{"id":1888,"date":"2011-12-04T11:03:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T18:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=1888"},"modified":"2011-12-04T11:09:43","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T18:09:43","slug":"why-i-hate-my-ipad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2011\/12\/04\/why-i-hate-my-ipad\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Hate My iPad"},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

I bought an iPad in September.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I was not really excited. There is no question that Apple products are sleek and good-looking.\u00a0 Beautiful even.<\/p>\n

For some of us though, functionality is a bigger part of the user experience than how it looks, or how good I<\/em><\/strong> look when I’m using it in a public space. I’ve been in computer science for nearly 35 years. I feel no need to impress people with my tech savvy.<\/p>\n

I bought this iPad because I do work in education and new media and I need to be able to see what people are making, doing, and talking about. Many apps for the ipad are available ONLY on the ipad. So I bought one.<\/p>\n

It has a nice screen. The touch interface works well – most of the time<\/em> (though it is certainly not as responsive or reliable as iPad junkies would have you believe).<\/p>\n

There are some fun games available.<\/p>\n

It’s pretty good – most of the time <\/em>– for reading mail. It’s very slow and often requires you to re-start the app in order to move things along.<\/p>\n

It’s mediocre at surfing the web – again: it’s slow, frequently hangs, and of course, there’s the whole “can’t do anything that requires flash of Java” thing (see later, under why I hate my iPad).<\/p>\n

The sound is OK.<\/p>\n

It’s fairly light; easy to carry around and the batteries last a pretty long time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That’s about where my accolades end.<\/p>\n

The list of reasons I hate my iPad is long and grows almost daily.<\/p>\n

Why I Hate my iPad<\/h3>\n

Here are the first ten that pop into my head:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You can’t initialize your iPad unless you have a computer.<\/li>\n
  2. AND an iTunes account.<\/li>\n
  3. My ability to personalize the device (it is MINE, right?) is extremely limited.<\/li>\n
  4. Many of the apps can’t be personalized (what if don’t LIKE brown for my calendar)?<\/li>\n
  5. It does not support flash.<\/li>\n
  6. It does not support Java.<\/li>\n
  7. It has no USB ports.<\/li>\n
  8. Memory is limited.<\/li>\n
  9. It can only do one thing at a time.<\/li>\n
  10. There is no BACK button.<\/li>\n
  11. There is only one way to do most things.<\/li>\n
  12. You can’t put anything on it, except through iTunes.<\/li>\n
  13. You can’t take anything off, except through iTunes.<\/li>\n
  14. There are many things you can’t readily save elsewhere AT ALL.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Oh, yeah, and the camera SUCKS. (My DS takes better pictures.)<\/p>\n

    It also doesn’t record image information in the same way as other devices, like, my DS, my phone, and EVERY digital camera I have ever owned.<\/p>\n

    There are many more but these are the ones that popped into my head in the first 30 seconds. I’ll add more as they occur to me…..<\/p>\n

    Stay tuned.<\/p>\n