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I was given an iPad and I have questions

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Sep 10, 2009
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I was recently gifted a 32 GB Wi-Fi + 3G from an investment bank from across the pond as an incentive to join their Los Angeles branch, no strings attached. I took delivery of the device which was hand delivered to my current work place, which I thought was very touching. *About to puke*

I played around with it last night but I haven't begun to read the manual I downloaded off the Apple website. I'm curious about the iPad because I scoffed at its stupidity beforehand. I'm wondering what the pros and cons are of jailbreaking the device and whether you can brick it or bricking an Apple product is impossible. I've only owned a few Apple products in my life, I'm not a huge fan of the company, but the quality is there. As this was free, I really have no obligation to purchase the rumored iPad 2.

What I don't like so far is that because it lacks a file structure, you can't download files from a website and unzip them or do anything, which is rather frustrating. I tried several free apps that said you could do this but to no avail.
 
You cannot brick an iDevice, unless you are part of the iPhone Dev-Team and actively trying to brick it. Jailbreaking the iPad will give you the better file structure you're looking for.
 
Ooo, thanks! I read that in another thread minutes after posting this one, I should have read before posting. Is there a guide out there or on this site I can follow or is that deemed "naughty" by Apple and would subject this site to less than favorable comments from Apple?
 
Apple doesn't really care what Macrumors does. I'm not sure of any guides on here, but there are a lot on iClarified.
 
Thanks. Also, do you recommend any application to convert container vids into the Apple format mp4/h.264?

I own a few video editing programs, but was hoping for something better? I read a blog post this morning that Quicktime Pro is able to convert at a much faster rate than aforementioned professional editing suites, is there any truth to this?
 
Ah, I see. You've been quite helpful by pointing me in the right direction. Thank you.

Cheers,
SFX
 
For downloading files and unzipping any zipped files, get Good Reader. It's not free, but it's worth every penny it costs and then some. For converting videos, get Air Video. Again, not free, though there's a trial version. You can use it to stream videos from your computer to your iPad with on-the-fly conversion, or you can convert videos then import them into iTunes for syncing to your iPad.

Jailbreaking does give iPad additional functionality, but I think the things you want can be done without jailbreak. My usual advice is to take some time to get used to your iPad first before venturing into jailbreak, since it adds a level of complexity to your iPad experience that could be overwhelming if you try to tackle too many things at once.
 
Last edited:
Night Spring said:
For downloading files and unzipping any zipped files, get Good Reader. It's not free, but it's worth every penny it costs and then some. For converting videos, get Air Video. Again, not free, though there's a trial version. You can use it to stream videos from your computer to your iPad with on-the-fly conversion, or you can convert videos then import them into iTunes for syncing to your iPad.

Jailbreaking does give iPad additional functionality, but I think the things you want can be done without jailbreak. My usual advice is to take some time to get used to your iPad first before venturing into jailbreak, since it adds a level of complexity to your iPad experience that could be overwhelming if you try to tackle too many things at once.
Click to expand...

Good Reader was an app I was intending to purchase once I got used to the system. I'm familiar with OSX, but I never really used iOS, so the system is still very out there for me. Do I need anything special for Air Video?

I didn't plan on jailbreaking it anytime soon, probably down the line. As it was a generous gift, I intend on using it as an ebook reader and web surfer and other useful things when I'm away from a computer or dealing with clients. I presume the iPad works well with Google Docs?

My only complaint is selecting text and copying it. Also that once you type something out and notice a spelling error in the middle of the word, you have to delete every struck character following that error to fix it.
 
Well if you don't plan on jailbreaking it right away, you should download and run TinyUmbrella to save your SHSH blobs (Google it) for iOS 4.2.1.
 
Air Video - you need to download and install a small server app on your computer. You can get it from their website for free.

To edit typed text, tap and hold somewhere in the text field until a magnifyng glass pops up, then slide your finger to position the cursor.

I love ebooks on the iPad. I mostly buy from Amazon, strip the DRM, convert to ePub format and read in iBooks.
 
Not that you asked . . .

My advice to you is:

Stop treating the iPad as if it's a computer.

Stop trying to download files to it. Stop trying to use it as you would a laptop or a netbook. Stop trying to do something you would use a desktop for. Stop looking for utilities to force it to do things you think it should do.

