iPad Progress Report 374
Now that the 300,000 early adopters have had a few days to play and work with their iPads, we're moving beyond the "first impressions" articles (but here's a video of a 2-1/2-year-old's first encounter with the device). The detailed reviews aren't out yet. The largest source of early complaints is a complex of problems with Wi-Fi reception. Apple has posted a technical support note implicitly acknowledging the problems and suggesting some work-arounds — specifically, changing SSIDs or encryption methods on base stations that offer both 2.4-GHz and 5.8-GHz signals. Finally, here's a detailed look at the gratuitous pain Apple imposes on those desiring to get iWork files transferred from and to the iPad.
Other solutions to the wifi problem (Score:5, Informative)
Re:early adaptor? (Score:0, Informative)
An early adopter or lighthouse customer is an early customer of a given company, product, or technology; in politics, fashion, art, and other fields, this person would be referred to as a trendsetter. The term originates from Everett M. Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (1962)[1].
Typically this will be a customer that, in addition to using the vendor's product or technology, will also provide considerable and candid feedback to help the vendor refine its future product releases, as well as the associated means of distribution, service, and support.
The relationship is synergistic, with the customer having early (and sometimes unique, or at least uniquely early) access to an advantageous new product or technology.
In exchange for being an early adopter, and thus being exposed to the problems, risks, and annoyances common to early-stage product testing and deployment, the lighthouse customer is given especially attentive vendor assistance and support, even to the point of having personnel at the customer's work site to assist with implementation. The customer is often given preferential pricing, terms, and conditions.
The vendor, on the other hand, benefits from receiving early revenues, and also from a lighthouse customer's endorsement and assistance in further developing the product and its go-to-market mechanisms. Acquiring lighthouse customers is a common step in new product development and implementation. The real-world focus that this type of relationship can bring to a vendor can be extremely valuable.
Early adoption does come with pitfalls: early versions of products may be buggy and/or prone to malfunction (such as the Commodore 64 or Xbox 360) or prematurely obsolete (8 track tapes, Betamax, HD DVD). Furthermore, more efficient, less expensive versions of the product usually appear a few months after the initial release.[1] The trend of new technology costing more at release is colloquially referred to as the "early adopter tax".
Or shortly, a fanboi.
Re:Wait, what? (Score:5, Informative)
It's been hacked: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/05/the-ipad-has-been-jailbroken/ [tuaw.com]
Re:Other solutions to the wifi problem (Score:5, Informative)
From your link Apple suggests:
1. update your router's firmware
2. change your router's location
3. set your router to operate on one 802.11 standard
4. change your router's security
5. rename your networks
In the reported cases only the newly released iPad is having problems, but according to Apple the problem is with your router.
Re:On the 2.5 YO (Score:3, Informative)
my son is the same age and he can get around my iphone pretty well. i have 2 pages of apps just for him. i've noticed that if i change their position or the page they are on, he can still find the app he's looking for. his current favorite is a Thomas the Train puzzle game.
and thanks to video download helper on firefox, i can download train videos for him from youtube. and sometimes he just likes to explore, try playing the music i have, change the position of my apps, etc
Re:early adaptor? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:No problem. (Score:5, Informative)
You cant just buy your own graphics card, more hardware, or even a damn battery for iPhone. You have to buy everything from Apple, from an Apple store, with high Apple prices. This just follows the same lead.
Buying RAM for a Mac: http://www.newerram.com/ [newerram.com]
Buying a new graphics card for a Mac (Mac edition of graphics cards): http://www.nextag.com/mac-graphics-card/compare-html [nextag.com]
Pretty much everything you need to upgrade the hardware of a Mac: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/site-map/ [macsales.com]
These aren't Apple sites, but you can upgrade your Mac with their parts. Just because its harder to do, doesn't mean it can't be done.
Re:Arbitrary eBook reading? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Arbitrary eBook reading? (Score:5, Informative)
What I'm really interested to know is will the iPad allow me to write a book, save in unencrypted ePub format, and upload it to my own device, to be read by iBooks?
