New iPad 3 user - the most frustrating 7 hours of my life.......

[Krooked]

I have not felt as frustrated as this for a VERY long time.....

I've just spent 7 whole hours with my new iPad 3, having bitten the bullet and convincing myself that an iPad will be great for showing portfolio images to potential clients, for viewing camera images straight from my tethered Nikon, for watching training videos on a nice big screen and no longer on my smartphone......

I have failed at all of these, one by one.

The last time I felt this frustrated with a computing device was about 10 years ago with Windows NT......

1) No manual in the box - implying this device is soooooo damn easy to work, just switch it on and have fun..... (yeah right)

2) How do you get stuff onto this device, I've hooked it up to my PC (Windows 7 workstation I built myself so I'm not entirely computer illiterate) and the iPad isn't listed in Explorer.... worked out that's what I need iTunes for....

3) How unbelievably insane is iTunes ?? Where do I start ??

If it wasn't for a very clever chappy I live with (far smarter than me) telling me it took him a week to get to grips with his iPad and he never uses iTunes (sheesh, what does that tell you !).

Back to iTunes - above mentioned chappy told me that I needed to Add Folders to my Music / Video library lists that I want to put onto my iPad. So far only music has gone okay (apart from having to do it twice, the 2nd time all my music was taken off the iPad for some strange reason).

Also, how are you supposed to remember which folders you added to your libraries ?????????????????????????

4) I've just spent about 2 hours converting my flv files into .mov files only to now be told that for some reason iPad doesn't like the mov files I've created (they play fine on my pc).

5) My emails don't work (needed to restart the iPad which fixed the 'greying' out of my emails making them unreadable).

6) My photos aren't in the ORDER I either took them in OR the naming order I gave them !! (no, I don't want to edit the exif data to make all the shot taken date be the same).

7) Photos don't stay in any FOLDER, it seems they are simply thrown into an enormous bucket (i.e. they aren't in nested folders which is what I'd want and need)

8) App I purchased for the iPad also has a plug-in for Lightroom - plug-in doesn't work (okay, that might not be the iPad's fault but the PC doesn't recognize the iPad when connected.......).

All in all, a very very very frustrating day and one which has me thinking to return this back to Apple - I don't think I can be doing with all this iTunes headache.....

(p.s. I really had high hopes for this device, thinking that I'd be able to wow clients with my photographs etc off this device, but how crazy it is that you cannot even order your photographs the way you want them to be is beyond me)

I agree.
This is my first iPad and introduction to apple appliances/iTunes. I really hate that I can't drag and drop items into my iPad via USB or create folders through window explorer. It really makes no sense in this day and age and I wish someone would explain why this is the case.

Other than that, I'm enjoying my iPad, though it took a while to realize my keyboard layout was actually changing layouts depending on the application =D

 

[iceburger]

I suppose different things just work differently for everyone. I first worked with iTunes when I was 11, and I found it to be extremely user-friendly and efficient. Everything seemed self-explanatory to me, and I just loved the way it organised things. Personally, I much prefer using the iTunes system to the explorer system as I feel like everything is synergized very well in iTunes. Thus, I really don't understand your frustration, but to each to their own. If you like the explorer system of dumping files into folders, then why not try Dropbox? It's super easy to use: just dump everything into the public folder and it'll all sync automatically.

 

[MikesTooLz]

I agree.
This is my first iPad and introduction to apple appliances/iTunes. I really hate that I can't drag and drop items into my iPad via USB or create folders through window explorer. It really makes no sense in this day and age and I wish someone would explain why this is the case.

Other than that, I'm enjoying my iPad, though it took a while to realize my keyboard layout was actually changing layouts depending on the application =D

You say "It really makes no sense in this day and age"

apple thinks that having the user mess around with things like exploring files and moving stuff around like your used to doing is not something that you the end user should be worrying about how to do. As a computer tech myself I can understand what they are trying to do. The average person does not have really good computer knowledge and they tend to mess things up if you just give full access to all files and say "here you go have fun".


