Why is the iPad so complicated/frustrating?

[onthecouchagain]

Okay, two serious questions about the App Store on the iPad... 1) How come there's no dedicated Search button on the bottom like there is on the iPhone App Store? ... 2) Why in the world does Apple force you to watch the download animation (how it pulls you out of the App store to show you the app icon dropping into your home screen) each and every time you choose an app to download? It's a bit absurd. Does Apple think users will only download one app at a time all the time?

If you want to talk about frustrating, that's it.

 

[brand]

How come there's no dedicated Search button on the bottom like there is on the iPhone App Store?

Um, have you not noticed the search box that is at the top of the screen. Kinda makes a dedicated search button pointless doesn't it?

 

[whtrbt7]

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?

It's not pickiness if you're talking about container formats and actual codecs. MP4 container with H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec is Apple's bread and butter. It's also one of the only containers that can play video back without impacting battery life as heavily due to calculations on pixels. If you're trying to play another container on the iPad or any Apple gear, you'll experience less battery life as well as impacted performance.

Now that is said, we can move onto other containers such as AVI, MKV, OGM, RMVB, FLV, WMV, and everything else under the sun. Out of these containers, there are a huge slew of codecs that can be used for compression as well as playback. The problem that the OP/user is having is that he/she doesn't understand the complexities of video formats, not that they don't understand the iPad. If the OP purchased the content from iTunes, it would have come as a standardized MP4/M4V container that would have had the specs listed above. Since the OP/user chose to pirate/leech the movie, he/she is having the dilemma of "Why doesn't the iPad play every trashy format out there?" The answer is that the iPad is capable of doing this using a 3rd party app. In fact, it's quite cheap and good. The bad part is, there is no supported hardware acceleration or accepted standard for the video so really crappy 1080p video done in a crappy codec will stutter like a spastic college freshman. This impacts the iPad battery life as well as performance. The moral of the story is "Pirate beware".

So the reason why AVI and Flash are being ousted by Apple is partly due to a rivalry between Apple and Adobe but also because the 2 video formats are antiquated and clunky. AVIs are now replaced with MP4 with H.264 video AAC audio which can be played on almost EVERY device. The same goes for Flash/FLV which is being replaced with HTML5 video which is standardized across all devices instead of Flash which depends on client-side decoding and management as well as consistency since HTML5 video can be read by EVERY device.

 

[taedouni]

So you have to convert a video by using an easy free software conversion such as handbrake to play a video on the iPad. That doesn't mean that it is more complicated than Android devices.

There are a ton of reasons why the Android devices are more complicated than iOS devices.

 

[pure3d2]

When I first got a Powerbook, I had some issues figuring out what to do also.

It was just too simple, but since I was so used to using Windows and doing things the complicated way, I was expecting the Powerbook to be the same way.

Using poorly designed UIs for a long time will do that to your brain.

 

[MH01]

OP it is essentially drag and drop.
You drag your movie / file and drop it onto the appropriate app in iTunes.
You don't have to even connect you iPad via USB if you have wifi synching enabled.
It really is no more complicated then anything else.
The thing to remember about iOS and the iPad is that everything is geard towards apps hence the term " There is an app for this ".
Once you wrap your head around this everything will make sense.

Ummm you forgot the most annoying and time consuming part, converting the file to mp4.

And to be frank the real reason is to protect their ecosystem. It really annoys ,y to have to convert my files to mp4, thus having unnecessary duplication cause I want to use them on the iPad. And no I do not want to store my master files as mp4.

----------

So you have to convert a video by using an easy free software conversion such as handbrake to play a video on the iPad. That doesn't mean that it is more complicated than Android devices.

There are a ton of reasons why the Android devices are more complicated than iOS devices.

Unless you have an uber system, damn time consuming

Video playback and accessibility is a win to android
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When I first got a Powerbook, I had some issues figuring out what to do also.

It was just too simple, but since I was so used to using Windows and doing things the complicated way, I was expecting the Powerbook to be the same way.

Using poorly designed UIs for a long time will do that to your brain.

What is easier then dragging a movie file into a video folder?!?!? Sorry but the apple method of adding a video file and removing it by having to use iTunes is poor useability. Let's just say that if apple were not making $$$ from videos iTunes, it would be much much simpler

 

[richpjr]

Apple makes things drop dead simple - if you follow their way and use their ecosystem. If you don't, well, frankly I don't think they care how hard it is to do things.

 

[balamw]

And to be frank the real reason is to protect their ecosystem.

As previously mentioned: iOS devices are optimized for MP4/M4V with hardware acceleration etc... any other codec will play far less efficiently.

If you really want to play back other codecs without conversion use a third party app. For anyone who accepts that, this is a non-issue.

B

 

[whtrbt7]

Just buy the movie on iTunes. It just works. I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the easiest place to get content and get content from there. It just makes no sense why you wouldn't do what is easy and simple. It's like if you wanted to take a leak, you wouldn't go to the kitchen to do it in the sink would you?

 

[balamw]

What is easier then dragging a movie file into a video folder?!?!?

Streaming it directly from a service like Netflix, Hulu, ABC/NBC/... is easier for most users.

B

 

[Carouser]

It's like if you wanted to take a leak, you wouldn't go to the kitchen to do it in the sink would you?

And reading posts by people who complain about the 'ecosystem' or 'walled garden' or whatever is just like listening to somebody whine in public that they can't pee in their kitchen, they have to go all the way to the toilet.

(I'm not being sarcastic at all, that's exactly what it's like)

 

[darngooddesign]

So you have to convert a video by using an easy free software conversion such as handbrake to play a video on the iPad. That doesn't mean that it is more complicated than Android devices.

