I got an iPad a few months ago. It’s for work, and there’s one app I have to use and keep updated. But I can also use it for other stuff, and I like to listen to podcasts. Here is the step-by-step issue I had today that crystallizes why I think Apple sucks donkey dick. Although, part of it is I’m also a stubborn ass.
I have always downloaded podcasts from iTunes on my Windows desktop computer. It works fairly well except for a few bad bits of programming (Um, Apple… Just because I haven’t listened to a particular podcast lately doesn’t mean I want you to AUTOMATICALLY stop downloading it! I use iTunes because I WANT it to automatically download podcasts so I DON’T have to do it manually.)
The system for podcasts on the iPad really stinks. Unlike on the desktop, you have to use the iPad version of iTunes to download, and then listen to them with another application. Said application will NOT subscribe to podcasts, so if you have to either do it manually or synch with your desktop computer.
Many podcasts update differently between the desktop and iPad versions of iTunes. Often, one will appear on my desktop computer and not appear on the list on the iPad for a day or more. This happened today with Slate’s Political Gabfest.
I want to listen to Slate’s Political Gabfest on my iPad today.
I wish to do this without synching. Why? Because fuck Apple, that’s why. I don’t want to get out the wire (or do it by WiFi) because it’s a nuisance, and I’d just as soon not have them get all my browsing information anyway, which it does when it synchs.
I can access the podcast file as an MP3 on my desktop computer because there is a file system which actually allows me to access files. I like that. It’s why I will never buy an Apple as a primary computer. Problem is, the file is over 25mb, so I can’t email it to myself.
Aha, I think! I’ll use Sendspace and then download it. Nope. Apple won’t allow such a thing to happen on the iPad. “Unable to download”, it tells me politely. Suck goat cock, I tell it.
My options now are to split the file into smaller MP3s that I can email to myself, or transform it into a video file which I would then upload to YouTube and then play on the iPad.
Only problem with the YouTube option is that the Apple fucks with the search results in YouTube. Ever notice that you don’t get the same results from a search on the iPad vs. desktop? It’s true. Occasionally I’ll email myself a link to get around this, only to find that particular video won’t play on the iPad. Why? Because Apple is a bunch of goat felching control freaks.
I could download a different app for podcasts, I suppose. But I don’t want to accede to Apple’s demand that I answer their new security questions. And I can’t jailbreak it because of the app I need for work.
My friends tell me my problems with Apple products stem from the fact that I know how to use a computer. They say Apple designed their system to be used by people who don’t, and therefore won’t notice the restrictions that give me fits.
Frankly, I don’t care. I’ll never be an Apple convert as long as they use this ridiculous file system, restrict access to things and otherwise prevent me from conducting what should be simple operations. I’m also pitching the iPad out a fucking window the minute I don’t need it for work.
You probably don’t want to hear this, but they are a number of reasonable solutions to your problem. One would be to use Dropbox - it will allow you to play any file the iPad is capable of playing and works much better than emailing. (Uploading a podcast to YouTube to circumvent syncing - seriously?!)
As for your point 6 - any Apple computer in the world will allow you full system access to every file you want - it’s just a bit harder getting there sometimes so you don’t inadvertently screw up your entire system. Your iPad is not a computer, please stop thinking it is and you will be much happier with it.
And you’re right - it does sound like you’re a bit of a stubborn ass.
I realize this. I’ve always realized this, and frankly I’m sick of people making this point as an excuse for Apple’s bullshit. I’ve never expected the iPad to function as a desktop, or even a laptop computer. I understand what it’s good at, and to that extent I appreciate the device.
But that has fuck all to do with Apple putting all kinds of restrictions on it. Why the fuck can’t I download a file from Sendspace? It’s a file type that would be recognized had it come to the iPad through other means. I suspect it has to do with encouraging the flow of money to Apple through iTunes. It also has fuck all to do with the fact that I can’t get certain YouTube videos to play on the iPad. All of that is Apple’s restrictive nature.
It’s true, Dropbox is a solution. But I say it’s a band-aid for a bad system. If Apple had designed things differently, it wouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
And I wouldn’t be so quick to pooh-pooh my aversion to synching. Apple seems to want every opportunity to look over users’ shoulders, and synching is a great way to do it. Plus, it keeps users reliant on iTunes to a certain extent, which brings me back to the money grubbing argument.
Stubborn ass though I may be, this is still bullshit.
A-fucking-men. The other day I had to download a $5 application to play a goddamn video because iPad doesn’t support flash. It only lets me use iTunes. It doesn’t support Rhapsody. It forces me to watch every video through Safari. This pissing match between territorial hardware and software companies is getting on my nerves. This is a blatant example of companies putting customer satisfaction way down on the list of priorities.
First off, Apple computers are great. The file system is 1 click away, and a full Unix command prompt is 2 clicks away. If they ever move away from that, I’ll dump them like a sack of rocks - but for the moment, Apple computers are fantastic for power users.
Apple iOS devices are also great, but in a different way. iOS devices are great because they are designed to perform a certain set of tasks in a certain way, and they do this very well and with minimal hassle, incompatibility, etc.
The problem is, in order to do this, Apple spends a lot of time developing and testing a certain set of features, and totally ignores support for other features and operations. If what you want to do is within what Apple envisioned, you’re in luck. If it’s outside what Apple envisioned, you’re better off just giving up, because you’ll just beat your head against the wall in the style of this thread. Unlike a conventional computer, where “there’s more than one way to do it”, on an iOS device, there’s somewhere between 0 and 1 ones ways to do it.
