Why is the iPad so complicated/frustrating?

[scottw324]

So wait, where was said movie downloaded from? What format is it in?

As others stated there are apps out there that will play almost any format video on the ipad with no problem. I use AirVideo and AVPlayer HD mostly.

If I download a movie through itunes then i just download it on the ipad to watch. If I download a movie from someplace else and it isn't in .m4v or .mp4 format then I use AirVideo to convert it, I use AirVideo to stream the movie from my laptop/itunes to my ipad or I connect my ipad to my computer and basically drag and drop the video into AVPlayer HD once the ipad connects in itunes. It isn't difficult.

Connect iPad to itunes, install AVPlayer HD. Click on the app on the app screen and select the add button on the right. Navigate to the video file(s) you want to add to the iPad and hit ok. That is it. You are going to do pretty much the same thing using windows explorer or another program on your computer anyway. Connect ipad to computer, navigate to you video file, copy/cut, navigate to your ipad file system (if you were able to get to it) and paste the video file to where you want/need it.

This isn't a super difficult process here. FYI, I haven't connected my new iPad to my latop yet. I download from itunes directly or stream everything to my ipad through Home Sharing, AirVideo, or Netflix. Only if I travel will I actually download video files to the iPad.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I download a movie and want to transfer it on to the iPad, but it's Forcing me to use iTunes.

Where did you download the movie from?

 

[ArztMac]

What makes you think he isn't trying to convert movies he purchased off the net? There are plenty of sites for that (granted, many of them are of "questionable" content...)

Basically any movie you purchase legitimately off the internet can be put on the iPad effortlessly...

And if you own the original DVD, you have to rip it onto your Mac anyway.

But we both know where he got his movies, don't we?

 

[scottw324]

Basically any movie you purchase legitimately off the internet can be put on the iPad effortlessly...

And if you own the original DVD, you have to rip it onto your Mac anyway.

But we both know where he got his movies, don't we?

Exactly, so he is complaining about how to him it is harder to put his illegally obtained video on his iPad.... Not that difficult.

Really!!! I can get a .mkv or .avi movie file on my ipad in probably 3 mins (or as long as it takes to transfer the file size depending on how big it is). I covert most videos using Handbrake or AirVideo though to .m4v or .mp4 so I can stream them through the three Apple TV2s in my house and to the two iPads so they do not need live conversion. I set the movies up to convert at night when I go to sleep and in the morning they are done. I move them to my movie library in iTunes and delete the .mkv and .avi files afterwards. Not really a difficult process.

 

[palpatine]

i think the ipad is a little difficult. where are my files? how do i get files onto it without using itunes? how do i get programs onto it without going through the app store? how do i see what is running? can i play video while taking notes?

all of these have easy answers for the initiated (us), but not for newbies. android has its own frustrations, but moving files around is not one of them (in my opinion). anyhow, i think it is nice that some people gave him directions.

 

[Yujenisis]

I have to agree with the original sentiment.

Beautiful screen, but I hate how any large video files require hours of conversion, and leaving a mess of duplicate files in different formats lying around my computer. Why can't Apple just add in support for additional video formats like avi and wmv?

Licensing for one. The lack of a built-in hardware decoder is another.

If Apple supports video formats outside of the MP4 standard they would not be able to claim 10 hours of battery life as playing those formats considerably shortens battery life as it pushes the processing onto the CPU instead of the low-power MP4 decoder.

VLC 2.0 for the iPad can't come soon enough. My battery be damned.

 

[sekazi]

Video support is fine. I just throw it in handbrake and transfer via iTunes.

 

[xraytech]

I guess I had the wrong idea about apple software. I thought they were supposed to be user friendly/easy.
I download a movie and want to transfer it on to the iPad, but it's Forcing me to use iTunes. Then i found out it only plays mp4 files so I need to convert the movie too! I should have just went with a android tablet. Even my nexus is as easy as drag and drop.

First of all, where did you download said movie?

 

[gngan]

I guess I had the wrong idea about apple software. I thought they were supposed to be user friendly/easy.
I download a movie and want to transfer it on to the iPad, but it's Forcing me to use iTunes. Then i found out it only plays mp4 files so I need to convert the movie too! I should have just went with a android tablet. Even my nexus is as easy as drag and drop.

You don't have wrong idea about Apple software. You are the one who is wrong. If you can't read then you should just not any technology things.

 

[xraytech]

You don't have wrong idea about Apple software. You are the one who is wrong. If you can't read then you should just not any technology things.

HUH?!?

Did you mean to say...

"If you do not understand the requirements for using an iPad, then you should not purchase an iPad."

Or in other words...

The OP is using it wrong!!!

 

[ArztMac]

Exactly, so he is complaining about how to him it is harder to put his illegally obtained video on his iPad.... Not that difficult.

