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All iPads Can you own an iPad w/o owning a computer?

R

Rugburn

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 10, 2014
100
45
My mom does not own a computer, and doesn't want to. She thinks she wants an iPhone but I think she will be better suited with an iPad. The jump in monthly service would kill her.

I was thinking a cellular iPad with a tmobile sim for the 200mb free. I think you can choose to pay $10 if you go over that month?

But when I realize she doesn't have a computer, I wonder if she will have issues with it. Does she really need to sync it? She comes to visit once a year, would that be good enough to just sync it when she's here?

She doesn't have an email account either, but I think I can convince her to get one. I really don't know what she has against email? When she visits, I buy the ticket and then I mail (with a stamp and envelope) the printout to her. And she's always nervous I did it wrong because it doesn't look like a ticket.

She's not 103, I swear. She's mid 60s. She chooses to live under a rock, which is fine, and now says she wants an iPhone??? Will an iPad (no computer) work for her?
 
Absolutely.

I have an Ipad Air 32GB and I never connect it to a computer.

iCloud will allow you to back up.

The only thing I cannot comment on is that I do not use iTunes. If you want to share media, etc., with a computer, this might be an issue.

R
 
Rugburn said:
My mom does not own a computer, and doesn't want to. She thinks she wants an iPhone but I think she will be better suited with an iPad. The jump in monthly service would kill her.

I was thinking a cellular iPad with a tmobile sim for the 200mb free. I think you can choose to pay $10 if you go over that month?

But when I realize she doesn't have a computer, I wonder if she will have issues with it. Does she really need to sync it? She comes to visit once a year, would that be good enough to just sync it when she's here?

She doesn't have an email account either, but I think I can convince her to get one. I really don't know what she has against email? When she visits, I buy the ticket and then I mail (with a stamp and envelope) the printout to her. And she's always nervous I did it wrong because it doesn't look like a ticket.

She's not 103, I swear. She's mid 60s. She chooses to live under a rock, which is fine, and now says she wants an iPhone??? Will an iPad (no computer) work for her?
Click to expand...

TL;DR but Absolutely NOT. If you're someone who's never had a computer before and if you're just going to use it to read news or something like that then yes. If you're a college student then nope. never. unless you don't give too much crap about your grades. It is absolutely impossible to type long reports while doing research on an ipad.

Edit: Your mom would be just fine with an ipad. My mom has no problem using hers and she doesn't have a computer
 
Yes, my mom's spent the last 18 months with only an iPad – occasionally but rarely, she asks for help doing something with a desktop machine, typically accessing a poorly-made registration site or something.

I also have at least one computer-literate friend who uses iOS every day and doesn't own a laptop or desktop.
 
I haven't used a laptop in 2 years, I do everything from my iPad, both business and personal. Just make sure she understands how to use it properly.
 
Rugburn said:
My mom does not own a computer, and doesn't want to. She thinks she wants an iPhone but I think she will be better suited with an iPad. The jump in monthly service would kill her.

I was thinking a cellular iPad with a tmobile sim for the 200mb free. I think you can choose to pay $10 if you go over that month?

But when I realize she doesn't have a computer, I wonder if she will have issues with it. Does she really need to sync it? She comes to visit once a year, would that be good enough to just sync it when she's here?

She doesn't have an email account either, but I think I can convince her to get one. I really don't know what she has against email? When she visits, I buy the ticket and then I mail (with a stamp and envelope) the printout to her. And she's always nervous I did it wrong because it doesn't look like a ticket.

She's not 103, I swear. She's mid 60s. She chooses to live under a rock, which is fine, and now says she wants an iPhone??? Will an iPad (no computer) work for her?
Click to expand...

The person you describe absolutely positively does not need a computer at all, and would just screw it up if they had one.

No one does for that matter. I have an office full of Macs and PCs and can't remember the last time I plugged in an iPad.....oh thats right, to update to iOS 8 Beta......that's it.
 
You can use an iPad without any computer just fine. If she wants a simple and easy to use computer, the iPad is it. An iPhone, even the 6+, is too small in my opinion to work as a computer.

BUT you need internet access to do anything useful. You get internet access through WiFi, and through 3G. 3G is expensive, but it works almost everywhere. Well, everywhere where a phone works. WiFi is a lot cheaper than 3G, but only available usually at your home or at work, or at any place that provides free WiFi (like going to Starbucks and asking how to access their free WiFi). Something like 200 MB 3G is fine if you have WiFi at home and only use 3G when you are away from home and need it really urgently, but not otherwise.

I'd make sure first that she has easy access to WiFi. If she doesn't have WiFi at home, it may be possible to connect to neighbour's WiFi if they agree to it. Without WiFi, you'd need at _least_ 1GB data, and that is very, very tight.
 
Your mom sounds like my mom. :) She's never owned a computer... I gave her my iPad and it's been good for her. Got her hooked up with a gmail account and so she mostly does that.

Also... after my computer died, I used just an iPad for about a year and a half. Although I did buy the Goodreader app because it downloaded files that I couldn't seem to download otherwise, and worked as a file system.
 
KeepCalmPeople said:
Just make sure you give her an iPad with enough space to install a new iOS.
Click to expand...

the advice should be, after you buy it, tell her never ever to upgrade it to any new iOS.

1) His mom wouldn't know the difference.
2) It creates problems you never had before.

iOS devices will never be better than when they came out of the box. Leave them alone.
 
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