Yes, I did. No, it is an April Fool's joke. Why? Because it is April 2nd.
Was at Verizon store to help my son upgrade to a new Droid phone. His firs gen Droid died as with our first one. So he opted for the HTC Thunderbolt. As always, it takes 10 times as long as one things to get in and out of Verizon store. So I spent the the time playing with toys there. As soon as I touch the iPad 2, I hear the sales guy shouting that he has one in the back. I turn around and he says, "and it is the cool white one."
Thinking I will get into paying more mot Verizon than we are now, I said no, if I get one, I will get WiFi only version. To which he says, I don't have to activate the account. And if I did, it would be month to month for $20.
So in a moment of weakness, and prompted by Gary's post about using the iPad to browse music with Foobar, I broke down and forked over ~750 for the thing.
Here are some random first impressions.
1. Compared to the regular iPad we have at work, it fees lighter and thinner. I just could not hold the old iPad for long. This one is easier although it is still "heavy" compared to holding my Android phone.
2. The white color is gorgeous. As is the display and its viewing angle. The touch sensitivity is also superb. Machine performance is also excellent.
3. The out of box experience was odd. I plugged in the UBS cable and it just told me to get iTunes. I am not used to buying hardware that is dead without its companion software. Maybe there was a way around it but couldn't find it. Went and downloaded iTunes which did wake it up and got it working.
3. I expected the experience to be first class from then on. It was not. I was prompted at least three times to accept the 16 page EULA and warnings when I didn't read every page. And it seemed that every other thing I did would prompt that I type in my Apple login.
4. Most annoying is having to login to get free software. On Android, you do nothing for free software. You can select all you want downloaded and they just come. On iPad, you can multi-select them if you remember to say in the pane that has all the apps listed. Otherwise, if you select them one by one in their own page, you will get pestered to type in the stupid password over and over again for each app.
5. The wifi receiver sensitivity is worse than all of our laptops. Our access point is good ways away from our living room but I still get 3 bars as I type this on my Sony laptop. On iPad, it only gets one bar. Downloading performance seems very poor as a result.
6. Our access point is dying and once in a while it drops a connection. I was downloading a few apps and when the thing died, it was not pretty. My in-progress apps would either do nothing if I clicked on them, or would cycle from "waiting..." to some other thing I forget. No error. No indication of anything wrong. But yet, I had icons that would do nothing. I get the let's dumb it down for masses but come on. Say something.
7. This may be me but I don't get the metaphor of showing apps on the desktop before they are downloaded. Android download manager is a better way to do this I think. The above confusion would be avoided.
8. So I get through all of this and get ready for the main reason I got this: remote control of the iTunes/Foobar. I download Apple's Remote App. Run that and tell it to add a library. It puts up a 4 digit number and just says go and click on the name of my iPad in iTunes. I do that and nothing happens. I do this half a dozen times with the same results. Would it break their fingers to say a bit more about what is supposed to happen? I guess it would.
I Google for the issue. Land on an Apple troubleshooting page regarding Home Sharing. Its only suggestion is firewall issue. All is well in Windows Firewall. But I still disable it. Still no joy.
I do the usual stupid newbie things like re-downloading and rebooting iPad, PC, etc. Nothing works. So I go and get the Foobar to work and that pops up a message that it can't talk to the iPad. Not hugely useful but now I know it is a networking problem and not me doing the wrong thing in iTunes.
Read Gary's note that you need to download Bonjour (discovery protocol for devices that Apple has cooked up). Yet everyone says iTunes comes with it. As it must. How else would it work the way they say with nary a word of getting Bonjour?
By then it is 2:30 in the morning and I go to sleep in disgust.
9. I chase another guy's plug-in for Foobar. Get that working since it relies on web browser only. Got it working, but it looks like hell. And it only shows the current playlist, not the library. So I ditch that.
10. I then move on to my second use of the iPad: controlling my home as smart remote. Go to download the Crestron App, only to be told to cough up $99. $99? I thought it was free! Not being in a mood to spend more money on this thing, I hunt around and notice the non "pro" version for free. I get the app. Now the fun begins on figuring out how to make it work.
Go searching on Crestron site for instructions on how to connect it to my system and notice that they only talk about the Pro version. As I type this, I may have figured out how to get the free version working. Maybe.
11. I know this is like the notion of God and Christ to a Christian but what is with this single button UI? I am so used to have 4 buttons on my Android phone. There are times when an app is up, like the above Crestron in demo mode, with no obvious way on how to go back. Or pop up any menus. I use the single button and that takes me to the desktop. Hitting Crestron app take me back where I was, the with thing still stuck in demo mode. What to do now? Reboot?
13. Second rant (OK, fiftieth rant ): what's wrong with having some text on programs instead of just icons no one can figure out? Discovering how to save a bookmark in Safari browser took hitting every icon to get there.
