Should I Get A Divorce?

[Renegade]

My wife wanted an iPad 2... So we got one... Should I get a divorce?

Just kidding! I love my wife more than I could ever say. 

Anyways, the tablet market here in Australia is, well, poor in the sense that you can't get a Samsung Galaxy like she first wanted. So, the next best thing looked like an iPad. Seems like Apple has locked Samsung out of most markets for that now.

Naturally it doesn't work out of the box. You have to link it to iTunes first. Ahem... *cough* So, if you previously had a nice clean machine, you'd better infect it if you want to use iPad. (I already have a dedicated virus machine Mac, so it's ok for me. )

It is a very nice looking device.

We'll see if it can network better than my virus box Mac.

I think she'll be happy with it though. I have a feeling that it will be mostly used for BeJeweled Blitz and Strategery.

[lotusrootstarch]

Apple builds great user experience there's nothing wrong with loving Apple stuff. The only thing I don't like about Apple is its ideology/philosophy, otherwise all good.

iPads are dominating the tablet market thanks to the greediness of various Android vendor trying to market immature products at marked-up prices, esp. here in Australia, where you pay a whole lot extra on tech stuff.

Apple pioneered and successfully opened a new market... it is the big corps like HP/Samsung locking themselves out of the market while trying to push noticeably lower value deals at premium costs to customers. The mega fail of WebOS/Touchpad proves the point, it just couldn't hope to take off against iPads (or even Androids) with its pricing.

[app103]

I don't know about a divorce, but it is one of the questions my daughter now asks before considering dating a guy:

Do you own a computer? (REQUIRED!) Is it a Mac, and if so, what OS is it running (Linux is OK).

And if a guy talks about his iPad or iPhone the way one would talk about their child or pet, it's over. She doesn't talk about her LG Lotus that way and thinks it's a real turn-off of a guy shows way too much affection for his gadgets. She would rather him talk about his ex-girlfriend. At least that would be a human with the same parts as her, and she could compete with that.

But I already told you what she told that one guy, that wanted to know if all those cool DC AHK tools she had, would run on a Mac. ("Go die in a fire!")

She has already dated a few Mac users and it ended in disaster...they really do think differently. They are OK as friends, but no long term commitment from her. It just wouldn't work.

And I already told her that whoever she ends up with, if he isn't a Windows power user, capable of doing all that stuff she usually gets me to do for her, then she has to start her geek training the day after she gets back from her honeymoon. 

[Ath]

It is a very nice looking device.

I think that sums it up for both the iPad and the iPhone.

I've been carrying an Android for over a year now, and my employer gave me an iPhone 4 about 2 months ago, and being the technocrat I am, the Android is and will be my best friend smartphone for some time to come

doing all that stuff she usually gets me to do

Lovely story app

[nudone]

App, that's a brilliant strategy. Weed out all the posers that have nothing better to talk about than a shinny plastic box. Definitely a good way to avoid years of potential boring psuedo religious gibberish about sublime Apple products spewing forth from your son-in-laws gob.

[J-Mac]

I bought my wife an iPad for her birthday in July. I looked into all the tablets and the iPad is simply that far out in front of the pack IMO. Also, I wanted Wifi only and I was NOT going to buy from a wireless company with a data plan. 

Jim

[40hz]

I forgot who said it, but rather than getting a divorce, it's easier to just find some attractive woman who doesn't like you very much and buy her a very expensive house. Especially since it amounts to much the same thing.  

 

[wraith808]

Apple builds great user experience there's nothing wrong with loving Apple stuff. The only thing I don't like about Apple is its ideology/philosophy, otherwise all good.

That sums up my ideas on the subject very nicely

[Renegade]

I bought my wife an iPad for her birthday in July. I looked into all the tablets and the iPad is simply that far out in front of the pack IMO. Also, I wanted Wifi only and I was NOT going to buy from a wireless company with a data plan. 

Jim

Pretty much the same situation here.

The iPad was for her birthday present, and she didn't want a 3G plan. (Why? Isn't that what the phone is for?)

Funny thing... I plug it into my Mac, and iTunes pukes an error and the thing won't connect at all.

I plug it into my Windows box, and BAM! Works perfectly...

That's messed up.

[nosh]

So you're a frontrunner when it comes to owning Apple devices now!  

I stopped a friend from going for a blackberry just a week back.
"Buy an iPhone instead, it's perfect for you. You'll end up doing a lot more with it."
"But it's out of my budget!   "
"SAVE FOR IT!   "



I stand by my words, Apple devices are great for non-geeks or anyone who doesn't want to faff around too much.

[mahesh2k]

What's wrong with blackberry ? Recent models - curve and storm seems to be fine compared to iphone. They're not tied to carrier anymore. 

As for renegade, i think we need to save him from the wrath of satan jobs. I knew he was talking in ren's ears about mac for quite some time. Let's pray for him 

[nosh]

I'm sure the BBs are perfectly good phones but knowing my friend, he's a perfect fit for an iPhone. I have set up his machines for him in the past and take care of a lot of the maintenance too, so I know the way he uses technology and what would work for him. Nothing against BBs.