Apple only makes money on hardware. If you look at their revenues, the revenue stream from the iTunes Store is negligible - most of that money goes to the content creators. And they don’t make money by giving stuff away for “free” and then selling your personal information to pay for their costs, unlike certain other companies. So they really have little motivation to “restrict” or “limit” or “prevent” you from doing things - it’s just that they don’t build in support for everything plus the kitchen sink on the iPad. I have no idea what Sendspace is, but in general, you can’t download arbitrary files from the web browser on the iPad.
Regarding your specific problem - my iPad has a Podcasts app, produced by Apple and available for free, which lets me subscribe to podcasts and automatically downloads them. This app replaces the “Podcasts” section in the iOS iTunes app. I’ve never had a problem with it not updating or whatever, and it does not require syncing with iTunes on a computer. I suggest you download this from the App Store, and perhaps update your iPad to iOS 6 at the same time. I don’t understand why filling out some account security questions is such an unreasonable bother.
That is because the customer is a fucking idiot. Flash hopefully will die, we’re all better for it. You have freedom of choice, buy an Android tablet. Oh wait, even Adobe gave up trying to get Flash to work on that platform. If the developer gives up, you know its a pile of shit.
Tablets and smartphones are computers. iOS and Android are both based on bloody Unix (by way of OpenBSD and Linux respectively). The only reason Apple doesn’t want you to think of your iOS device as a computer is so that you won’t complain that they lock down basic computer functionality on them.
Look, all I want to do is watch videos on my iPad. I don’t give a shit whether it’s Flash or something else, but Apple has not really offered any viable alternative, which really pisses me off given the fact that one of their major selling points is video capability.
I have buyer’s remorse so hard for my iPad. I enjoy playing games on it, but it is basically a $1,000 Nintendo DS. Once I have my MacBook back (long story) I doubt I’ll use the iPad much.
ETA: iPhone fucking sucks too. I had a Droid before that and miss it every day. Fuck Apple and its crappy mobile devices.
Absolute put it better than I could have. An iPad could theoretically be a computer - it’s just that Apple designed it to perform certain things very well, while leaving out stuff that could create a problem in the user experience. What reason would they have to “lock down basic computer functionality” willy nilly? There are, for instance, very valid reasons for not including USB ports on these devices, not all of which center around Apple being the Evil Galactic Empire that wants to take over the world. That the current kerfuffle with maps and YouTube is being taken out on the users’ backs is unfortunate, I admit, but a whole other issue.
Assuming a tablet is necessary, see if you can sell your IT people on a Surface RT. A (slightly crippled) Windows OS is far more versatile than that Ipad.
My company requires me to use a PC computer. So today I try to use it for an RC car. First I discover it has no wheels. No Fucking Wheels! Then I tried to make it sync it with my existing controller. Microsoft makes no such app for this purpose.
The only thing Apple “left out” are user interface elements. Being able to copy files across USB isn’t something that “creates a problem in user experience” in any other device on the planet. I’ve never once heard an Android or Blackberry user say, “I like it, but being able to copy files ruins the experience.” And the iPad can obviously transfer files across USB, as it does when you sync with a computer, or use the camera accessory kit. You just aren’t allowed to control the process directly, is all.
And it’s not “theoretically” a computer. It is a computer. It’s a Turing-complete general purpose computing device with a display screen, a keyboard, and a pointing device input. It supports standard USB protocols for connecting to many peripheral devices, albeit many of those will only work if you jailbreak your device to get around the software blocks Apple has in place. It runs a variant of one of the oldest and most common operating systems in the world. This idea that it isn’t really a computer is complete poppycock. It’s not even really an unconventional form factor, as tablet computers have been around for over a decade. It is a little on the wimpy side compared to a modern desktop, but you’d only have to go back a decade or so before your current tablet would smoke available laptops and desktops. Were we using “theoretical computers” at our desks in 2000?
iOS is also locked down really tightly. By default there are tight constraints around what you can do with it, for two reasons - one, to prevent the user from doing things which might not work perfectly smoothly because the processing power under the hood is quite limited, and two, to channel the user’s behaviour along paths that earn Apple additional revenue. There’s no App Store but the App Store, competition not allowed. By default, music syncing happens through iTunes alone, making that retail outlet more convenient. Etc, etc, etc.
For many people these constraints are no issue at all. So long as a user buys into the idea that the iOS device should only be used in the somewhat restricted spheres envisaged by Apple, they devices themselves work great, are more polished than the competition, and provide a very pleasing experience. But the moment a user wishes to push against those boundaries, they become simply frustrating. There’s no technical reason for all the software limitations, and so someone who wants to do things in a non-Apple-approved fashion can tell that it’s perfectly possible for the device to do what they want except for the fact that Apple’s app won’t do things that way and competition for core Apple apps that might do things that way isn’t allowed in the App Store.
Just because you like the space inside the garden walls doesn’t mean there aren’t many nice spots outside the walls that you can’t get to. Not because you couldn’t, but just because they built walls between you and those spots.
For fuck’s sake, transferring files is not outside the core functionality of a mobile device. It’s as if they made an iCar that only turns right, and then when people complained that they couldn’t turn left people like you would say, “If you wanted to turn left you should have bought a car. An iCar isn’t a car, and you shouldn’t think of it as a car. And anyways if you’d just make three rights like you’re supposed to you’d get to where you want to go.”
This is a textbook perfect example of an analogy. You could ponder up analogies for a thousand years and never come as close as this post comes to creating the best analogy ever written.
Thank you Gorsnak, you are my absolute hero after this post. You sum up the typical apple user’s arguments absolutely perfectly.
