IPad Discussions

[Terry]

to me, this is what makes it so brilliant!

i bought a MacBook Air for my parents and they still don't know how to use it... my step-dad has kind of mastered the iPhone, but i don't think he's ever understand switching user accounts... i was trying to work out (long distance) how i could them to use it...

and then it hit me -- if i want them each to be able to check email with no confusion, the iPad is brilliant!

you can poo-poo it all you want, but simplicity can be mighty powerful.

My mother has an iMac that the kids bought her. Troubleshooting is a nightmare (I get the honor). It is all done over the phone with her having no clue and with me trying to explain what to do. She can use her iPhone pretty well (because the home key or hard reset seems to cure any problem she can create). I'm trying to convince her that the iPad is exactly what she would be happiest with. I will say on Saturday when she watched an TV episode on the ABC player she was impressed (much easier to navigate than their website). Now with the bookmark bar on the iPad safari browser I can make it even easier. The other way to simplify things for her is to save certain web pages as icons (like apps) and she can go from the home screen directly to her favorite sites.

 

[monza]

Nothing like iChat screen sharing when trouble shooting my mom's Mac. Usually it's not the mac that is the issue. She will be 87 this year and spends a great deal of time emailing her friends and sending photos. I can't imagine her using a pc and the support it would entail.

Maybe an iPad would be good for her too, with a keyboard dock.

 

[GrahamWelland]

I think that there's a good potential market for the iPad for people who only use a laptop today to browse the web, stream some audio/video and handle email. In my own case I'll be giving my WiFi iPad to my sister back in the UK as it'll be ideal for a tablet to use within the house. At the moment both my sister / brother in law have their own MacBooks (they're in their sixties and retired) and use them extensively with their wireless LAN. I moved them off PC's a LONG time ago as I end up doing the support remotely from 5000 miles away. For the majority of things an iPad will be ideal. The lack of flash though is still a pain ...

 

[jonoslack]

oh, for goodness sake! i was flirting with you...

nevermind

Sorry . . . . sometimes I can be so obtuse . . . . anyway, and of course, it would only be my ipad whose memory would halve. :shocked:

 

[Diane B]

Nothing like iChat screen sharing when trouble shooting my mom's Mac. Usually it's not the mac that is the issue. She will be 87 this year and spends a great deal of time emailing her friends and sending photos. I can't imagine her using a pc and the support it would entail.

Maybe an iPad would be good for her too, with a keyboard dock.

My mother learned to use a PC when she moved near me 9+ years ago at 85 and is still using a PC every day at 94 LOL. Her biggest issue is eyesight (macular degeneration) and has to use software to magnify on her monitor to acceptable size (the software allows magnification various ways from 1.25x to 32x!!!!) to read any longer so an Ipad just won't work for her. She uses Picasa (though no longer can take photos), reads her newspapers from Pittsburgh, PA, emails and visits some other 'comfortable' sites. I do have to act as her IT though--but what a difference it makes in her daily life keeping in touch. For people without serious eyesight issues that need a simpler computing solution, seems the Ipad may be it.

Diane

 

[jlm]

if i could download images from my camera, even jpgs, using the ipad as a larger viewing screen, i'd be interested

 

[Terry]

if i could download images from my camera, even jpgs, using the ipad as a larger viewing screen, i'd be interested

The camera connection kit should be out by the end of the month. Stay tuned...

 

[jonoslack]

The camera connection kit should be out by the end of the month. Stay tuned...

Hi Terry
The big question is whether it actually does support RAW files (or whether transferring stuff to it creates a full size jpg - As Kevin Suggested).
Any ideas on this?
Silas suggested transferring a raw image to it . . . . and then transferring it back to the mac to see if it was still a RAW file?

. . . . . it's just left Indianapolis . . . .

all the best

 

[jonoslack]

My mother learned to use a PC when she moved near me 9+ years ago at 85 and is still using a PC every day at 94 LOL. Her biggest issue is eyesight (macular degeneration) and has to use software to magnify on her monitor to acceptable size (the software allows magnification various ways from 1.25x to 32x!!!!) to read any longer so an Ipad just won't work for her. She uses Picasa (though no longer can take photos), reads her newspapers from Pittsburgh, PA, emails and visits some other 'comfortable' sites. I do have to act as her IT though--but what a difference it makes in her daily life keeping in touch. For people without serious eyesight issues that need a simpler computing solution, seems the Ipad may be it.