Yes. Drag your ePub file into iTunes, sync with the iPad, done. Or publish your book via smashwords (free), get it into the iBooks store this way and install it right from the iPad ;-)
Don't worry (Score:1, Informative)
You just missed the memo:
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/04/04/2223237/iPad-Jailbroken
BTW, let me be the first to say:
"Two year olds, is there nothing they can't do?"
Re:Other solutions to the wifi problem (Score:5, Informative)
A while back, the girlfriend bought a Macbook, which was the first Apple device that ever tried to connect to my router over WiFi. Even 6" away from the router, the Macbook would not connect; any PC we tried would work all (15 feet) across the apartment.
I was prepared to chalk it up to shoddy Apple networking hardware, but on a whim tried a firmware upgrade. Lo and behold, after the router rebooted the Macbook immediately recognized it and connected without issue.
I have no idea what/where the actually problem was, but if Apple had suggested the exact same list of steps to me they would've been right on the money.
Re:No problem. (Score:5, Informative)
That is such a tired, untrue, cliched argument. Granted, you can't easily go to Best Buy and purchase a battery for the iPhone, but I assure you I can find one online in about 1 minute.
Apple doesn't even make graphic cards, so yes, you actually can go buy a third party graphic card and put it in a Mac (granted, only the Pro is expandable these days, but my G4 has had all kinds of 3rd party stuff inside).
"More hardware"? What does that mean? I've purchased all kinds of non-Apple hardware over the years: USB and wireless mice, keyboards, hard drives, wireless routers, wireless USB adapters, USB hubs, monitors, printers, and so on.
The only Apple hardware I own other than the computers is Airport Extreme and a video adapter. Yeah, the Extreme costs $100 more than some random junk at Best Buy, but Time Machine worked instantly out-of-the-box, which was well worth the extra $100 I spent.
Next argument.
Bah, Apple. (Score:3, Informative)
I wanted a tablet, but wasn't looking to get anything by Apple or something Windows based. Linux's touch support seems pretty dodgy, so I ended up settling on an Entourage Edge. It looks pretty horrible asthetically, but has been incredibly useful/fun. It's an android-based ereader/tablet with two screens, a WACOM-stylus eink on one side, and a typical touch screen LCD on the other. After using it for a about a week now, I definitely recommend it to others. www.entourageedge.com
Re:No problem. (Score:1, Informative)
The whole industry is moving towards integrated graphics for low end desktops and power efficient notebooks. Of the five macs apple sells, three of them have user upgradable graphics. The other two use integrated graphics for cost and power savings (in fact, apple's high end notebook has *two* graphics cards, one is user upgradable, the other is not. The user can choose the integrated gfx card to add significant battery life).
It's not just apple following this trend, everyone is doing it.
Re:But Apple is known for screwing up from time to (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not going to venture a guess as to what Apple is REALLY worth as a company, but when something is so extremely hyped in the media, it's stock is almost guaranteed to be overvalued.
Re:Sucks outside in bright light (Score:2, Informative)
The reason the iPad looks so poor outdoors is because it uses your typical LCD screen.
No it doesn't. It has an LED backlit IPS display. LED is becoming a bit more common these days, but IPS is still quite rare. The iPad's LCD is anything but typical.
The Kindle, on the other hand, uses the e-ink screens which have a much higher contrast ratio
Are you kidding? The Kindle has a dark grey font on a light grey background. The iPad's display has much greater contrast.
Re:Sucks outside in bright light (Score:1, Informative)
The Kindle, on the other hand, uses the e-ink screens which have a much higher contrast ratio
Are you kidding? The Kindle has a dark grey font on a light grey background. The iPad's display has much greater contrast.
No he is not kidding. In the sun, the Kindle still has the 1:8 contrast ratio of a newspaper, whereas the iPad's contrast falls from 1:100 (?) to something close to zero (even apart from the glare problems of the shiny glossy screen). Don't take my word for it, go on Youtube and search for a comparison.