I bought an iPad 2 as a gift for a woman who has never been a successful personal computer user, beyond launching a web browser. I figured it would be dead-simple to set up, like an Amazon Kindle or Android phone/tablet and she could be freed from ever having to use a desktop operating system again. As soon as she unpacked it, though, she called me and said “I can’t do anything with this. It just says ‘iTunes’.” Of course, the device shipped with no manual because it is supposed to be idiot-proof. So I downloaded the 200-page user guide from the Apple web site and discovered that the iPad seems to depend on the owner also having a PC and being savvy enough to download and install additional software on that PC (i.e., iTunes). Can this really be the case or am I missing something? All that she wants to do is connect to WiFi and launch a web browser. Can’t the iPad do that out of the box?
How is the iPad the next generation of computing if it needs to lean on the technology of the 1970s (the PC)? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to call the iPad a PC peripheral?
[And does the iPad require an ongoing periodic connection to a PC in order to get software updates? Or can it get them “over the air” like a Kindle or Android device?]
[Update: the gift recipient (Harvard graduate, as it happens, with more than 10 years of experience using Windows) spent 45 minutes trying to download and install iTunes on her Windows XP laptop. She failed completely and seemed not to understand that the download process results in a program file being transferred to her computer and that, afterwards, the program would have to be run in order to complete the installation. The word “installer” was incomprehensible to her. I guess this shows that the Android/iOS one-step process of installing applications is superior for naive users than the two-step Mac OS/Windows process.]
[Update 2: the gift recipient was able to get a recent high school graduate to come over and assist with the installation of iTunes. However, they found that they could not sync the PC with the iPad unless they held the connector into the edge of the iPad. There seems to be some kind of mechanical problem either with the cable or the iPad itself. The two of them were able to get the iPad onto a WiFi network and connected to a legacy AOL email account, so now it can function as a Web browser or email reader.]
[Update 3: While the iPad debacle was unfolding a non-tech friend decided to purchase his first smart phone. He went to the Verizon store at the Burlington Mall and, before leaving the store, had his new Android phone (Samsung Droid Charge, with OLED screen and 4G LTE data; we’ll see what kind of battery life he gets!) set up with his email and was happily replying to messages.]
[Update 4: I took a tour around the iPad Web site, e.g., http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/ ; nowhere does it show the iPad connected to the dreaded legacy systems. The only mention of connecting the iPad to a traditional computer is at the bottom of http://www.apple.com/ipad/ios4/ and then it is only in the context of updating software.]
[Update 5 (about 5 days after delivery): The new iPad user was able to get to the Facebook web site. However, she was not able to log in because she said “I could not get the keyboard to appear at the same time that it was asking me for my email address and password.” She spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get into Facebook and then gave up, reporting great frustration. “I can’t figure out how to get any of these things to go away,” she noted. “On Windows there is a line of commands across the top, but on the iPad there are usually only a few options.”]
[10-day update: The iPad user does not know what an “app” is and cannot distinguish between trying to connect to Facebook via the Web versus via through a “Facebook app”. It is impossible to explain the difference over the phone.]
Apple says the next iOS, due in the fall, will work “pc free,” including system updates and backups to “iCloud.” http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html#pcfree
Of course, to bootstrap her ios4 iPad to the next version, you’ll need…. A pc 🙂
(Also, Philip, didn’t you see the commercials? The iPad is a “revolution!” A revolution that needed five revs to cut the cord from the pc. But finally it is liberated from the pc, so the revolution can truly get underway! Underway… by syncing all its data to corporate servers controlled by Apple Inc. A new era haw truly dawned.)
Until the next iOS version the iTunes connection is still required for system updates, but everything else, like installing apps should go wireless. If there’s an Apple store around she can pop in there to get it activated.
It really is the case. It is also really hard to return apple products without paying a restocking charge. Maybe you could use the ‘I didn’t know I needed a computer’ line. She need cell network connectivity? If she does not and does not need apps, I would seriously consider HP Touchpad, because the gui is quite good, and it doesn’t require a pc/mac, otherwise there are a lot of nice Android machines, as you mentioned. I have a touchpad, but I looked at the galaxy.
Yep, you’ve hit the reason why I never got my parents an ipad
I wonder whether it would be worthwhile to install a beta version of iOS 5? (It requires a paid Apple developer account to install.) It seems like a stupid way off for such a fudamental feature, but I guess it’s like copy-and-paste (or the app store) with the iPhone.
I agree that it shouldn’t have taken this long to get the iPad PC free. But if you take it into the Apple store they will plug it into iTunes for you and activate it. After that is done, it will only need to be updated once more in the Fall to get the new iOS update.
Apple Stores no longer charge a restocking fee for returns within 14 days.
I like my Samsung Chromebook a lot…has a real keyboard, too.
Joshua: Sign up as an Apple developer and then install a beta version in order to make the overall experience as simple as an Android tablet or Kindle? Let me clear my calendar for a few days so that I can really experience how much simpler the Apple world is than the Kindle/Windows/Android world.
Ray: I plan to buy a Chromebook as a gift too. I think it will be better for desk-bound use. I was going to wait another few weeks and maybe get the Acer for $349.
I’ve had some very buggy activity using the beta – mostly that it required iTunes 10.5, and there have been some peculiar sync activity (not to mention, it doesn’t even see my device at times).
