I have owned Apple products forever, it would seem. I started out with a Mac Plus and moved up to a Mac SE followed by a PowerBook 180.
Mac were easy to use and network. While software appeared to be limited, in reality it only meant that you didn't have idiotic programs like "My crappy database designer." Instead there was Filemaker pro, Excel, ClarisWorks, Pagemaker, Superpaint, and Photoshop.
I admit to being pretty annoyed when they went to OS7 but I loved OS9 and would still use it if I could. I've been somewhat nonplussed with the incarnations of OS10 but I love the fact that my computer has not locked up in months. In fact, I have an untitled notepad file that has been open since Thanksgiving and I've never got around to saving it.
I've been officially declared "sick" by my wife and am home by myself on Sunday. So, I finally got around to configuring our wireless network so that we can listen to Christmas music off of iTunes in two rooms at once.
It was all pretty simple till I got to my wife's iPad.
This is why I dislike Apple.
The company has defined the concept of success in spite of total idiotic choices in product feature implementation. There has got to be a name for it. Apple should be on the scrap heap of history along with Triumph, Studebaker, Minneapolis-Moline, Commodore, and Rambler.
The only thing that keeps Apple alive is the competition. My recent experience with Windows on my GPS tablet has convinced me that Windows is so terrible that it makes Apple look good in comparison.
The iPad, iPod and iPhone are perfect examples of what is wrong with Apple. Each one is almost the best thing you ever used. The problem is in the word "Almost."
So Apple has designated the iPad as a "device" and not a computer. So you must connect it to a host computer to do anything with it. This is insane. It is a perfectly good tablet computer. Why do you need a host computer? And why will it connect to a Windows XP computer but not to a Mac running OS 10.4?
Oh, I know the reason, Apple wants me to upgrade. I don't want to upgrade... So, I guess I will have to use my Tablet running XP to upgrade my wife's iPad?
Then there is music sharing over a network and printing.
The iPad doesn't allow an easy way to print documents over a wireless network? Insanity!
I can print with my XP over my network using Bonjour (an Apple program). This network is a conglomeration of wireless stuff I bought off of eBay and it is a mix of Apple and Netgear and it works just fine.
Then there is the stupid interface on the iPad. How do you turn off iTunes?
The iPad is not the first tablet computer and there are plenty of ideas on how to navigate a page with no keyboard. I'm happy to see that Apple has found a less than intuitive way to do it all.
My wife also has an iPhone. I can't even begin to figure it out.
Now to be fair. My daughter who is 10 can do all sorts of stuff with iPad and iPhone, and they are not current generation devices as we never buy new.
Anyway, I guess I don't really care as I am not buying an iPad for myself and I sold my four shares of Apple when Steve died.
Still, I would like to be able to stream music on my airport network and share a printer with a non PC tablet. Seems like a good idea.
Wish Audion would update but it won't happen as iTunes is almost a good program and has dominated the market, plus it is free.
If FarmerGPS would come out with a program for the android tablet i would buy one of those.
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If my associate degree in IT had stuck with me, perhaps what you're talking about would mean something to me. However, if I don't use something for six months, my brain discards it. Therefore, I understand only that you are not a happy camper. I hope you get a good night's sleep and feel better in the morning.
ReplyDeleteFeeling the same. Committed for awhile now with the new laptop, but getting curiouser about dabbling in the occult Linux. Have been avoiding Apple software some years, since they tend to quit supporting programs I've grown dependent on, e.g. Appleworks. A whole lot of documents I've generated are now useless. Seems if you don't upgrade hardware every three years you end up feeling like a peasant with a scythe watching the combines go by.
ReplyDeleteGorges, I hate having something that I know would be completely wonderful it the designers had not purposely screwed it up/limited the design. And that is Apple to the core...
ReplyDeleteCollieguy, Sometimes I think Apple gives better service and compatibility to Windows users. However dad is still using Filemaker Pro v2 in OS 9 on his iBook since I have forgotten how to program Filemaker Pro and can't figure out how to migrate to the latest version.
However, I frequently feel like a peasant in today's world. I think I would rather be a Philistine. I think they have more fun.