Why I Don't Want an iPad for Christmas

[zridling]

Brett Arends tells us why he doesn't want an iPad for Christmas.

[attach]

[worstje]

Yay! I am not the only sane person on this planet after all!

[tomos]

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

[Stoic Joker]

Yay! I am not the only sane person on this planet after all!

Yes Indeed, thre are still a few of us around.

[Bamse]

Also a few who can't afford an ipad no matter who says what. Context of why or why not is not always clear. I would say no tomos

[Stoic Joker]

Also a few who can't afford an ipad no matter who says what. Context of why or why not is not always clear.

Completely off the chain cost of ownership sounds like a good reason to (not do it) me. You pay $1,000 for a device that you then have to pay, and pay, and pay to use. Oh hell no ... I expect that kind of crap from an auto loan, but a game box isn't supposed to be a major purchase.

[Bamse]

I was more hinting at those who have an opinion and those who have an opinion but are open to suggestions Why think about ipad at all? I know nobody will give one to me so not really hard to be holy I would sell it after max. 2 days, promise.

[Deozaan]

Interesting article.

On thing that always bugs me about Apple products is the unnecessary price hike on what I consider inferior technology (for what else you could get for that kind of money).

The average middle-class American earns maybe $16 an hour after taxes.

That's almost twice what we make before taxes.

A lot of the iPad's best features need an Internet connection. So if I want to use them wherever I go, I'll want the model with a 3G data plan that works everywhere. And those start at $629, plus at least $15 a month. Total cost: at least $809, plus tax, in the first year, and $989 over two years. This I don't need.

Anyone know why the Kindle is able to offer free 3G but the iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab are not? I'm already paying a monthly subscription for my cell phone and my internet. Why should I have to pay it again to get it on my tablet?

[4wd]

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

Just tell me where to send it

[40hz]

Hmmm...

I likely wouldn't kick Joanne Kelly out of bed for eating crackers. 

But I definitely would for booting up an iPad. 

[tomos]

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

Just tell me where to send it

lol, that'd impress the rest ;-)

[4wd]

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

Just tell me where to send it

lol, that'd impress the rest ;-)

As someone commented:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All the sad loser pose value of the iPad, with non of the nanny-state interference from Apple.

Look like a dickhead - but maintain independance - it's a win-win situation.

[Renegade]

11. Censorship (http://kewlaid.net/2010/12/22/apple-champion-of-censorship-yet-again/)

Think different, as long as you think like us... Sigh...

[4wd]

Jobbs Brian: "You are all individuals!"
Fanboys Crowd: "We are all individuals!"
Renegade Old Man: "I'm not."

[Renegade]

Jobbs Brian: "You are all individuals!"
Fanboys Crowd: "We are all individuals!"
Renegade Old Man: "I'm not."

I LOVE Monty Python. Brilliant stuff~!

BTW - Got the entire collection on DVD recently~! (Well, the Flying Circus anyways.)

[Deozaan]

So my mom got an iPad for Christmas. I played around with it and tried to give it a fair shake. It's actually pretty cool technology and definitely a fun gadget to play around with. But in the end, as with every other Apple product I've used, I didn't like it.

It's really a misnomer that Apple products are intuitive and easy to use. There were quite a few times when I was puzzled about how to accomplish something that should be a no-brainer.

1. Browsing the app store, I found a game I loved, and when I saw it had 4 player multiplayer on 1 device, decided to buy it for my mom as a present (so I could play it, of course!). I saw the description, price, and lots of details and reviews about the game (Chu Chu Rocket) but I couldn't figure out how to buy the darn thing! Where's the big "Buy Now!" or "Install" button? I clicked on the game title, on the picture, scrolled all around the page looking for the buy button. Perplexed, I finally clicked on the price, which does not look anything like a button, and then was given the opportunity to okay the sale. But it didn't ask me for any payment details. So now my mom's credit card (or whatever) will be charged for the gift I gave her. ARGH!

2. Since it's essentially a giant iPhone without the phone, browsing websites will automatically take you to the Mobile phone version of sites (that are smart enough to do that), which is stupid and annoying because a lot of the mobile versions of sites are limited in what they allow you to see or do. ARGH! (Though to be fair, I imagine Android tablets have this same problem.)

3. I really noticed the lack of a "back" or "cancel" button on the device. For instance, I was using the Fandango app to browse local movie showtimes, and I clicked the button to watch a movie preview. But my mom's internet isn't that great so it wouldn't load fast enough to stream. So I ended up stuck on a blank screen with no back button to get back to the Fandango app. Touching the screen wouldn't bring up any options, not even playback options like pause, rewind, seek, etc. I could press the "Home" button to take me back to the "desktop" but if I relaunched Fandango it would remember where I was and just take me back to the black screen. Where's the smurfing back/cancel button to go out of the video preview and back to the app? ARGH!

