iPad Camera Connection Kit Notes and Demo Video

[MadMacxxx]

Regardless of whether you think it should have one, they didn't exclude it because they couldn't figure out how. They didn't want to sacrifice the design (internally or externally). While I don't mind that decision, I understand why that does turn many people away from the device.

It was sarcasm. I gave examples of what they've been able to integrate into smaller and more internally dense devices, like the iphone, to demonstrate that they do know how and could have integrated this. So, explain to me how they've managed to fit 2 cameras, an LED flash, an accelerometer, magnetometer, speaker, mic, headphone jack, battery, wireless communication chip sets, ambient light sensors, logic board, LCD screen, and a 30-pin port into the iphone, but some how something as simple as a card reading slot would "sacrifice the design," on an essentially giant iPhone? They've even managed to add 3G chipsets to the iPad, so I'm sure that that real estate could've been used for a port of some sort on the wi-fi only models.

You tell me, but I see a lot more equipment packed into that iPhone than I see inside that iPad.

 

[Scottsdale]

1 USB and 1 SD ports, right? I completely agree. This is just total SJ. The fewer holes I can have in my devices, the better. And it does make them look sleek, but really so less practical then they could have been to start with.

Anyway, I am obviously getting the camera connection kit.

I don't believe it's about beauty of no holes. Apple could put a port tray in it like the MBA has. Or even a sliding cover. There are many ways to hide the ports. I agree Apple products look much better without holes. However, the functionality for the customer should be concern number one.

I agree Apple could have withheld the USB port just to gain some sales of $30 adaptors. It is sad though... and to the other poster that thinks Apple is losing money on the iPad, go read one of many articles about the costs of the iPad being just over $230. Add to that higher costs for larger flash RAM or a 3G connector, and Apple is making plenty of profits.

 

[TrickyTree1984]

So I would have to buy an add on to use USB devices? carry it around with me, have it sticking out of the bottom and then most likely lose it? Question, why didn't they include a USB port and sd card slot? To make money selling these kits? Or just because they are idiots?

 

[TMar]

Is there any information on what all formats it's able to read?

 

[MadMacxxx]

So I would have to buy an add on to use USB devices? carry it around with me, have it sticking out of the bottom and then most likely lose it? Question, why didn't they include a USB port and sd card slot? To make money selling these kits? Or just because they are idiots?

They're definitely not idiots. It's to make more money, and to give people more reason to buy the next generation ipad, which will probably have a camera, better internals, and an SD and/or USB slot.

 

[mingoglia]

I guess at least it's better than nothing. However I'd hate to have anything plugged into that fragile port for longer than I have to if I'm using the device. That port has clearly been designed for a plug the device in and let it charge or plug it in, transfer "stuff", then unplug it. It's just not rugged enough IMHO to be used as, well, an alternative to a USB port. Could you have imagined the possibilities if they added an Express Slot where you could install just about anything much of which could be installed more or less flush with the device?

 

[TrickyTree1984]

They're definitely not idiots. It's to make more money, and to give people more reason to buy the next generation ipad, which will probably have a camera, better internals, and an SD and/or USB slot.

All the more reason never to buy one. No better or different than an iPhone and no competition for a laptop

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

People wanted a cheap tablet, they got it. How do you think Apple is going to make money out of this device which it's been said they're already losing on it?

I mean, the iPad is cheaper than an iPhone lol. Did you really think Apple was going to miss out? They didn't add these ports because everything was pre-planned. You want USB, SD? You're paying it for it, lol. I mean common, the iPad is the first product of its kind, and it didn't even come with a Docking station! I bought the 32GB version, paid 700 bucks with the Apple case, and taxes. I, then bought the dock, 30 bucks, and now buying this, another 30 bucks. I will have spent about 800 bucks total for a device that's labeled as being $599.

Was I caught offguard? No, this is fine for me and totally expected. Those people who complain about why Apple didn't add this to begin with, would have been complaining about the price if Apple would have included these ports in the device with a higher price tag. You just can't please everyone, because they will always find everything unjustifiable. Go figure. Business is business, and Apple (just like every other company) is in the business of making money.

Apple has become the modern airline company of the computing world.

 

[mnemonix]

There's just no point in an SD slot, it's not a standard worth supporting when there are alternatives such as Compact Flash to consider too and it adds nothing when you can just plug the camera in instead.

USB however... I can understand the difficulty of fitting it into the iPhone / iPod form factor but not the iPad. My guess is that it simply didn't fit within the design philosophy of either the hardware or OS: the iPod was traditionally a USB client not a host though the iPad is starting to blur that line. Shame really, it would come alive with hard drives, usb sticks and and interesting peripherals and that flimsy connector really is an ergonomic nightmare.

 

[CJS7070]

I wonder how the ability to connect USB keyboards/audio devices affects battery life. Either way, glad that the kit can be used for something other than just cameras.