14. I went to try to find something to play music. I hit iTunes and it puts up a blank page with a line saying "iTunes store terms and conditions...." Say what? Click it and it takes me to browser to accept more terms and conditions. No matter how many times I have done that, this page is still there. Why, oh why?
I see a button down left and it says "Music." I am thinking that is it. But it is not. This is for buying music but apparently not for playing it.
Go googling and realize duh, you are supposed to hit the iPod button. I hit the iPod button to play something on iPad?. Why is it not called iPad? On the PC, I don't run "iPod," I run iTunes. What was wrong with it here?
Let's say I was the only one on the planet to not know to hit ipod to play music. How about browser? Why on earth is it called "Safari" with a compass symbol? Do average people know that safari=browser? How come the call Mail, Mail? Why not call that some random name? Google's browser is called Chrome but the Android Browser is called just that: Browser.
15. I try the Google maps app. Compared to Android version, it feels like running DOS against Windows. It is dull, has horrible search function and doesn't show anything as I type. It has an annoying pulsing circle for my current location. I can't stand blinking things. There is a bloody pin where my home is. Why is it blinking the darn thing? Is there a way to turn it off? I guess not since there is no menu button to examine.
16. I hit a thing called Game Center. For the hundredth time, I am asked to type in my iTunes password again. I am ready to throw the thing at the window by now. But I think of the $750 and don't do that. The thing then starts to walk me through my profile yet again. Why? I still don't know what use I have for this thing. I hit Next and it then complains that I have not entered the year I was born. I don't want Apple to know how old I am so I lie and put Steve's year of birth.
I hit something by accident and the touch keyboard comes up on top of yet another terms of service. There is no button to accept the thing. And no indication that there is more text. I assume there is and slide it with my finger to expose it at the bottom. How is this discoverable by average folks? I say I agree and the stupid pop up comes up and asks yet again, "I have read and agree to *** Game Center Terms and Conditions: Cancel | Agree." I just hit the button that I agreed. What more do you want from me???
It was a nickname, I give it one. It then says "there was a problem with one or more fields below" in white. So easy to miss it. Why not a red color? Why not an asterisk beside every field that is wrong?
17. Then there are good stuff . I download the ABC app and I am surprised with the ease and fidelity of streaming shows. It plays instantly. Love the way it goes full screen as you rotate the iPad. No need to hit a button.
Maybe I had expected too much from Apple on my first purchase from them in some 21 years. Maybe I am too used to other platforms and anything different is too jarring. But I have to say, my adjustment to Android didn't last 15 minutes. Two days into this, I still find rough edges in what is supposed to be miracle of computing.
Cranky and tired in Seattle .
Was at Verizon store to help my son upgrade to a new Droid phone. His firs gen Droid died as with our first one. So he opted for the HTC Thunderbolt. As always, it takes 10 times as long as one things to get in and out of Verizon store. So I spent the the time playing with toys there. As soon as I touch the iPad 2, I hear the sales guy shouting that he has one in the back. I turn around and he says, "and it is the cool white one."
Thinking I will get into paying more mot Verizon than we are now, I said no, if I get one, I will get WiFi only version. To which he says, I don't have to activate the account. And if I did, it would be month to month for $20.
So in a moment of weakness, and prompted by Gary's post about using the iPad to browse music with Foobar, I broke down and forked over ~750 for the thing.
Here are some random first impressions.
1. Compared to the regular iPad we have at work, it fees lighter and thinner. I just could not hold the old iPad for long. This one is easier although it is still "heavy" compared to holding my Android phone.
2. The white color is gorgeous. As is the display and its viewing angle. The touch sensitivity is also superb. Machine performance is also excellent.
3. The out of box experience was odd. I plugged in the UBS cable and it just told me to get iTunes. I am not used to buying hardware that is dead without its companion software. Maybe there was a way around it but couldn't find it. Went and downloaded iTunes which did wake it up and got it working.
3. I expected the experience to be first class from then on. It was not. I was prompted at least three times to accept the 16 page EULA and warnings when I didn't read every page. And it seemed that every other thing I did would prompt that I type in my Apple login.
4. Most annoying is having to login to get free software. On Android, you do nothing for free software. You can select all you want downloaded and they just come. On iPad, you can multi-select them if you remember to say in the pane that has all the apps listed. Otherwise, if you select them one by one in their own page, you will get pestered to type in the stupid password over and over again for each app.
5. The wifi receiver sensitivity is worse than all of our laptops. Our access point is good ways away from our living room but I still get 3 bars as I type this on my Sony laptop. On iPad, it only gets one bar. Downloading performance seems very poor as a result.
6. Our access point is dying and once in a while it drops a connection. I was downloading a few apps and when the thing died, it was not pretty. My in-progress apps would either do nothing if I clicked on them, or would cycle from "waiting..." to some other thing I forget. No error. No indication of anything wrong. But yet, I had icons that would do nothing. I get the let's dumb it down for masses but come on. Say something.
7. This may be me but I don't get the metaphor of showing apps on the desktop before they are downloaded. Android download manager is a better way to do this I think. The above confusion would be avoided.