Really!!! I can get a .mkv or .avi movie file on my ipad in probably 3 mins (or as long as it takes to transfer the file size depending on how big it is). I covert most videos using Handbrake or AirVideo though to .m4v or .mp4 so I can stream them through the three Apple TV2s in my house and to the two iPads so they do not need live conversion. I set the movies up to convert at night when I go to sleep and in the morning they are done. I move them to my movie library in iTunes and delete the .mkv and .avi files afterwards. Not really a difficult process.

Good workflow. I did it in a similar fashion, but it was still too much work for me, I am lazy as can be.

I actually bought the FireCore tool for AppleTV for like $20, it'a little jailbreak (I've never jailbreaked any Apple gadget before and never will) that adds tons of functionality I never use, while preserving 100% of AppleTV's original functionality, but it also adds a nice little feature: You can Airplay basically any movie format you want off your iPad. You are not retricted to Apple's proprietary formats anymore.

 

[blueroom]

I have to agree with the original sentiment.

Beautiful screen, but I hate how any large video files require hours of conversion, and leaving a mess of duplicate files in different formats lying around my computer. Why can't Apple just add in support for additional video formats like avi and wmv?

AVI is a container not a format, it's also ancient and limited. Not a good choice for a modern media player.

WMV is Windows Media Video nuff said.

Apple chose a modern container .M4V and video H.264 and audio AAC, AC3

 

[scottw324]

Good workflow. I did it in a similar fashion, but it was still too much work for me, I am lazy as can be.

I actually bought the FireCore tool for AppleTV for like $20, it'a little jailbreak (I've never jailbreaked any Apple gadget before and never will) that adds tons of functionality I never use, while preserving 100% of AppleTV's original functionality, but it also adds a nice little feature: You can Airplay basically any movie format you want off your iPad. You are not retricted to Apple's proprietary formats anymore.

So you took the time to purchase, install and use the Firecore jailbreak application on your ATV but using things like AVPlayer or converting using AirVideo is too difficult or too much work?

I jb'd one of my ATV2 and put XMBC on it. Ended up Restoring it and just going with stock software. Simplier, easier. For me just telling AirVideo to convert my video files at night and then going to sleep is easier. You can add the new .m4v video files to your iTunes library right through AirVideo.

 

[dukeblue91]

I have to agree with the original sentiment.

Beautiful screen, but I hate how any large video files require hours of conversion, and leaving a mess of duplicate files in different formats lying around my computer. Why can't Apple just add in support for additional video formats like avi and wmv?

Again someone did not read anything on here.
There's an app for that!
Apps that will play almost any format without conversion.

 

[Drag'nGT]

I bet he torented his mkv and is all upset that he can't take his stolen movie and put it on the iPad his parents bought him. Because if he were as savvy as he insinuates, he'd have known what he bought and that every iDevice requires iTunes. I love iTunes personally.

 

[ArztMac]

So you took the time to purchase, install and use the Firecore jailbreak application on your ATV but using things like AVPlayer or converting using AirVideo is too difficult or too much work?

I jb'd one of my ATV2 and put XMBC on it. Ended up Restoring it and just going with stock software. Simplier, easier. For me just telling AirVideo to convert my video files at night and then going to sleep is easier. You can add the new .m4v video files to your iTunes library right through AirVideo.

Well, you only need to jailbreak it once and then you can watch any movie file format you want to.

Doing it your way involves converting each & every movie forever. Never mind the added electricity cost & stress of letting your Mac blast all night.

By jb'ing you are saving yourself TONS of time. Which I don't have.

And you don't lose simplicity or ease of use with a jail break. Everything stays the same. Only that the AppleTV doesn't tell you "No, I can't do that" anymore when you try to Airplay an AVI-file...

 

[wrkactjob]

I guess I had the wrong idea about apple software. I thought they were supposed to be user friendly/easy.
I download a movie and want to transfer it on to the iPad, but it's Forcing me to use iTunes. Then i found out it only plays mp4 files so I need to convert the movie too! I should have just went with a android tablet. Even my nexus is as easy as drag and drop.

I agree! Where is the button to change the channel? Same one every day, so complicated, and how do you change the contrast?....blasted thing.

 

[SweetDove]

I use air video to stream all of my jack sparrow movies, it saves space on the iPad and I can watch what ever format without worrying about it. I do leave my laptop on all the time anyways, but if you were to turn it off then I suppose it wouldn't work as well.

I had a hard time at first figuring it out to open aps in iTunes and make good use of them, but after reading a few tutorials online it was a lot of fun to take on the challenge of learning everything I could accomplish.

I'm really sorry you're have a tough time! Sometimes I think people forget how it is to be new at something. YouTube is invaluable for figuring out things though!

Since you haven't posted since your original post, I'm hoping you got it all figured out!

 

[whyapplewhy]

I like how the people on this forum think that there is NOTHING wrong with apple or the ipad and that everything is perfect. I'll be the first to admit apple does a lot of things great but they are not perfect and there are somethings that android has advantages over the ipad in. Video support/content is one of them.

