I just caught up for the first time since Christmas with my next door neighbor. They know I “work with computers” so they stopped by to see if I could help them with a small technical issue. One of their kids scored an Apple iPad from Santa but they haven’t been able to play with it. Apple requires you to connect your new iOS device, iPhone and iPad, with a computer and sync with your iTunes account before you can use it. You can’t even write a new text memo, watch videos on YouTube, surf online, send an email, much less purchase, download, and play games and music from the iTunes store before you connect your new iOS device with a computer. For five days now, their new iPad has been the best gift and the worst gift they received this Christmas.
I prefer the iPhone over any of the available Android phones, but the one thing I love about the Google Nexus One is that you don’t even need to plug to play. Just turn it on and you are on your way. Even updates are done Over The Air (OTA) so you don’t ever have to connect your Nexus One to a computer. The whole premise of Cloud Computing is that you don’t have to be shackled to a desktop.
I just had to walk through what my neighbor needed to do to set up their new iPad and you should have seen the confusion and disappointment in the parent’s and kid’s faces, respectively. In a nutshell, they have to download and install iTunes, create an iTunes account, connect the iPad with their computer, and then they can play a song or surf the web.
I can’t believe that Apple can revolutionize the user interface of the iPhone to have one button and yet have a complicated user experience of setting up their new iOS device.
Related posts:
4 Comments
This article is utter crap. Anyone that stupid should stick to using a calculator…. Setting up Apple products is easier than any other manufacturer……
Your neighbors don’t have a computer hence their inability to download iTunes? Aww; that sucks. They could have gone to an Apple Store to get some assistance. PA Gov. Rendell is right; we have become a nation of wussies. What happened to the virtue of resourcefulness. Sure, Nexus One & all Android phones get their updates OTA – but they don’t get them at the same time. Some models are luckier than others. I’m temporarily using a T-Mobile G1 which my sister got only last year. Guess what? This lag-prone phone model is forever doomed to Android 1.6. No OTA for this plastic piece of crap.
@sgdowalker – Yeah, they were telling me that they went to work and tried to set up there but that their office was blocking iTunes. My advice for them was exactly what you suggested, to go down to the nearest Apple store and have someone at the Genius Bar help them out.
You are right about the Android phones, in that how, when, and which phones are updated is a total mystery and not always in the best interest of the carrier or the phone maker. We also have a G1 and aside from making calls I considered it a brick.
@Cliff – LOL. Even though I agree that they might be better off sticking to a calculator, I have heard this complaint of Apple products. A technical coworker of mine had the same reaction when he bought the iPad. He went down to the store, opened it right there and then, and then realized it that he had to go home to setup it before he can even test drive it. The reason I even thought to write about this was because it was not the first time I heard this complaint made about the iPad.
2 Trackbacks
[...] Apple Ruined My Neighbors Christmas (juixe.com) [...]
[...] Juixe Techknow Break Coders Block! Skip to content About « Apple Ruined My Neighbors Christmas [...]