Apple is trying to move away from that older way of doing things to something more simple and less complex. You click a picture, click share, and select where you want it to go. Or if an app needs one of your pictures, all the user needs to do is pick what one they want to use. No thinking about files/folders or what they are called. Apple is starting to make their computer OS match up with iOS so that everything is done the same ways and I think eventually they want to have computers behaving like iOS. Steve Jobs called it the Post-PC Era. In a few month when apple releases OS x Mountain lion it will bring us one more step closer to the Post-PC Era.

Microsoft is also moving in this direction with their upcoming Windows 8 that gets rid of the desktop that everyone knows and uses today and moves to what they call Metro interface like they have on Windows Phone 7 Phones.

 

[AQ_OC]

I agree.
This is my first iPad and introduction to apple appliances/iTunes. I really hate that I can't drag and drop items into my iPad via USB or create folders through window explorer. It really makes no sense in this day and age and I wish someone would explain why this is the case.

Other than that, I'm enjoying my iPad, though it took a while to realize my keyboard layout was actually changing layouts depending on the application =D

It only makes no sense if you feel everything must work the same way. You are not alone in your thoughts, however.

Part of the Apple philosophy is that users shouldn't have to manipulate files....the attempt is to put the focus on the work, not files, folders and structures. People steeped in the PC culture typically have major problems with this "work-centric" focus. You are not alone.

Personally, being 53, I find the challenge is in overcoming the notion that things have to operate the same way. Also, I don't like iTunes and thus I'm drawn to ways of doing things that don't force me to connect via a wire to a computer. IMO, those days are fading to black. The so-called "cloud" is allowing new ways of doing things. Might as well learn to embrace change, as it is coming no matter what.

 

[nade1958]

The iPad is a great device but iTunes is a piece of crap. Managing it yourself is hardwork. Not everyone wants to add everything g on their computer to their iPad.

Sent from my iPad 3

So true

 

[Jez EMIN]

Funnily, after 2 days of complete and utter frustration, including during that time that Applecare tech support has been pretty poor, I sat down for a few hours of playing with iTunes and learnt how to tidy it all up to my liking and now that I actually understand the process, I find that iTunes isn't that bad !

But boy........ was it painful. Apple totally understand this and I know I'm not alone.

What was bad, IMO was that on this fantastic piece of kit which comes in a box with hardly anything in it at all, why on earth didn't they ship it with a) the User Guide in PDF form sitting in your iBooks, b) why iBooks isn't preinstalled anyway !!! and c) A nifty little Startup Intro Video the first time you start your brand new iPad giving you a quickstart tour of what it's all about.....?????

However............... (back to iTunes),

Having said that I now like iTunes and that, now, how wonderful I think it is....... it's currently not working on my computer !!!!

And from the conversations I've had so far, it sounds as though I'll be needing to do a complete uninstall and reinstall of it (hopefully it won't undo all the work on my iPad so far.......).

 

[AQ_OC]

Funnily, after 2 days of complete and utter frustration, including during that time that Applecare tech support has been pretty poor, I sat down for a few hours of playing with iTunes and learnt how to tidy it all up to my liking and now that I actually understand the process, I find that iTunes isn't that bad !

Software is supposed to be intuitively obvious to use....if it has a well designed interface....or not if it is very sophisticated, complex software. I don't think iTunes is particular sophisticated, though it is obviously complex. The fact that it took your so long actually means it is that bad....maybe not to you anymore, but obviously people ought not to have to do that to manage an iPad or iPhone or iPad. If Jobs has made iOS that hard to use, then Apple would not have had $100Billion in the bank. iTunes is the exactly opposite of what Job's thought software should be.

 

[nade1958]

Almost no one prints manuals anymore, paper is so pase in the 21st century. All Apple products, like Canon, Nikon, HP, etc., have their manuals on-line as pdfs. Simply put it on your iPad for reference. You may update it when new OS versions replace the old. Try that with a printed manual. Oh, by the way, you may print it as well

iTunes is your method for communicating with the iPad, same as with an iPhone or iPad. Online manual for that as well.

Sorry it took your Chappy a week to figure it out. Most spend 10-15 minutes to do that.

If you cannot remember where you store your files you may wish to make notes. No, the iPad will not deal with your old PC directories for photo filing. It is not a PC.

