Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

thestartupfoundry.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 227 posts

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#211

Post by code_duck »

DaveMebs wrote: post #103
w1ntermute wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hear a lot of complaints about iTunes, but it works pretty well for me - on a Mac. Are you using the Windows version? even after I secured a windows computer to run itunes

Apple's version of iTunes on Windows is so much worse than the Mac version, that I can only assume it is intentional. For example, only one user may run iTunes at one time on a PC while multiple users can run it on a Mac. It also shits all over your registry. As a long time Mac iTunes user, I've been pretty frustrated with the Windows version, which I started using 6 months ago. The counter point, however, would be m…

Safari on Windows is somewhat lousy, too.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#212

Post by code_duck »

jpr wrote: post #184
rglullis wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to the current situation, with 90%+ of the population using Windows or Mac?

Windows, which is by itself in the ~90% range, is not and has never been a closed ecosystem. You can easily install any piece of software you find anywhere. MS is even falling over themselves to give you free developer tools.

Years back, before Vista was released, people were very concerned that MS might move to do in Windows what Apple has done - lock down Windows so that any software requires digital signing to execute.

They did introduce that dialog which warns you when software is not signed, but of course MS didn't take this to the degree that Apple has. While it's a great way to take care of malware, I really don't think Apple's vision of the future is one I want to compute in.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#213

Post by rbarooah »

code_duck wrote: post #209
rbarooah wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already do.

Wow, what? I have an iPod Touch and how did I not know this! I'm always so out of touch. Please ignore the possible pun here.

It has a lot of potential, but it's not quite as exciting as it sounds in reality - each app that wants to use the external display has to support it.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#214

Post by Dylan16807 »

code_duck wrote: post #212
jpr wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows, which is by itself in the ~90% range, is not and has never been a closed ecosystem. You can easily install any piece of software you find anywhere. MS is even falling over themselves to give you free developer tools.

Years back, before Vista was released, people were very concerned that MS might move to do in Windows what Apple has done - lock down Windows so that any software requires digital signing to execute. They did introduce that dialog which warns you when software is not signed, but of course MS didn't take this to the degree that Apple has. While it's a great way to take care of malware, I really don't think Apple's vis…

Are you talking about the dialog that appears for unsigned drivers, or something I missed?

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#215

Post by rbarooah »

code_duck wrote: post #210
rbarooah wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No - iPad's don't let you manage your music collection. I assume the no-delete is to reduce the risk of people accidentally deleting things they've just paid for, given that that's the only way to get things on to the device. Interestingly, you can delete videos.

You can re-download things you've paid for, can't you? Or hmm.. they limit the times? Given that I have 800 GB of space I have of which 10% is in use, I've never deleted any purchased music, so I don't know from personal experience.

No - you can only redownload apps. This is because of the contracts with the content providers. Apple is apparently trying to renegotiate this at least for music, so that they can put your library in the cloud.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#216

Post by code_duck »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #214
code_duck wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years back, before Vista was released, people were very concerned that MS might move to do in Windows what Apple has done - lock down Windows so that any software requires digital signing to execute. They did introduce that dialog which warns you when software is not signed, but of course MS didn't take this to the degree that Apple has. While it's a great way to take care of malware, I really don't think Apple's vis…

Are you talking about the dialog that appears for unsigned drivers , or something I missed?

Sorry, I guess it's more specific : when you try to execute an unsigned .exe that needs Admin permission, UAC will tell you "An unidentified program wants to access your computer". If it's signed, it displays the identity of the signer.

You can set Windows to only allow signed applications to run, too: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd723683(WS.10).a...

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#217

Post by eitland »

GHFigs wrote: post #131
eitland wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not alone. I've been using Mac OS X for two years and can't belive why the company that came up with iPad and iPhone still - have global menus (who really wants that with todays screen resolutions and two monitors?) - needs the worlds best trackpads because their laptop keyboards have misplaced ctrl and their default keybindings are so inconsistent that users would be lost without a good pointing device. - fo…

misplaced ctrl, default keybindings are inconsistent, forces developers to use the fn key to reach the function keys All of this can be adjusted to your liking in the Keyboard preference pane.

no, other pc's often have a bios setting to swap fn and ctrl. FWIW I can't find ANY documentation on how to fix this on Macbooks.

Please prove me wrong.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#218

Post by bane »

bballant wrote: post #208
bane wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot - can only resize a window from one corner, and that corner may be off the screen in certain cases so that you can't move the window to a position where the corner is even visible (this just bit me this week) - still doesn't understand how to fullscreen programs (windows maximize function is the single best OS function I've seen that allows a user to focus on just ONE thing). I think this is fixed in the u…

i would prefer to always use Linux, but my company gives all the engineers Macs, so that's what I now use. I miss Linux deeply, but maintaining two dev environments, not to mention context switching wrt key commands, drove me to the brink. On the positive side, OSX is still unix. MacVim rules. OSX fixes some of the Linux issues that drove me mad (like power mgmt & plugging in an external monitor). And I've gotten aro…

w/ a little 3rd party app called sizeup... Not ideal, but a workable solution that keeps me productive on the platform.

One of the nice things about OS X for sure is that many of the major pain points in the raw OS can be resolved with 3rd party applications. The community, tired of dealing with these minor unaddressed annoyances, has usually resolved most of these issues on their own -- there are 2 or 3 apps of some kind for most of the major OS rough spots.

One of the bad things about OS X for sure is that many of the major pain points in the raw OS have to be resolved with 3rd party applications. The community, tired of dealing with these minor unaddressed annoyances, usually has to resolve most of these issues on their own -- there are 2 or 3 apps of some kind for most of the major OS rough spots.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#219

Post by HelloBeautiful »

lloeki wrote: post #193
b0sk wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good observation. I think of cables as an anti-feature. ( as defined by Benjamin Mako-Hill ). In that, the devices are perfectly capable of syncing and tethering wirelessly, but Apple hasn't enabled that functionality yet. They are going to add that at some point for an extra 9.99$ and going to call it AirTether. Brand new feature of iPad3. You pay a premium for getting rid of cables.

The number of new iOS features you had to pay for is literally crushed by the number of those you did not have to. Yet this "Apple are a greedy bunch making you shell out $$$ for every single new feature" is incredibly entrenched. Was it historically even ever true?

>> Apple are a greedy bunch

Compare the price of Mac desktop or laptop to a Dell/HP/Newegg PC with the same hardware and Windows. Or just check the profits Apple is reporting. They definitely have way higher margins than the other mega-corps, selling hardware/gadjets.

Re: If iPads are “post-pc devices” why must I sync with iTunes before I can use one?

#220

Post by HelloBeautiful »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #67
richbradshaw wrote: post #28

It's called "post-pc" because you use it after using your PC.

I know many people who use it in the bathroom in the morning. What device should it be called? /joke

Calculo Bacillus ;=)
Post reply on HN