.

And you're ruining it by worrying that you're poor iPad isn't being treated fairly. When the point of the thread is to point out the things it doesn't do--including things it's just not meant to do as Apple made a media consumption toy rather than a productivity tool.

[scottjl]

I thought you were putting me on ignore.. sheesh.. way to turn this discussion into personal attacks.

Very good thread. I hope it helps people make an informed decision on whether they want an iPad or not. Not everyone is like scottjl who apparently has now completely morphed into a gerbel and crawled directly up Steve Jobs backside. People who don't live near a brick and mortar where iPads are directlysold, and who are not self-proclaimed no-it-alls or Apple proselyters, will need this kind of information. Thanks, you did a good job.

[dmaul111478]

I don't mean to be personal, but good lord calm down with the defensiveness. I hate to have to put you on ignore as you were very knowledgeable in posting tips about the iPad etc., so I decided to hold off.

But please, get back to posting tips etc. It adds nothing to just jump all over every post that points out some lacking feature on the iPad. If you can't resist, make use of the ignore feature yourself, avoid threads like this that will clearly be discussions of the pros and cons of the device etc.

The tone of the forum as taken a real turn for the worst as you and a couple others jump all over any discussion of cons of the iPad. It's perfectly reasonable for people to post about features the want in a tablet that the iPad lacks. This is the place for it, and it can be useful to others interested in tablets and doing research to see if the iPad might fit their needs.

I was with you on weeding out the trolls who just hate apple and do nothing but bash the company, were posting attacks on Jobs (that ridiculous liver transplant thread e.g.) etc. But you're going to far by wanting to stifle any criticism of the iPad.

[scottjl]

jack, no offense, but you're a complete and utter fool. The fact that you have to resort to crude personal attacks just reiterates that you have nothing intelligent to say and nothing intelligent to contribute. You have certainly earned the title of troll. I've gone through the trouble of reporting your post and I hope the administration here takes some action against you for to allow someone of your caliber to continue to frequent this forums will only lower it to the standard of a common supermarket tabloid.

Dmaul, take your own advice and put me on ignore. If you don't agree with what I have to say, so be it. But to take it to a personal attack, in an open thread, well, see my comments above to see my feelings on it. You may not like my points, and you may not like my standing on topics, but I have not once made a personal attack against any individual on this forums save my new buddy Jack. I simply try to post valid, if sometimes opposing discussion points on topics. Believe it or not I actually get paid (quite well too) to discuss the good and bad points of many technologies in Fortune 50, 100 and 500 companies around the globe.

Threads like this one that Nikkie started are great, for discussion. Just as you say I have to allow others to post their criticisms, it would be a rather one-sided discussion if you didn't allow others to post responses, both ways. As long as it is discussion on-topic and doesn't degrade into the blathering nonsense as Jack here likes to share.

[dmaul111478]

Scott, I'm talking more about your constant use of the don't feed the trolls signs in stuff like that in response to people like Sonist posting cons of the device etc.

That adds nothing to the discussion. You're certainly free to post counters to the cons. But even that sometimes gets non-constructive--like your posts in this thread saying it's not fair to post about features that people shouldn't expect the iPad to have. As people can expect any tablet device to have whatever features they want, as we all have our own unique needs in our gadgets.

It would be constructive to state why you think a missing feature isn't a big deal etc., rather than just lambasting people for being silly for expecting such things etc.

[WillAdams]

Nikkie wrote:
>The iPad works well in moderate to darkly lit environments.
>Some users report it doesn't suit them out doors in bright sunlight.

The iPad display, like any other standard LCD is essentially invisible in bright sunlight --- function of the technology chosen. Anyone who needs outdoor viewability will need to choose a screen technology which allows that such as a reflective or transflective LCD or e-ink, or one of the nascent screen technologies.

William

[MerLock]

Everything people want will be trickle downed in future generations of the IPad. I mean, got to leave some stuff out so that they can add in the minor feature in the future one to give reason for people to upgrade. Also, including more stuff instead of selling them as accessiores means the price of the item goes up. It's kind of like the Nintendo wii. The base price is cheaper than most of the other consoles of the same era, but with all the extras, it's really not that cheap.

Look at built in FM Radio for the nano. I know some companies offered built in FM radio into their mp3 players a long time ago. However, Apple wanted to make it an accessory and finally just recenlty included FM radio in some of their mp3 players.

[dmaul1114]

Yep, I finally bought my first iPod recently as FM tuning was a must have feature for me in any MP3 player.