People on here need to stop taking every little criticism about the ipad as a direct attack at apple.

 

[Dane9]

I like how the people on this forum think that there is NOTHING wrong with apple or the ipad and that everything is perfect. I'll be the first to admit apple does a lot of things great but they are not perfect and there are somethings that android has advantages over the ipad in. Video support/content is one of them.

People on here need to stop taking every little criticism about the ipad as a direct attack at apple.

Use this http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ , it replace some iTunes functions

And search for a good video player, you can play every format

 

[scottw324]

Well, you only need to jailbreak it once and then you can watch any movie file format you want to.

Doing it your way involves converting each & every movie forever. Never mind the added electricity cost & stress of letting your Mac blast all night.

By jb'ing you are saving yourself TONS of time. Which I don't have.

And you don't lose simplicity or ease of use with a jail break. Everything stays the same. Only that the AppleTV doesn't tell you "No, I can't do that" anymore when you try to Airplay an AVI-file...

I use a fairly inexpensive win7 Lenovo laptop to run iTunes and typically it is set on a low power profile to minimize power usage. As for the file converts I do it so that everything just works well with each other.

I have jail broken my iPhone, iPad, and apple tv 2 and they just run better when they re on stock firmware. My iPhone 4 would just lockup on me for no reason. Restored and left it alone. My Apple Tv2 I didn't give much of a chance so I might give it a another try but didn't really get anything out of it the first time. Yes it can play any file format but I already solved that problem with converting them so that excuse was elimininated. So not much else left to cause me to jb it. My iPad 2 though worked great with being jb'd and had some tweaks on it to improve it. I will probably jb my iPad 3 when the jb comes out for it.

 

[Kanunu]

Android experience

I guess I had the wrong idea about apple software. I thought they were supposed to be user friendly/easy.
I download a movie and want to transfer it on to the iPad, but it's Forcing me to use iTunes. Then i found out it only plays mp4 files so I need to convert the movie too! I should have just went with a android tablet. Even my nexus is as easy as drag and drop.

About a year ago I gave my iPad1 to my sister-in-law and bought a Motorola Xoom. I had to try out several movie players but finally found one that met my needs (plays MVK and AVI and subtitles). I loved the way I could just copy files directly to the tablet drive and the fact that I was in control. The screen was also better than the iPad1.

The downside? One day I woke up and the Xoom would not Xoom but had turned into a brick. Luckily I had bought a buy back warranty, which I usually never do, and I was able to buy an iPad2 with the proceeds. I have found an app (GoodPlayer) that meets most of my video requirements but I still need to convert some files.

I know my story is anecdotal. Maybe a Samsung would have still been working today. I do think my story illustrates Apple's greatest strength which is quality control in manufacture and design. The downside is that we surrender ourselves to file management by iTunes.

 

[JAT]

i think the ipad is a little difficult. where are my files? how do i get files onto it without using itunes? how do i get programs onto it without going through the app store? how do i see what is running? can i play video while taking notes?

all of these have easy answers for the initiated (us), but not for newbies. android has its own frustrations, but moving files around is not one of them (in my opinion). anyhow, i think it is nice that some people gave him directions.

Actual noobs don't even ask those questions. You are talking about computer geeks that haven't used an iPad before. Not the same thing.

I like how the people on this forum think that there is NOTHING wrong with apple or the ipad and that everything is perfect. I'll be the first to admit apple does a lot of things great but they are not perfect and there are somethings that android has advantages over the ipad in. Video support/content is one of them.

People on here need to stop taking every little criticism about the ipad as a direct attack at apple.

I don't think that is what has occured in this thread. People have given many solutions. And the question of whether Apple's way is right or wrong has zero impact on the probable wrongness of the OP and his stolen movie files. It gets real old seeing teenagers claim that Apple is some sort of horrible company for not making it easy to hack and steal your way across the internet the same way Windows lets you. The solution is obvious.

 

[Kanunu]

Why not backward compatible?

AVI is a container not a format, it's also ancient and limited. Not a good choice for a modern media player.

WMV is Windows Media Video nuff said.

Apple chose a modern container .M4V and video H.264 and audio AAC, AC3

Aren't you being a little nit-picky about container vs. format. Even if one concedes that M4V is superior, there is a mountain of material out there in other "format(s)." Should people just forgo seeing it?

This is similar to the arguments over Flash. Of course I don't need Flash unless I want to watch video streams from overseas sites, my local traffic cams (government is always slow to adapt) and so on. I think a lot of the problem still comes down to Apple wanting everyone to fit their mold. Eventually AVI and Flash may die out but what about now?

 

[brand]

Moving files back and forth is a basic function of any device that is so "entertainment" orientated.

Given the number of iPads it's obviously not a basic function that is required. Unless you ment it was a basic function according to you.