Today, Virgin’s new cutting-edge iPad only magazine was released. I’m excited to try it out. The new magazine may not be the future but it’s a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, I can’t install it. The last time my iPhone & iPad have been plugged into a computer is mid-August before packing all of my things up and moving to New Hampshire. The magazine (iTunes Description) requires iOS 4.2 for iPad that just came out last week. Why this application requires 4.2, I have no idea. It’s keeping me from using the app.
I’m sure you’re thinking, “Adam, it’s a free update. Why are you complaining?”
I don’t own a Mac right now so I can’t update to iOS 4.2. An issue that we all forgot about a few weeks after the iPad came out was that the iPad needs a computer to operate. Initial reviews noted that your iPad doesn’t just come alive but will require being plugged into iTunes for the initial setup. Every article written by tech experts (including a few from me) were calling this the tablet for your parents & grandparents. It’s the computer that everyone will use. Then we all realized that Mom & Dad need a computer running Windows XP, service pack 2 with x amount of free space to get the iPad up and running.
Most of the tech guys said, “well just set it up for your parents then let them have a ball. They’ll never need to plug it back in once the initial setup is complete.
WRONG.
Actually, 6 months later, it’s time to go home and visit Mom and plug the iPad in again to update it. The reason is that many of the apps shipping now require iOS 4.2 for iPad and she’s still running version 3.x.
You have to stop putting words in Apple’s mouth here. Apple didn’t say this is a computer for the rest of us. They didn’t say that it will replace the PC or Mac. Steve keeps calling personal computers “trucks” and that they’re on their way out but does another thing by requiring we keep our iOS devices tethered to Macintosh and windows computers.
I really want Apple and the rest of our industry to decide if we’re moving forward or going back.
As someone who has kept his iPhone & iPad detached from a computer for 4 months, I’ve noticed just how bad things are. The iPhone has run out of space MANY times to the point where I’ve deleted all games. The iPad has needed many uninstalls and reinstalls of applications that have huge data stores like Reeder and Mail (removing and re-adding email accounts helps). The iPad gets maintenance when you plug it in. Crash logs are retrieved, applications are updated and more. Not plugging in these devices leads to many issues with slowness and application crashes.
If my iPad or iPhone decide to crap out, well, it’s off to the Apple store for a restore and then I’ll have to re-download each app one by one from the app store and won’t be able to get my music again. Not having a computer to sync these devices is absolutely not possible right now.
This brings me to my final point. The iPad & iPhone are not ready to replace your Mac yet. It pains me to no end to read all of the promotion for apps, iOS peripherals and talk of mobile when the tools we’re using (iOS & Android) are shit compared to the seasoned keyboard & mouse with large monitor. The personal computer is not a truck. When the iPad & iPhone are being developed, they’re being engineered on PCs. My entire blog has been designed, coded and authored on a Mac. My photos are processed by a Mac using Lightroom. Novels are painstakingly being written on iPads but the work is far easier on a Mac.
My point is, I’m getting sick of everyone congratulating the ingenuity and magic of the iPad & iPhone when I still have to tether it to a Mac in order to update the OS. You know, it’s almost as if, the iPad needs Macintosh to do anything from the moment you take it out of the box yet EVERYONE is throwing around the notion that Macs are trucks and they’re on their way out. Steve brings traits from the iPad “back to the Mac” but no one realizes that the iPad is a 1.0 product and it takes 4x as long to get things done on it compared to the Mac.
I get it that change is hard but, being an early adopter, I’ve tried to get work done on an iPad. It’s impossible and I will not use it as a primary computer ever. Then again, I can’t because not currently owning a Mac means my iPad and iPhone haven’t been synced in 4 months and both of those devices are feeling the pain of being “sole computing products.” I’m feeling it too.
UPDATE: There’s this bug in iOS 4.2 where your music library disappears. What’s the fix? You guessed it:
- Connect your device to your Mac or PC. (If your device is set to automatically sync when connected, you can cancel it.)
- In iTunes, click arrow next to your device in the source menu on the left-hand sidebar, and go to “Music”.
- Play any song.
- Sync your device with iTunes.
Why not? Why wouldn’t the fix be connecting it to your computer? We’re very far off from iOS being anything worth ditching your Mac over. Personal computers are trucks? How about personal computers are dad who pays your rent, feeds you, pays for your car and that stupid dress for Prom who you cry, “is holding me back” but, really is the reason you’re even here on this Earth. Just sayin’
the baffling thing is how large the iOS update is, 360+MB. I can see some benefit in coupling multiple devices OS into a single file, but on other hand it’s far more bandwidth sensitive to only download the device specific needs.
On top of that, I know that Blackberry wasn’t allowing OTA updates mostly due to the bandwidth requirements, whilst Android seems to have no issue doing so. (not sure how large Andorid updates are)
Possibly Android, as a linux variant, only downloads updates whereas all the others, require complete replacement of system files?
Type your reply…
I think over the air wifi updates are perfect. Palm’s webos does it. Windows mobile & blackberry still don’t but Android & iOS are still unix based to the core. they work in most of the same ways.