So, I'm setting my grandparents up with a brand new 32GB iPad 3. I'd like to transfer most of their working data off their old iMac to the iPad because it'll be faster and easier for them to use, I think. However, this is a seriously old Mac. We're talking G4 iMac 15". At least 8 years old, maybe 10. It definitely won't run any version of OS X newer than Leopard, and so I think there's no way I can sync the iPad with iTunes on it, since it won't run a new enough version of iTunes. Is there any way I can get their iPhoto contents (and potentially other items) moved over onto the iPad and backed up with iCloud, so they don't have to worry about syncing and can use it as a stand-alone device? Or will I have to find an "intermediate" machine I can set up to transfer their current content?
Obviously, your biggest problem is the Operating System on the old iMac. I am guessing it is running Tiger at the absolute latest. This will really limit you in so far as connecting the iPad to iTunes, either wirelessly or via USB, because you cannot install the minimum needed version of iTunes.
However, one of the great features of the iPad 2 or 3, is that you should not really need a computer at all to do the initial set up. Last year, I had a friend visiting me from South Africa. She purchased an iPad here, and did the setup without any computer. The iPad after all, is advertised as a "stand-alone" device.
As for transferring, pictures, documents, and other data. There is a simple method. Open a DropBox account for your Grandparents. Download the App on the iPad, once initial setup is complete. (While doing the iPad setup, you would get them an Apple ID/iCloud account.) On their ancient iMac, they can upload an entire picture folder, as well as anything else they would like to have on their iPad. One potential problem though, will be migrating their Address book onto the iPad. Because their iMac will not support iCloud configuration, this could pose a problem. Even if you export an archive of their Contacts into Dropbox, the pop-up window that usually offers the message, "open in..." - does not offer the Contacts App as an option. I did test this using my own Dropbox, and it will not work.
Edit: a solution that could work for the Mac Address book AND Calendar:
Export all contacts into a "vcards" file on the iMac. Open a Gmail account if you don't already have one, and import that file into the Gmail address book. From there, you could sync this to iCloud>iPad. The same would apply to their Mac Calendar. Instructions on syncing Google contacts and calendar to the iPad:
http://www.google.com/sync/mac.html
