New iPad trial over. Back to the future of Android

So having said that Canon's newest full frame body will get no further mention from me a while ago, I will now add Apple products along with Sport and Politics as taboo blog subjects for the future

But before I do, I need to thank Graham for his feedback on his iPad mk1 (happy customer it seems) and James for his views that pretty much follow my thoughts.

I have long been anti -Apple because of the shackling of devices by iTunes, plus lack of drag and drop file capabilities, lack of USB, lack of Flash blah blah.

Many people have over the years tried to convince me that the Apple products are far superior, no security issues, and they 'Just work'. I have taken the view that for more than double the price of comparable PC's, comparisons with far better sounding musical devices, and better tablets etc, that I was better off without them.

But the Apple marketing and the store is a tempting seductress. Having taken the piss out of the more than 500 sheep that queued outside the Apple Store in Birmingham the other week, and having been taken in by the hype, I walked past a few short hours later to find no queue and I was in and out inside 5 minutes but some almost £600 lighter in the credit card. My first Apple product

First couple of days were OK, except I couldn't get images sorted.

Then after 3 nights of not being able to connect to the iTunes store to download apps, to resetting and taking more than 3 hours to recover, I was spending more time trying to make it work than it actually working.

When it did, it was great. Impressive screen, good battery life contrary to other reports, nice slick interface. But the ongoing problem with 'Cannot connect to iTunes kept recurring. More trips to the store - good job my office was close by.

Got the photo uploads sorted, although it still cannot do Cf Cards, drag and drop, and the only way to get Canon images on from CF cards is to connect the camera. How quaint, but I though we had moved on with card readers ten years ago.

I will give a massive thumbs up to Nik Software for their Snapseed software. That was a great app and I will recommend that for quick, easy and excellent editing. I used it on the Panasonic P & S camera files which has a SD card, so I could use that adapter.

But with more drop outs over the weekend and again on Monday, I finally reached the end of my patience with it, and it was returned today.

So last night, I reopened the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, that was factory reset and ready to go on eBay. Within 25 minutes, I was completely reset back to where it was after 7 months of use, and works a treat.

Checking out Nik today, Snapseed for Android is 'coming soon', so that is good news, and I will be able to process CF card, via USB Canon 5Dmk2, and 7D jpeg or RAW files in my tablet.

Now while tablets are still 'toys' by comparison with the desktop powerhouses, the ability to process and work on the move is very useful with tablets.

With blood pressures and temperatures now returned to normal, I can get on with 'life' and make a note to self to remember to stick to my own thoughts and not get taken in by the victory of marketing hype over substance.

The absolute best Apple product is the 14 day full money back guarantee.

Martin

Martin

Overheating Problem - Request for Help

Regular readers will need no reminding of my views of all things beginning with a small 'i'.

It was quite hilarious to see the massive queue of about 5 to 600 hundered people outside the Apple store in Birmingham at just gone 8 AM last Friday. If only they had a little more patience and gone back in the afternoon, you could be in an out inside 5 minutes with no queue for any model of the 'New iPad' that you might have wanted. I know because I did it.

So now you are back on your seat or have stopped laughing, then read on.

Now, I posted about throwaway technology a couple of months back, and I stand by that view with the annual launch of what are now very expensive phones and even more expensive tablets, and entry level camera bodies.

So with that in mind, what did I have to lose? Well a lot of money and the need to buy some humble pie. I did the former and will do latter, if I still have the bloody thing on Friday week and haven't taken up the 14 day no quibble return.

After the last two frustrating nights trying to some basic things like load photos, a return trip to the Apple Store is probably more likely than not.

So a very quick review first.

The slidey swipey interface is better than my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Some of the connectivity is better. Images do look a bit better. The screen is very nice but really not much better, if at all, than the Galaxy, but given that Apple have made a big thing of it, then the previous models must have been pretty crap.

Not noticed any overheating of the iPad as is currently being reported - plenty from me out of frustration with bloody iTunes and photo loading though.

How crap is it that you cannot plug in a Cf card reader into the USB adapter that comes with the Camera Connection Kit

Apple says no - connect camera with an old fashioned bit of wire. Welcome back to technology pre-card readers. How quaint. No Cf card readers by Apple - OK lets leave camera pro body owners in the cack then.

And as for iTunes as the device to upload images - well what a crock!!!

So I get around after my little rant to my plea for help.

Fellow photographers how do you do the following please?

1. Upload images direct from a Cf Card ?
2. Upload images from a portfolio on your PC (not Mac) ? - now sorted
   
3. Do you use iTunes or some other app ?
4. When you get the photographs on the Ipad, how do you move them about, create new folders, delete and generally do stuff with them ? - now sorted
   
5. What portfolio App do you use and why ?
6. What editing app do you use and why ?
7. What File uploader/transfer App do you use ?
   

Apologies if these questions are bit lame and should be bloody obvious, but it is not obviously intuitive with frigging iTunes.

At the moment, all my pre-conceived notions of why I was/still am anti 'i' products have only been reinforced. But if there is an easy way, and I am sure there must be, then I will give it a second chance, and if it is blindingly easy, then I may well eat that humble pie.

So answers to any or all of the above will really be most gratefully received. Please leave comments and if you want to arrange communications through medium that you want to remain private, then we will not publish any private details so please fell free to that if you can help.

I have until Friday next week to get to 'love' this bloody thing or it is going back, and the Galaxy will see the light again. If the Apple stays, the Tab is on eBay.

Look forward to your helpful comments.

Update - answered a couple of the 'Bloody iTunes' problems!! Slightly happier, but still would like to nail the other questions please

Martin