8. So I get through all of this and get ready for the main reason I got this: remote control of the iTunes/Foobar. I download Apple's Remote App. Run that and tell it to add a library. It puts up a 4 digit number and just says go and click on the name of my iPad in iTunes. I do that and nothing happens. I do this half a dozen times with the same results. Would it break their fingers to say a bit more about what is supposed to happen? I guess it would.
I Google for the issue. Land on an Apple troubleshooting page regarding Home Sharing. Its only suggestion is firewall issue. All is well in Windows Firewall. But I still disable it. Still no joy.
I do the usual stupid newbie things like re-downloading and rebooting iPad, PC, etc. Nothing works. So I go and get the Foobar to work and that pops up a message that it can't talk to the iPad. Not hugely useful but now I know it is a networking problem and not me doing the wrong thing in iTunes.
Read Gary's note that you need to download Bonjour (discovery protocol for devices that Apple has cooked up). Yet everyone says iTunes comes with it. As it must. How else would it work the way they say with nary a word of getting Bonjour?
By then it is 2:30 in the morning and I go to sleep in disgust.
9. I chase another guy's plug-in for Foobar. Get that working since it relies on web browser only. Got it working, but it looks like hell. And it only shows the current playlist, not the library. So I ditch that.
10. I then move on to my second use of the iPad: controlling my home as smart remote. Go to download the Crestron App, only to be told to cough up $99. $99? I thought it was free! Not being in a mood to spend more money on this thing, I hunt around and notice the non "pro" version for free. I get the app. Now the fun begins on figuring out how to make it work.
Go searching on Crestron site for instructions on how to connect it to my system and notice that they only talk about the Pro version. As I type this, I may have figured out how to get the free version working. Maybe.
11. I know this is like the notion of God and Christ to a Christian but what is with this single button UI? I am so used to have 4 buttons on my Android phone. There are times when an app is up, like the above Crestron in demo mode, with no obvious way on how to go back. Or pop up any menus. I use the single button and that takes me to the desktop. Hitting Crestron app take me back where I was, the with thing still stuck in demo mode. What to do now? Reboot?
13. Second rant (OK, fiftieth rant ): what's wrong with having some text on programs instead of just icons no one can figure out? Discovering how to save a bookmark in Safari browser took hitting every icon to get there.
14. I went to try to find something to play music. I hit iTunes and it puts up a blank page with a line saying "iTunes store terms and conditions...." Say what? Click it and it takes me to browser to accept more terms and conditions. No matter how many times I have done that, this page is still there. Why, oh why?
I see a button down left and it says "Music." I am thinking that is it. But it is not. This is for buying music but apparently not for playing it.
Go googling and realize duh, you are supposed to hit the iPod button. I hit the iPod button to play something on iPad?. Why is it not called iPad? On the PC, I don't run "iPod," I run iTunes. What was wrong with it here?
Let's say I was the only one on the planet to not know to hit ipod to play music. How about browser? Why on earth is it called "Safari" with a compass symbol? Do average people know that safari=browser? How come the call Mail, Mail? Why not call that some random name? Google's browser is called Chrome but the Android Browser is called just that: Browser.
15. I try the Google maps app. Compared to Android version, it feels like running DOS against Windows. It is dull, has horrible search function and doesn't show anything as I type. It has an annoying pulsing circle for my current location. I can't stand blinking things. There is a bloody pin where my home is. Why is it blinking the darn thing? Is there a way to turn it off? I guess not since there is no menu button to examine.
16. I hit a thing called Game Center. For the hundredth time, I am asked to type in my iTunes password again. I am ready to throw the thing at the window by now. But I think of the $750 and don't do that. The thing then starts to walk me through my profile yet again. Why? I still don't know what use I have for this thing. I hit Next and it then complains that I have not entered the year I was born. I don't want Apple to know how old I am so I lie and put Steve's year of birth.
I hit something by accident and the touch keyboard comes up on top of yet another terms of service. There is no button to accept the thing. And no indication that there is more text. I assume there is and slide it with my finger to expose it at the bottom. How is this discoverable by average folks? I say I agree and the stupid pop up comes up and asks yet again, "I have read and agree to *** Game Center Terms and Conditions: Cancel | Agree." I just hit the button that I agreed. What more do you want from me???
It was a nickname, I give it one. It then says "there was a problem with one or more fields below" in white. So easy to miss it. Why not a red color? Why not an asterisk beside every field that is wrong?
17. Then there are good stuff . I download the ABC app and I am surprised with the ease and fidelity of streaming shows. It plays instantly. Love the way it goes full screen as you rotate the iPad. No need to hit a button.
Maybe I had expected too much from Apple on my first purchase from them in some 21 years. Maybe I am too used to other platforms and anything different is too jarring. But I have to say, my adjustment to Android didn't last 15 minutes. Two days into this, I still find rough edges in what is supposed to be miracle of computing.
Cranky and tired in Seattle .