4. The iPad's iPod mode is retarded. Now, I've never owned an iPod and don't like using them because the "easy and intuitive" wheel thing never works for me. I have to spin and spin and spin just to try to get it to move one place, but it doesn't go anywhere. Finally when it does move, it goes several spaces and I have to repeat the process all over again, but in the opposite direction, to try to get back to the option I want. So anyway, I don't use iPods, and I don't use iTunes, so maybe this is why this seemed so stupid to me, but while trying to select some music to play, I clicked the Albums button at the bottom of the screen and it popped up a little box showing a bunch of albums, and I selected one and told a song to play. Fine, easy, great! But after that as I wanted to browse the rest of the music, nothing on the screen would respond to anything except that little window with the current album open. I tried clicking off of the window to close it, but that didn't work. I looked for an X or close button (which other iPad apps use on popup windows like that one), but there was none. I clicked all over trying to get that little window to close so I could use the darn machine but there was no clear or visible way to get it to go away. I don't remember for sure now, but I think I ended up clicking on the album name to get it to go away. ARGH!

It doesn't make sense. It's not consistent, and my "computer illiterate" mom who thinks Apple products are great because they're "so easy they're perfect for stupid people like [her]" still has to ask me questions about how to do stuff. Then when I try to figure it out for her I can't because it's so smurfing stupidly designed it doesn't make any sense.

ARGH! I hate Apple products so much!

Those Android tablets can't come soon enough!

[Stoic Joker]

That sounds like a great (from-the-streets) human interest story for KewlAid...

[nudone]

The perfect Christmas present... not receiving an iPad. I think many of us should be grateful for not receiving one this year.

[f0dder]

But it didn't ask me for any payment details. So now my mom's credit card (or whatever) will be charged for the gift I gave her. ARGH!

Yeah, iirc it's tied to your iTunes account and auto-draws from the associated credit card. Makes it so eeeeeeasy, especially for the teenagers that don't have a grasp of money yet >_<

Where's the smurfing back/cancel button to go out of the video preview and back to the app? ARGH!

Oh, that's easy - you just have to slide two fingers across the screen diagonally while standing like this:

[attachimg=#]

I have to spin and spin and spin just to try to get it to move one place, but it doesn't go anywhere. Finally when it does move, it goes several spaces and I have to repeat the process all over again, but in the opposite direction, to try to get back to the option I want.

Yeah, it's the same for me. It's as user friendly as Mario skating across ice blocks.

I tried clicking off of the window to close it, but that didn't work. I looked for an X or close button (which other iPad apps use on popup windows like that one), but there was none. I clicked all over trying to get that little window to close so I could use the darn machine but there was no clear or visible way to get it to go away. I don't remember for sure now, but I think I ended up clicking on the album name to get it to go away. ARGH! It doesn't make sense. It's not consistent,

HEATHEN! Apples interfaces are intuitive and consistent! How daaaaare you utter such nonsense?!

[Renegade]

In all fairness to the iPad, the store example isn't a problem with the iPad. It's a problem with the iTunes store being completely retarded. You could try to browse it on anything, even Windows, and it's no less moronic.

Try sorting in the Apple Ape Store. Ooops... Can't do it.

There is no salvation for the app store because it's fundamental principles are wrong.

Actually, come to think of it, the app store is very much like roads here. Drive down a residential street and you'll hit a speed bump every 50 or 100 m with choke points at every intersection. i.e. They're not designed to help you get from point A to point B; they're designed to "allow" you to get from point A to point B with as much difficulty as possible. The app store is the same. It's not the car that sucks. It's the roads. Same for the iPad there -- it's the store that sucks beyond comprehension.

[Renegade]

That sounds like a great (from-the-streets) human interest story for KewlAid...

+1~!

Feel like posting Deozaan?

[Gwen7]

a child's Christmas poem
================

i didn't get one.

but I don't care.

i didn't want it anyway.

so there!

:-))

[40hz]

@Gwen7 - Worry not. Maybe Santa will bring you some capital letters next year.

[Gwen7]

@40hz: oh I got caps just fine.  

i'm just too lazy to use them when i'm on my blackberry.

BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND CHRISTMAS WISH!!!

(now aren't you glad i mostly stick to lc? even using parentheses and emoticons is a major concession afaic.)

##
p.s. you left a netbook in our server room last time you were in. i have it at my desk - so better be nice to me! ;-))

[40hz]

@gwen7 re:netbook...Thx.