But some of this stuff they'll never add. It's probably never going to do Flash. It's likely never going to have a user visible file system that allows simple drag and drop to put files on it.

Some of these missing things are just things Apple deliberately left out and won't add in as it's against their current philosophy unfortunately.

[nikkie]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Nikkie wrote:
>The iPad works well in moderate to darkly lit environments.
>Some users report it doesn't suit them out doors in bright sunlight.

The iPad display, like any other standard LCD is essentially invisible in bright sunlight --- function of the technology chosen. Anyone who needs outdoor viewability will need to choose a screen technology which allows that such as a reflective or transflective LCD or e-ink, or one of the nascent screen technologies.

William

I have no problem reading outdoors in the sunlight, and do fairly often. The display can be made very bright, and essentially "outshine" the sun.

I threw that comment out there because some people disagree. But in my personal tests it is not a problem.

[nikkie]

Originally Posted by dmaul111478

I don't think that's fair, and do think his point should be listed.

1. He also pointed out that one can't access the iPads file system--which is still true.

2. All that stuff is used on such a limited basis right now, that it can still be listed I think

For me, having a clear file system where I can make folders, move stuff around and most importantly open those folders from ANY app that supports them is a must for me on a tablet since I want to use it more for productivity than leisure.

Goodreader is solid with it's file system and multiple ways to get files into it etc. But doesn't solve the problem that I can't easily then open those PDFs in say iAnnotate.

So I think mentioning the lack of a file system (along with drag and drop which I think you already have listed) along with the current shortcoming of many files only being accessible to one app is worthwhile in your list.

Added a point in the "new to apple mobile devices" section covering this.

I have expectations that any tablet I buy will have a USB port, a bigger screen, a true file system, simple drag and drop in Windows without having to use a clunky program like iTunes. The iPad doesn't have those things, so I'm not buying one. A thread like this can help others who want those things--or others in Nikkies list--to see that the iPad is not for them.

I definitely agree that Apple products are not for everyone. Some power users will find Apple products in general to be far too restrictive. Apple has made a very deliberate choice in the design of all of their mobile devices and computers to simplify the user interaction as much as possible. This definitely forbids or hampers a lot of special features - I personally hate the fact that it puts all my music in its irritating database format and masks the file names.

I spent years working with Linux...and loved it. But eventually I stopped having time to tinker around with things and just wanted a product that worked well, and did it elegantly. I still keep linux around for some things, but Apples work for me for daily use. And if I need more I can always jailbreak or install MacPorts or whatever.

Like all products, not for everyone. For the average non-power user though, I think they're great. And power users ought to be on top of figuring out what their device can do. So, in a way, scottjl has a definite point.

Again though, more information never hurt anyone.

[Clif_Hamel]

A very good list Nikkie, should add section on photos, i.e. You cannot load PC folders of pictures and expect files to be in same order. All photos from a folder including sub-folders are combined into one iPad stack in a very confusing order. Thank you for list.

[scottjl]

Originally Posted by Clif_Hamel

A very good list Nikkie, should add section on photos, i.e. You cannot load PC folders of pictures and expect files to be in same order. All photos from a folder including sub-folders are combined into one iPad stack in a very confusing order. Thank you for list.

i haven't tried on a pc, but have you verified on this? on the mac (where my ipad is synced), i point iTunes at a top level folder that contains sub-folders each with photos. each of those sub-folders is created as an album containing the photos within. never really checked if the photos were in any particular order, just assumed it was alphabetic by file name.

if the windows version doesn't behave the same way it would be a big surprise to me and i guess one more point for syncing to a mac.

[dmaul1114]

The ordering does get messed up. My girlfriend put some albums full of jpegs of comic book pages in there and the ordering gets mixed up on the iPad despite being in the right order on PC. I'm not sure what she has the files named etc. as I haven't looked into it for her, all I know is they're in the right order on the PC, but get mixed up a bit on the iPad once they're synched.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by nikkie

I definitely agree that Apple products are not for everyone. Some power users will find Apple products in general to be far too restrictive. Apple has made a very deliberate choice in the design of all of their mobile devices and computers to simplify the user interaction as much as possible.

I agree, but I don't think it's just a problem for "power users."

Having a visible folder system one can simply drag and drop their documents, pictures etc. into and arrange them however they see fit isn't a "power user" task. That's a standard computer task people have been doing since Windows 3.x etc.

If anything the synching system for photos in iTunes, for getting files into Goodreader (much less multiple PDF apps) etc. is more complicated and less user friendly than just having a file system and drag and drop!