File Managment

[dvx]

To whom it may concern:

Didn't care much for apple but I just had to get the iPad. I mostly use it as a book reader and news papers are the best experience on the web and all together hands down apple took a calculated risk with the iPad and it definitely paid of.

What my biggest problem is the lack of file management. Could I be looking in the wrong place or is there no central file management on the iPad?

I have a couple of book apps with a number of books and would like to be able to transfer ePub files between the book apps or maybe have all the ePub files in one "folder" for access by a book reader of my choice.

If anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
DVX

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

The iPad does not have a central file management system; each app has its own isolated and private file space. So, if you have a couple of apps that can, say, process .doc files, each app has its own copy of that file.

It's a different philosophy - the iPad is app-centric whereas the PC is file-centric. There are many good technical reasons for adopting this approach but it means that there is no possibility of central file management.

Tim

 

[OUTL4W]

To whom it may concern:

Didn't care much for apple but I just had to get the iPad. I mostly use it as a book reader and news papers are the best experience on the web and all together hands down apple took a calculated risk with the iPad and it definitely paid of.

What my biggest problem is the lack of file management. Could I be looking in the wrong place or is there no central file management on the iPad?

I have a couple of book apps with a number of books and would like to be able to transfer ePub files between the book apps or maybe have all the ePub files in one "folder" for access by a book reader of my choice.

If anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
DVX

You could use fileApp pro as a sort of psuedo central file depository for your ePub books you could then use it's "open in" functionality to use the ereader of your choice. FileApp pro has built in wifi transfer, so no need for iTunes to transfer.

I believe the same could be said for dropbox as well but the files aren't stored locally.

 

[dvx]

Well I guess compromises are expected for such a beautiful package. I didn't think that the pad would be so dependent on the PC. In my opinion the iPad is more than capable to be independent. I just returned from africa and used the iPad as my laptop substitute and it passed the test with flying colors the only down fall was the lack of printer support via USB so I had to e-mail documents to a PC and than print. I do hope that the apple minds would think of something to solve the USB printing in the future.

Thanks for your comments guys I didn't expect to hear back so soon. I will definitely look into anything that cuts the iTunes cord.

 

[Hasty]

Apple is moving away from the traditional file centric approach to computing. If you were following the recent announcement by Steve Jobs concerning iCloud the intention is to make file management become a background process. Your computer will become just another device like your iPad and iPhone and all files will be saved and updated automatically between them all. Sensible really, as computers are supposed to make work easier, and filing is usually handled by the office juniors

My working box has a lot of hard drives and searching can be a bloody chore at times. Not everyone is familiar with grep....

 

[dvx]

Thanks for your input. Wasn't aware of any announcements I am not in the technology field. I do like the package of the iPad and the more time I spend with it the more interesting the experience it's powerful technology in a very simplified package and a brilliant design that can attract anyone based on convenience alone.

Now it's just the matter of software to make it a more standalone device possibly laptop replacement for e-mail and document user like myself. Where can I find the announcements?

 

[Hasty]

Heh This forum has an Apple iPad News section.

That said a fuller discussion can be found on websites such as TUAW or Macworld.
Probably easiest though if you just google iCloud