If your user is just going for the basic applications, they’d probably be fine with the beta, but backup first of course. If they’re going to be a heavy app user, like me, might be best to wait!
iOS 5 does offer PC-free set up, and it’s actually rather slick. However, I can’t recommend updating quite yet. It is very much a developer preview. Netflix and many other video streaming apps don’t work at all, and other apps are a bit quirky.
@Ray: But it’s fairly heavy, and not all that cheap compared to a fully functional laptop (or netbook). I’d love to have a Chrome OS device, if it was reasonably cheap — I can imagine using it in meetings (where the iPad doesn’t allow me to type quickly enough and has poor multi-tasking) — and reasonably light. The Samsung Chromebook is still much heavier than my MacBook Air. (I tend to use Apple devices mostly to access the Google Apps systems, so it’s really a matter of portability for me.)
Apple Stores do a splendid job in setting up iPads for customers such as your friend. Two weeks ago my mother (who has no PC and no experience with computers) bought an iPad. The Apple employee who sold the Pad spent almost two hours with my mother, showing her how the iPad works, setting up the iPad, establishing an account with AT&T, and establishing a Gmail account. I was very impressed by the level of support my mother received.
Don’t buy machines with which you are unfamiliar for people who are likewise unfamiliar with those machines.
Yes, iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touch devices require a computer, such as a laptop or desktop PC to activate. If she’s a good enough friend to buy an iPad for, take yourself down to where she lives, use your PC and activate it. The Apple Store suggestion is a very good one, assuming you’re close enough to a metro with an Apple Store.
App purchases, and updates to apps can be made over the air. Some apps are too large for over-the-air downoad (I’ve only seen this with games) and so require free WiFi.
In the Fall all iOS devices will no longer require a separate PC for activation (and more importantly backup), and then, perhaps then, we’ll be living in a Post-PC utopia.
Those suggesting a netbook for your friend, who you described as having a poor track record with PCs, may be forgetting just how much like PCs netbooks are.
Phil: be wary of the chromebook. I had one of the trial ones over the summer, and it was disappointingly slow (it worked fine otherwise). At the time, I said I’d pay $100 for it. As far as I know, the official ones are selling for something like $500. Even if they are blazingly fast, which I doubt, that seems pretty steep.
Erich: When you say that you had a trial Chromebook “over the summer” do you mean the summer of 2010? Or our current summer? If it was a year ago, was it the same dual-core CPU and RAM configuration that they have in the current Acer and Samsung Chromebooks?
Yes sadly, this is the case until this fall. As others have noted, it can either be easily returned with no restocking fee (Apple eliminated all fees like that this year) or if an Apple store is around you can take it in and they will get you going. That said, after iOS 5 hits this fall, everything has been migrated to the cloud and any iOS device will no longer be forced to connect to iTunes for anything.
You don’t sound like you’re going to install the beta, but even if that crossed your mind as an actual option, don’t. The developer betas expire and need to continue to be updated with the new release that comes out every couple weeks. Definitely not something you want to do.
As Patrick says, if you (or she) has an Apple retail store in the area, they’ll set everything up and you can then use it PC free. I agree that it should be made more clear up front that a computer is required, since the average person would assume that it’s a stand-alone device.
It was a hell of surprise to me too when I bought an iPad 1 for my mother. Doubly so when my G4 Mac Mini running OS 10.4 proved inadequate for the bootstrap task, yet a Windows XP laptop of the same vintage did the job just fine. (It’s so much easier to “innovate” when you don’t care about backward compatibility.)
Apple recently announced the new cloud for itunes. This was pretty big as it is a huge pain to keep all my computers synced up… but you still need to run itunes on at least one machine. They really should just host peoples music online with an option to download via an app. If they integrated the cloud hosting you wouldn’t need a pc. I say stick with android.
All can say is that that is where Apple loses in its business proposition…i.e. understanding what it takes to seduce the mass by making it streamlined, and easy to operate…However, what they do successfully, from what I understand is, creating a cult following of those that get hooked..
Did you know that the Kindle has a web browser? It is not the best but it does work.
And why does it need a credit card to complete the registration on itunes?
Apple requires a credit card to positively identify the user and avoid anonymous hackers from abusing their system.
It just goes to show that Apple’s moves in the new post-NeXT era benefit Apple at least as much if not more than they benefit the user. It’s all about Apple maintaining control and no longer about “the power to be your best”. Requiring connection to iTunes on a computer to begin using an iPad is the perfect example of this control. There’s no technical reason for that requirement.
I miss the old Apple.
Apple’s “control” of their system lets me know where to point a finger at when something goes wrong (them). Their closed system also keeps out abusers and poorly written software. Android seems like the wild wild west to me, lots of raw power without much accountability. I think the reason the iPad forces you to go through iTunes is so they can maintain this control. They’re set up to use the iPad as peripheral, not a full blown computer. With the iCloud, it looks like it will no longer require a PC to set up. I do not work for Apple. I do not own Apple stock.
Fred: Apple is worried about quality control and accountability, which is why they insist that you hook up your pristine new iPad to your 5-year-old virus-infected desktop computer? As far as maintaining control goes, I think the mobile phone carriers have proven that it can be done very easily over the air, assuming that the device was originally engineered as a mobile device (which apparently the iPad and iPhone were not).