This charging "issue" again?!
First off, wi-fi seems to be a perpetual problem with Apple's products. It's funny, because on one hand, their wireless Airport series of routers have consistently received top ratings in reviews for good signal strength, reliability, ease of setup, etc. etc. But their computers and other connecting devices seem to consistently have people upset about weak signals, dropouts after certain firmware revisions are applied, and so on.
They're not designing their own wireless chipsets though.... They've been using industry-standard options for them (like Broadcom), so it probably has a lot more to do with their implementation than anything else. (EG. Trying to put the antennas inside portables with metal cases, or issues with their custom firmware.)
All I know is, my iPhone 3G seems to do an excellent job of handling wireless connections. When I do a search for networks, it pulls in signals in my neighborhood that my other computers don't even see at all --and it connects effortlessly with WPA encryption to routers that seem to cause a lot of authentication or "dropout" problems for others. I think Apple got it right on the iPhone 3G.
As for this charging complaint with iPads? I think the ONLY issue here is that Apple should have clarified that it's not really meant to charge off a computer's USB port! When you think about it, it's borderline ridiculous to think that's a sensible idea at all, given the size of the battery in an iPad. (As others said, would you charge your laptop off your desktop PC's USB port?!) Apparently, Apple has gone ahead and "bent the rules" on the USB 2.0 standard with their newer computers, so they always have at least 1 USB port on them capable of outputting enough power to charge things like the iPad. That's probably why they didn't say you CAN'T do it. But as a rule, no... The iPad probably should have just used a mag-safe connection like the notebooks do and had its own charger.
Epic Fail! I kid, I kid. Always wanted to say that as this phrase is littered all over forums by 16 year olds. 🙂
Anyway,
1)I am astonished the WIFI problems are so rampant. Wow. Apple obviously did a poor job in QA on that. Hugely problematic as the iPad is all about internet connectivity. I am just floored. Heads will roll inside Apple.
2)The charging issues would prompt me to return the device. $500+ and the darn thing can't "charge" to a USB port in 2010? Even if Apple blames that some USB ports aren't compatible, that's still a lame excuse since USB 2.0 and powered USB ports have been around for over a decade. And then the need to be in Sleep mode? Sheeeez. Why doesn't Apple ship a giant flowchart diagram indicating how to charge it?! 🙂
I hope these 2 problems are fixed super duper ASAP. That last thing Apple needs is folks knowing that it can't connect to the internet and it doesn't charge as advertised! What's next? The speakers have no volume control? 🙂
-Eric