Lots of free software to convert your videos to iPad friendly files. Google it.

You may wish to read up on this device and practice with it a bit. Please do remember that this is not a computer and do not expect to treat it like one.

Was this biting reply necessary? Seriously?

 

[kitkat3709]

There is a cool app called Tips & Tricks - iPad Secrets. Also I purchased a small book at my local bookstore called IPad for Dummies. My husband is a novice and I purchased it for him ... He just doesn't use the device much.

Sent from my IPad 3rd Generation 64 GB LTE Black

 

[Jez EMIN]

There is a cool app called Tips & Tricks - iPad Secrets.

Sent from my IPad 3rd Generation 64 GB LTE Black

Thanks a lot kitkat3709 - that little app has increased my knowledge enormously !!!!!

For example, I was getting very frustrated (again !) with the email previews, where I knew the email was spam. Thinking there must be a way of deleting an email without having to actually view it but with no way of knowing how...... this little app showed me the way !

Thanks.

And thanks to everybody who has been kind enough to offer all sorts of helpful suggestions - it really is appreciated.

Kind regards,

Jez

 

[Czevski]

There is a cool app called Tips & Tricks - iPad Secrets.

Sent from my IPad 3rd Generation 64 GB LTE Black

I frequently refer to this app. The official iPad 5.1 guide is more in depth, but I find it harder to find what I'm looking for there. When I read Tips & Tricks I find quick tips about things I hadn't even thought of trying.

 

[AndyD]

I have read right through here, believing that is was where my problem lay. I've only had my iPad 2 for a day and have got everything working except that my iTunes as it defaults to iTunes U. I have not downloaded this iTunes U, have re-installed the latest iTunes from Apple, but the problem persists. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

 

[campythree]

Amen brother - I spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple support just to get the thing to not keep telling me I was entering the wrong password. Then I spent about 3 hours on the phone with Amazon/Kindle support getting to a point where I could download and read a book. When I regain my strength and sanity I'm going to tackle emails next. After college I worked for IBM for a year, then entered grad school. I paid my way through grad school working part-time as a programmer in the registrar's office. Things have changed since then but I still thought I was pretty good with computers. However nothing in my past has prepared me for the challenge of the ipad. The only thing that keeps me from returning it is the knowledge that millions of people use it or its predecessors and I must be as smart as at least a couple of them.

 

[kitkat3709]

Thanks a lot kitkat3709 - that little app has increased my knowledge enormously !!!!!

For example, I was getting very frustrated (again !) with the email previews, where I knew the email was spam. Thinking there must be a way of deleting an email without having to actually view it but with no way of knowing how...... this little app showed me the way !

Thanks.

And thanks to everybody who has been kind enough to offer all sorts of helpful suggestions - it really is appreciated.

Kind regards,

Jez

I'm so glad it helped.

Sent from my IPad 3rd Generation 64 GB LTE Black

 

[the dills]

This my first foray into the world beyond Microsoft. I'm used to a well ordered file structure where I control what goes where. I can understand the simplicity of apps storing those files which they create or display, but I find it really annoying when I have some pictures in a file app, some in another and some in the built in albums, the same goes for videos.
it had been suggested that iTunes was the tool for organising what goes where so I gave it a go. I have a JVC camcorder that produces .mod files. These are easily converted to .mov files suitable for iPad 3 by Oxcylon media converter. The .mov file can be imported from PC by fileapp and plays perfectly, but is stuck within fileapp when I want it in movies where there are others already. So I entered iTunes on the PC, copy the file from fileapp back to the PC import it into iTunes and copy it within iTunes to my iPad video folder, only to be told by iTunes that the file will not play on the iPad.. Er hang on I just copied from the iPad!!. ITunes will convert it to a lesser than native resolution and it can be copied and played successfully. what is going on?
ITunes would love to organise and sync all my media files but no thanks there isn't room on an iPad. I know where everything is and that's how I'd like my iPad to be. Bring on drag and drop!
As for iCloud, it destroyed the categories in my outlook calendar. Thank heaven for backups.
It's going be long learning curve!!