 

[greggy]

The thing is, there are plenty of people who don't want an SD slot or a USB port. The machine is bare for that reason.
It might not be perfect for everyone, but for probably most people, the bare design of the iPad is perfect.
It's fine to want it to have more, but for the company making the product, they're thinking about the majority of users and the cost-cutting they can do to sell and make it useful for most people.

 

[fpnc]

IMO, the reason why Apple didn't place a USB port directly into the iPad is because if they did so they'd potentially have to support every type of device that could attach to that port. They didn't want to do that so they offer a "camera connection kit" that is warranted to work only for the transfer of images from a camera. If it had a standard USB port everyone would be wanting to connect their keyboards, mice, printers, hard drives, video cameras, etc. and if those didn't work there would then be a loud outcry asking why not. Thus, by not providing those ports Apple keeps the system closed and avoids all kinds of compatibility and device support issues.

Furthermore, if they allowed the attachment of just any type of read/write storage over USB or even through a built-in SD card slot then there would be all kinds of issues about file systems and questions as to why you couldn't use the external disk or SD card for application storage or any other type of data that you might like to offload from the internal flash memory. Note, in any case, that the iPad/iPhone has a file system structure that is sandboxed and quite different in layout from the desktop versions of Mac OS X or Windows.

Sure, having a built-in USB port and/or flash card slot would expand the range of options that could be offered on the iPad but it would also mean that Apple would have to support those options and they probably don't want to do that (for a variety of reasons).

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

Why in the hell couldn't have Apple just given us a USB port and an SD Card slot on the iPad.

Have you not seen the take-apart posted by iFixIt? There's no room for a USB connector or an SD slot!

 

[jadot]

IMO, the reason why Apple didn't place a USB port directly into the iPad is because if they did so they'd potentially have to support every type of device that could attach to that port. They didn't want to do that so they offer a "camera connection kit" that is warranted to work only for the transfer of images from a camera. If it had a standard USB port everyone would be wanting to connect their keyboards, mice, printers, hard drives, video cameras, etc. and if those didn't work there would then be a loud outcry asking why not. Thus, by not providing those ports Apple keeps the system closed and avoids all kinds of compatibility and device support issues.

Furthermore, if they allowed the attachment of just any type of read/write storage over USB or even through a built-in SD card slot then there would be all kinds of issues about file systems and questions as to why you couldn't use the external disk or SD card for application storage or any other type of data that you might like to offload from the internal flash memory. Note, in any case, that the iPad/iPhone has a file system structure that is sandboxed and quite different in layout from the desktop versions of Mac OS X or Windows.

Sure, having a built-in USB port and/or flash card slot would expand the range of options that could be offered on the iPad but it would also mean that Apple would have to support those options and they probably don't want to do that (for a variety of reasons).

Yep, Totally agree here. The only thing I can add is that a whole bunch of USB devices are going to suck power from the iPad, effectively rendering the device unusable very quickly. It's a mobile device, with it's own (relatively small) memory capacity - you're not gonna want to have to plug into the wall to power up all your externals. Sync it with iTunes and then take it on the road. If you want webCams, hard drives, keyboards, sd card slots, compact flash card readers, printers, etc etc etc, then you should probably buy a notebook.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

This is what I wish would work: Portable HARD DRIVE via USB.

Okay ... What do you propose to do with such a hard drive, once connected? The iPad doesn't have a user-visible filesystem, so you'd have a hard drive full of stuff, connected to your iPad, with no way to access any of its contents.

That's super useful.

 

[MadMacxxx]

All the more reason never to buy one. No better or different than an iPhone and no competition for a laptop

hmm I wouldn't say it's no different than an iPhone, but it's definitely not worth much to someone like myself with an iphone(especially if 4th gen is awesome) and macbook. I already went overboard with iphone apps, and don't want to repurchase a lot of them in more expensive versions. I guess I wouldn't mind using an iPad to take notes in class, or playing games in between classes.

 

[fabian9]

Have you not seen the take-apart posted by iFixIt? There's no room for a USB connector or an SD slot!

Mate, there is enough room for second set of iPad internals in the iPad. Did you see the pictures of the internals?

I actually wonder how long it'd take to retro-fit a USB port in the side of the housing and somehow integrate it with the dock connector internally.

Fabian

 

[baryon]

I'm curious: if you connect your camera via USB, what protocol does it use to connect to it? Does it connect by PTP or Mass Storage? If it's PTP, it will need special software which I don't know how you can install, and if it's Mass Storage, it won't support newer cameras like the Nikon D300s which only has PTP. Of course there's the SD card reader then, but what if you use CF cards, then can you connect a USB card reader to the USB camera connection thingy? That would be awesome and very versatile!

