query about transferring files

[iain_robinson]

Hi all

I have a specific problem that I can't find the answer to and wonder if you guys can help. I will be making some ePub files and need to test them on an iPad. Someone in our company has one and will let me borrow it to test the files. Great news!

Trouble is, he has lots of music on his iPad so he doesn't want me to sync with my iTunes to transfer the ePub files as it will either remove all his files from the iPad or "mess up his sync relationship". I intend to either connect the iPad to our iMac to transfer the files or if I can get wireless internet here setup I could email them to my Hotmail account. My questions;

1. Can I just connect the iPad (via the cable that comes with it) to our iMac and transfer files onto it (eg, onto the desktop)? Or does it have to sync via iTunes over the cable?
2. If I can get wifi setup in here I could transfer it via Hotmail - would I still need to use iTunes to make it available to iBooks?
3. If I have to use iTunes is there any way I can do it so I can safely transfer a few ePub files without affecting his music collection?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm a Mac user (at work) but have never dealt with an iPad and don't have much iTunes experience.

thanks,
Iain

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

If he has email on his iPad then the easiest way might be to email the eBooks to his iPad. From there he can open them in iBooks or another compatible application. There are apps, too, that can transfer via WiFi without the need to sync to a PC but for a small number of files, email is probably the easiest way to proceed.

Tim

 

[iain_robinson]

Thanks Tim. I've just realised that I can use the iMac as a bridge and share it's wired connection via Airport, so if I can connect to the web on the iPad I can pick up the ePubs via Hotmail. So if I get them on the desktop I should just be able to open them in iBooks and Stanza like normal - that would be the answer to my problem!

cheers Tim
Iain

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Thanks Tim. I've just realised that I can use the iMac as a bridge and share it's wired connection via Airport, so if I can connect to the web on the iPad I can pick up the ePubs via Hotmail. So if I get them on the desktop I should just be able to open them in iBooks and Stanza like normal - that would be the answer to my problem!

cheers Tim
Iain

If only life were so simple!! The iPad's web browser, Safari, cannot download files - other than PDF - from the web. To do that, you'll need a third-party browwer and the one that most people have - could even be on the iPad now because most iPad owners have this app - is GoodReader. It has a skeleton web-browser whose one purpose in life is to enable you to download files. Once you've downloaded the file to GoodReader then you can open it in iBooks or Stanza. However, remember that files do not exist 'on the desktop' like a regular PC. A PC is a file-centric computing platform whereas the iPad is fundamentally different; it's an app centric platform. Each app keeps its own 'personal' copies of files its dealing with. So, if you download these eBooks using GoodReader and then open them in iBooks and Stanza you'll have three copies of the eBook on the iPad - one in GoodReader, one in iBooks and one in Stanza. It sounds crazy, I know, but there are some good technical reasons why they do this......and I can bore you with those if you're really that interested.

Good luck and let us know how you get on...

Tim

 

[iain_robinson]

Aaah, that would be too easy! I am indeed thinking of things in a PC-centric fashion. I'm intrigued to get mu hands on the iPad!

I've heard of GoodReader - is it free?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

No - it's not free - but it's very low priced - a couple of pounds, maybe...but it might already be on the iPad, most everyone has a copy. Bizarrely, once you've installed an app yourself, you can't see the price any longer at the iPad App Store - it just says 'Installed'!!

Here's some information about it...it's a cut and paste job, I'm afraid...



There is a program that most all iPad users have called GoodReader. It's the 'Swiss Army Knife' for the iPad and it can store files all together and in folders - or however you want them - and can transfer files to and from your PC using either WiFi or USB without the need for iTunes. It's built in web-browser can download files too, something that Safari doesn't offer - except for PDF format. From within GoodReader you can open those files in any app that supports that type of file. Having said that, though, when a compatible app does open that file it makes a local copy that it works on, so the original copy in GoodReader is left untouched. If you want to store the modified file in GoodReader you have to transfer it back there by some means.

GoodReader can also attach several files to an email and then send them using the iPad's native Mail app - something you can't do from within Mail itself. It also gives you the opportunity to annotate PDF files and save the resulting file so that it can be read on a PC or Mac.

Tim

 

[iain_robinson]

Thanks again Tim, that sounds exactly like what we need. I won't get my hands on the iPad until Monday so I'll come back to you then.

Now all I've got to do is create some ePubs...!

Keep up the good work - great forum.

Iain

 

[iain_robinson]

Hi Tim

Well, I got my hands on the iPad yesterday and everything worked fine. I used our iMac as a wireless bridge and connected the iPad up to the wireless network. From the iMac I uploaded the files I wanted to test to our free Dropbox account and then connected to the Dropbox website in Safari on the iPad. I clicked on the file, said Open and I then got the choice to open it in iBooks or Stanza. Bingo!

It's a nifty bit of kit - haven't had a chance to play with it but I'm impressed so far.

cheers,
Iain

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Glad it worked out OK. Keep in touch and tell us what you get up to.

Tim