Diane

Hi Diane
I would have thought that the zooming on the ipad might make it very suitable for your mother? I did a bit of searching but couldn't find a definitive answer to whether there is assisted software built in or not.

all the best

 

[Terry]

There is a zoom function on the settings menu under accessibility. I'm not sure if it zooms enough. The accessibility functions are generally for sight or hearing impaired so may be worth people looking into it.

 

[Terry]

Has anyone used Zinio on their iPad?
I hadn't renewed my subscription to The Economist and it is a Zinio title. Not sure how content will ultimately work with consolidated apps like Zinio or alternatively magazines going direct to the App store.

 

[Diane B]

Hi Diane
I would have thought that the zooming on the ipad might make it very suitable for your mother? I did a bit of searching but couldn't find a definitive answer to whether there is assisted software built in or not.

all the best

It may be but truthfully at her age I'd rather not start over with new hardware. I'm just hoping that she can stick with the same OS without having to learn something new. Though she's very sharp for her age she never touched a computer until 85+ and electronics are still "magic" to her--which is sort of charming for those of us that rather take it for granted and want even more LOL.

I'm also not sure if the magnification would be enough--her software allows her to move her mouse like a magnifying glass across the screen--hard for me to deal with but she is used to it and will likely have to continue to increase magnification in the future.

Diane

 

[jonoslack]

HI Diane
If it's not broke . . . I quite agree.

you aint seeing the raw file... itunes makes a JPEG that it send to the ipad.. it doesn't send the RAW

get real guys.. .the ipad has the same processor as the iphone... I seriusly doubt it can do realtime RAW processing

K

Hi Kevin
I was trying to find out more about this - and ended up on this page:
Ipad Specs

Right at the bottom, with respect to the camera connector it says that it supports jpg and RAW files . . . whether that's what's showing on the video is a different matter.

all the best

 

[monza]

There is a zoom function on the settings menu under accessibility. I'm not sure if it zooms enough. The accessibility functions are generally for sight or hearing impaired so may be worth people looking into it.

Looks like it zooms up to 2x or so. Combined with the standard pinch/zoom, could really make a big difference for people with vision problems.

 

[kevinparis]

Interesting.... maybe I will have to look for my bacon flavoured hat

K

HI Diane
If it's not broke . . . I quite agree.


Hi Kevin
I was trying to find out more about this - and ended up on this page:
Ipad Specs

Right at the bottom, with respect to the camera connector it says that it supports jpg and RAW files . . . whether that's what's showing on the video is a different matter.

all the best

 

[bradhusick]

Has anyone used Zinio on their iPad?
I hadn't renewed my subscription to The Economist and it is a Zinio title. Not sure how content will ultimately work with consolidated apps like Zinio or alternatively magazines going direct to the App store.

I just loaded it and all I get when I launch it is a black screen.

 

[Terry]

Hmmmm....
I got a home page with 7 current iPad optimized titles including the Water issue of National Geographic (important issue I want to read since water is one of our investment themes).

 

[jonoslack]

Interesting.... maybe I will have to look for my bacon flavoured hat

K

You won't find it - I stole it when we visited Paris - such an excellent idea for someone like me, who has to eat so many of the damned things!

 

[GrahamWelland]

Has anyone used Zinio on their iPad?
I hadn't renewed my subscription to The Economist and it is a Zinio title. Not sure how content will ultimately work with consolidated apps like Zinio or alternatively magazines going direct to the App store.

I loaded up the Zinio app and it's working fine. Presentation on the iPad is excellent with the extra real estate. It picked up my subscription issues for March - May (the Mac client had me request request how many magazine issues/date range I wanted - all of them). I haven't found a way to access older content than March on the iPad client. The iPad client also came with a bunch of free teaser issues for other subscriptions such as Car & Driver, Dwell, Spin, Sporting News Today & Viv. Explore takes you to a bunch of other select content.

What I would like to know though is how I delete the junk freebies I'm not interested in. Supposedly there's an edit menu but I'll be darned if I can find it.

 

[stephengilbert]

An iPad app for Guy? When you spell a word right, it rewards you: http://laughingsquid.com/a-2-5-year-old-uses-an-ipad-for-the-first-time/