 

[fpnc]

I'm curious: if you connect your camera via USB, what protocol does it use to connect to it? Does it connect by PTP or Mass Storage? If it's PTP, it will need special software which I don't know how you can install, and if it's Mass Storage, it won't support newer cameras like the Nikon D300s which only has PTP. Of course there's the SD card reader then, but what if you use CF cards, then can you connect a USB card reader to the USB camera connection thingy? That would be awesome and very versatile!

I suspect that it is only PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol). I would, however, like to see a reader that would work for CompactFlash cards since all of my high-end cameras use that form of storage.

Furthermore, I don't like Apple's design for the SD card reader or even the USB/camera adapter. Why they didn't make these so that they were nearly flush to the docking port is a big mystery. I mean these things stick out so far that they will be accidents waiting to happen. I would have preferred a design that conformed to the back or front of the iPad with just enough of an extension from the bottom of the iPad to allow easy attachment and removal of the adapter from the iPad's docking port.

 

[Henriok]

IMO, the reason why Apple didn't place a USB port directly into the iPad is because if they did so they'd potentially have to support every type of device that could attach to that port.

Excellent post!

 

[Jphillippe]

People wanted a cheap tablet, they got it. How do you think Apple is going to make money out of this device which it's been said they're already losing on it?

I mean, the iPad is cheaper than an iPhone lol. Did you really think Apple was going to miss out? They didn't add these ports because everything was pre-planned. You want USB, SD? You're paying it for it, lol. I mean common, the iPad is the first product of its kind, and it didn't even come with a Docking station! I bought the 32GB version, paid 700 bucks with the Apple case, and taxes. I, then bought the dock, 30 bucks, and now buying this, another 30 bucks. I will have spent about 800 bucks total for a device that's labeled as being $599.

Was I caught offguard? No, this is fine for me and totally expected. Those people who complain about why Apple didn't add this to begin with, would have been complaining about the price if Apple would have included these ports in the device with a higher price tag. You just can't please everyone, because they will always find everything unjustifiable. Go figure. Business is business, and Apple (just like every other company) is in the business of making money.

I like the way you think...you're totally right

 

[MadMacxxx]

IMO, the reason why Apple didn't place a USB port directly into the iPad is because if they did so they'd potentially have to support every type of device that could attach to that port. They didn't want to do that so they offer a "camera connection kit" that is warranted to work only for the transfer of images from a camera. If it had a standard USB port everyone would be wanting to connect their keyboards, mice, printers, hard drives, video cameras, etc. and if those didn't work there would then be a loud outcry asking why not. Thus, by not providing those ports Apple keeps the system closed and avoids all kinds of compatibility and device support issues.

Furthermore, if they allowed the attachment of just any type of read/write storage over USB or even through a built-in SD card slot then there would be all kinds of issues about file systems and questions as to why you couldn't use the external disk or SD card for application storage or any other type of data that you might like to offload from the internal flash memory. Note, in any case, that the iPad/iPhone has a file system structure that is sandboxed and quite different in layout from the desktop versions of Mac OS X or Windows.

Sure, having a built-in USB port and/or flash card slot would expand the range of options that could be offered on the iPad but it would also mean that Apple would have to support those options and they probably don't want to do that (for a variety of reasons).

Excellent post indeed!

 

[SurfSpirit]

Apple is becoming lame!!!

It even doesn't come in black!!!!??!!! Apple is becoming so lame!!!!

 

[skunk]

I would imagine that the USB connection is hackable just as it is on the TV. TV Flash and other workarounds can turn what is reserved by Apple for a "servicing" connection on that device into a full-blown external HD connection, so I don't see why the same would not apply here.

 

[inlovewithi]

IMO, the reason why Apple didn't place a USB port directly into the iPad is because if they did so they'd potentially have to support every type of device that could attach to that port. They didn't want to do that so they offer a "camera connection kit" that is warranted to work only for the transfer of images from a camera. If it had a standard USB port everyone would be wanting to connect their keyboards, mice, printers, hard drives, video cameras, etc. and if those didn't work there would then be a loud outcry asking why not. Thus, by not providing those ports Apple keeps the system closed and avoids all kinds of compatibility and device support issues.

Furthermore, if they allowed the attachment of just any type of read/write storage over USB or even through a built-in SD card slot then there would be all kinds of issues about file systems and questions as to why you couldn't use the external disk or SD card for application storage or any other type of data that you might like to offload from the internal flash memory. Note, in any case, that the iPad/iPhone has a file system structure that is sandboxed and quite different in layout from the desktop versions of Mac OS X or Windows.

Sure, having a built-in USB port and/or flash card slot would expand the range of options that could be offered on the iPad but it would also mean that Apple would have to support those options and they probably don't want to do that (for a variety of reasons).

So are you saying Apple is lazy? Either way, what you said is not clicking. I mean if they didn't include a simple USB port simply because they didn't want to support every type of device that could attach to that port, then what about the USB adapter? Wouldn't it create the same problem for Apple? Don't tell me there are no USB adapter for the iPad.