They're not tied to carrier anymore.

Neither are iPhones, once you unlock.

[Carol Haynes]

There are plenty of regions where you can still buy a Samsung Galaxy - if she wants a Galaxy get her a Galaxy and p**s on Apple from a great height.

Actually of you look around you can probably find a Galaxy cheaper outside Oz! You might need a friend to ship it to you.

How about http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-7-inch-Bluetooth-Android/dp/B004TL9UR0
or http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-10-1-Inch-16GB-Wi-Fi/dp/B00519RW1U

[Renegade]

As for renegade, i think we need to save him from the wrath of satan jobs. I knew he was talking in ren's ears about mac for quite some time. Let's pray for him 

Our Father, which art in in the kernel,
Hallowed be thy OS.
Thy browser come.
Thy will be done in office suites,
As it is in development toolchains.
Give us this RAM our daily memory.
And restore us our crashed disks,
As we AV cure them that try to infect us.
And lead us not into iTunes,
But deliver us from DRM.
For thine is the browser,
The OS, and the cloud,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

[4wd]

Anyways, the tablet market here in Australia is, well, poor in the sense that you can't get a Samsung Galaxy like she first wanted.

Is this a slight exaggeration?

StaticIce

Did you really mean you can't get one in Australia at a price you want to pay?

[steeladept]

Our Father, which art in in the kernel,
Hallowed be thy OS.
Thy browser come.
Thy will be done in office suites,
As it is in development toolchains.
Give us this RAM our daily memory.
And restore us our crashed disks,
As we AV cure them that try to infect us.
And lead us not into iTunes,
But deliver us from DRM.
For thine is the browser,
The OS, and the cloud,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

One iPad
     - $699.99

One machine that will actually let you activate it
     - $2,394.67

All the artzy crap to fit in with the iPad crowd
     - $568.94

One new prayer from your techie friends
     - Priceless

There's some things money can't buy, for everything else there's Mastercard



Sorry, too lazy to add the pictures, and imagination is worth it's weight in gold anyway.

[Fred Nerd]

I don't know about a divorce, but it is one of the questions my daughter now asks before considering dating a guy:

Do you own a computer? (REQUIRED!) Is it a Mac, and if so, what OS is it running (Linux is OK).

I think your daughter has an easier time than guys like me who keep meeting girls who are attracted to shiny things like iPhones that all their friends have. Oh, and Macbook Air is sooooo cute (lolz).
And yes, in Australia, Apple has really taken off. You have to either be broke and get a cheap droid or a serious techie to get anything other than an iPhone.

PS, what's your daughter's number?


PPS, AHK is one reason I only want a PC girl. It has been considered romantic to write custom scripts for someone special. "....and press CTRL+Q, it displays your name......."

[Darwin]

Ironically, Renegade, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is in stores in the Great White North ($499 for the 16GB version, which has 3G). They are GORGEOUS, but I went for the Asus Transformer because the screen is *about* on par and for the same price ($496) I got a built-in mini-HDMI port (dongle for the Sammy is $35), a microSD slot AND a keyboard dock that adds a second battery, keyboard and touchpad, 2 USB ports, an MMC/SD/SDHC slot... I'm *hoping* to use this thing on the road as a productivity tool. I'm tired of lugging my 3 year old laptop around. I just plugged my HP wireless keyboard and mouse receiver into one of the USB ports and they both worked right away. I really don't see this replacing a computer, but I think it's going to be great for the fall semester: my employer hasn't seen fit to provide me with a decent computer and I am travelling between three different campuses, so I'm going to take the tablet with me and run powerpoint presentations from it directly...

Sorry, too lazy to add the pictures, and imagination is worth it's weight in gold anyway.

You might say that an imagination is priceless, non? 

[Fred Nerd]

I was given a iPod touch to 'work out' for an older friend.

Ok initial impressions are that of total 'People put up with this???????'

Someone had loaded music on it which wouldn't play. Wrong encoding I presume.
Anyway, I plugged it into my PC and ran iTunes (I have an iPod Classic, as much as I hate Apple and hate my iPod, it is the only thing to hold over 13000 songs in 320AAC) Now, up comes a message saying 'do you want to sync with this library? Big time NO. But it still wiped the Touch anyway. Didn't put anything on, just wiped it.

Contrast a 'Droid device. USB plug in. Locate new drive, find music, put music on, put pictures on, App files, whatever, unplug and its all there.

Just seems sooooooo limited, and very restrictive

It seemed slightly more responsive than my nexus and nicer scrolling, but you got the idea it was only because it was really not doing much. No meat to the apps.

Anyway. I used to think that fanboism was only a game. But its totally justified.

I now think Apple as USELESS as well as Evil.

[wraith808]

Now, up comes a message saying 'do you want to sync with this library? Big time NO. But it still wiped the Touch anyway. Didn't put anything on, just wiped it.

I don't know why it did that- but that's not standard behavior.