Just take a deep breath, relax, and use the iPad for what it's best for.

Download a few games. Angry Birds. Strategery. Sudoko.

Download a few information portals: Flipboard. iBooks. Stanza. Monet HD.

Download a few find-things-for-me apps: Urbanspoon. Flixter.

Download a few creation apps: Looptastic HD, Adobe Ideas.

Then just let it happen. In a few weeks you'll come back here and say either:

"I use the iPad all the time. I'm either reading some interesting articles via Flipboard or using Urbanspoon to find a great place to eat. In my spare time I'm flicking birds at pigs. Also, it's easier to use when killing time in front of the TV - I can Safari information about Fringe or the nature documentary I'm watching"

OR

"Hey, I just noticed my iPad. I haven't used it for three weeks, it's been propping the short leg on my coffee table and I had forgotten about it. It's useless."

Either one is fine with me, but don't frustrate yourself trying to force the iPad to be something it's not.
 
PatrickCocoa said:
My advice to you is:

Stop treating the iPad as if it's a computer.

Stop trying to download files to it. Stop trying to use it as you would a laptop or a netbook. Stop trying to do something you would use a desktop for. Stop looking for utilities to force it to do things you think it should do.
Click to expand...

I do agree that it's sound advice to stop treating the iPad as a computer, and to let yourself explore and accept a different workflow for the iPad than what you are used to on your desktop or laptop. But I've also found that the iPad does do many of the things you do with your computer, it just does so in different ways. For instance, I wouldn't categorically advise people to stop trying to download files. There are some file types that download and open perfectly well on the iPad. I would say that it's better to focus specifically on what you want to do than to ask generic questions like "how do you download files to the iPad." If we knew more specifically what you want to download and why, like "I want to download music," "I want to download and open work-related documents from my colleagues," "I want to download and save pictures of my grandson my daughter put up on facebook," etc, then for each of these instances, there is a different and specific answer.
 
Intell said:
Well if you don't plan on jailbreaking it right away, you should download and run TinyUmbrella to save your SHSH blobs (Google it) for iOS 4.2.1.
Click to expand...

What does this do? Their website is rather vague.

Night Spring said:
Air Video - you need to download and install a small server app on your computer. You can get it from their website for free.

To edit typed text, tap and hold somewhere in the text field until a magnifyng glass pops up, then slide your finger to position the cursor.

I love ebooks on the iPad. I mostly buy from Amazon, strip the DRM, convert to ePub format and read in iBooks.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Right, I saw the screen show a magnifying glass yesterday when I left my finger near a text field.

I have tons of eBooks in PDF or ePub format, I've been using Calibre for PDF to ePub conversion. Stanza works great for other formats as well.

Night Spring said:
I do agree that it's sound advice to stop treating the iPad as a computer, and to let yourself explore and accept a different workflow for the iPad than what you are used to on your desktop or laptop. But I've also found that the iPad does do many of the things you do with your computer, it just does so in different ways. For instance, I wouldn't categorically advise people to stop trying to download files. There are some file types that download and open perfectly well on the iPad. I would say that it's better to focus specifically on what you want to do than to ask generic questions like "how do you download files to the iPad." If we knew more specifically what you want to download and why, like "I want to download music," "I want to download and open work-related documents from my colleagues," "I want to download and save pictures of my grandson my daughter put up on facebook," etc, then for each of these instances, there is a different and specific answer.
Click to expand...
Since Good Reader takes care of my main issue, the other issues are solved with Google Docs or the Dropbox system. I should have treated the iPad as I do with my smart phone, which is basically the same concept.

I did do some looking around and there's a plethora of business related apps that are free and highly recommended, and other cool stuff. I'm digging the battery life, but I wish I could actively change the brightness the way you can with the volume, and not have to go through settings. Also if there was a TAB function on the on-screen keyboard. Easy to "hit" rather than selecting different text fields.
 
For a quicker way to adjust brightness. Double click the home button and a bar will appear with your apps that are multitasking, slide that bar to the right and you will see brightness control there. Click the home button again to get out of it, or tap elsewhere on the screen.
 
anjinha said:
How do you do that?
Click to expand...

The exact process for removing DRM varies with the version of Kindle you have on your desktop/laptop computer. Google "remove Kindle DRM" to find one that works for you. Once the DRM is gone, you can use Calibre to convert the file to epub.
 
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