Technically, having wait for a video to convert and then sync through iTunes is more complicated than just drag and dropping it on an Android tablet.

Just buy the movie on iTunes. It just works. I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the easiest place to get content and get content from there. It just makes no sense why you wouldn't do what is easy and simple. It's like if you wanted to take a leak, you wouldn't go to the kitchen to do it in the sink would you?

iTunes doesn't have nearly the selection of Netflix's DVD library. iTunes is not easier if the video is not available.

Streaming it directly from a service like Netflix, Hulu, ABC/NBC/... is easier for most users.

However, streaming libraries are very limited compared to DVD libraries. Trying to stream a movie that isn't available for streaming is not easier for most users.

 

[sphinx99]

I agree with the OP. For a device intended to let users consume content, Apple sure seems to go out of its way to make it hard to get content onto it. I like the hardware, I like iOS, I like the accessories, but iTunes (either OSX or Windows) is one of the worst pieces of software I have used. It is slow, unintuitive, restrictive and buggy. It holds the hardware back, and makes the Apple experience needlessly complicated.

I do think people should know that when it comes to music and video, the devices will be limited by iTunes. Many new buyers like me don't realize this until we bring it home and try to copy something to the tablet. I have video from my Canon DSLR camera in .mov format which you'd think I could just drag and drop, but no, it won't work and iTunes won't tell me why, but if I buy the camera connection kit and use it to transfer the files via USB, it works fine. Those are the sorts of "workarounds" I am constantly doing and it really undermines the "it just works" experience.

I am okay with Apple being picky about the codecs they will support. That is fine. I just hate having to go through iTunes for everything. I'd rather the file just get copied to the device and I get a simple "I can't play this file" message if I try to do something with it.

 

[mac jones]

" I should of bought Android."

More trolls here than under the GWB

 

[whtrbt7]

And reading posts by people who complain about the 'ecosystem' or 'walled garden' or whatever is just like listening to somebody whine in public that they can't pee in their kitchen, they have to go all the way to the toilet.

(I'm not being sarcastic at all, that's exactly what it's like)

Lolz, exactly. I like to be helpful but sometimes if a person lacks the sense to do what comes naturally, it becomes a point to break that person of their bad habits in order to free the space for productive and creative thinking. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

No sarcasm intended.

 

[tanboom]

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.

That's one of the major limitations in iPad! Welcome to iOS eco (closed) system

 

[whtrbt7]

I agree with the OP. For a device intended to let users consume content, Apple sure seems to go out of its way to make it hard to get content onto it. I like the hardware, I like iOS, I like the accessories, but iTunes (either OSX or Windows) is one of the worst pieces of software I have used. It is slow, unintuitive, restrictive and buggy. It holds the hardware back, and makes the Apple experience needlessly complicated.

I do think people should know that when it comes to music and video, the devices will be limited by iTunes. Many new buyers like me don't realize this until we bring it home and try to copy something to the tablet. I have video from my Canon DSLR camera in .mov format which you'd think I could just drag and drop, but no, it won't work and iTunes won't tell me why, but if I buy the camera connection kit and use it to transfer the files via USB, it works fine. Those are the sorts of "workarounds" I am constantly doing and it really undermines the "it just works" experience.

I am okay with Apple being picky about the codecs they will support. That is fine. I just hate having to go through iTunes for everything. I'd rather the file just get copied to the device and I get a simple "I can't play this file" message if I try to do something with it.

Putting iTunes on Windows was one of Apple's worst ideas. Windows was not designed to have iTunes on it. Now think about that for a moment. I said Windows was not designed to have iTunes on it. It means that Windows doesn't have the proprietary linkage it needs in Windows in order to function well. While this allowed most Windows users to use iTunes at a decent level, Windows users don't understand the concept of iTunes and will reject it because it's not like anything on Windows. It's not that Apple is making it tough for users to consume content, it's the people pirating and downloading non-compatible content to be run on Apple devices. If you download all content from iTunes, you would have a seamless experience consuming everything it has to offer. It's not that it holds the hardware back (unless you're using the Windows version), it's just that it optimizes the entire experience from start to finish from iTunes to your device. The main problem is your hardware and OS isn't designed to do the job it was supposed to do under iTunes if you're using Windows.

If you have existing content that you want in iTunes, you'll have to convert it to be optimal for iTunes because iTunes won't do that for you. It isn't a magical gold machine that keeps printing dollar bills, it's a piece of software designed to connect iDevices to your computer. Regarding video from a Canon DSLR, you can import directly to the iPad via the camera connector. If you wanted the movie on your computer, you just connect your camera to the computer. Not that hard.

So again, regarding video, audio, books, apps, and tv shows, if you're not savvy enough to convert the formats and understand the tech that works behind them, you should just purchase from the iTunes store because it just works. Don't put your foot in the blender and it will be all good. I'm on a roll with the kitchen references for some reason...

 

[Carouser]

I'm actually not surprised at the contradiction between people who know all about codecs and the various forms of media files out there (not to mention the specs of competing tablets) but who, when facing getting that stuff into iTunes, turn into helpless children for whom drag-and-drop is the only thing to soothe their incompetence.

 

[sphinx99]

Putting iTunes on Windows was one of Apple's worst ideas. Windows was not designed to have iTunes on it. Now think about that for a moment. I said Windows was not designed to have iTunes on it. It means that Windows doesn't have the proprietary linkage it needs in Windows in order to function well. While this allowed most Windows users to use iTunes at a decent level, Windows users don't understand the concept of iTunes and will reject it because it's not like anything on Windows. It's not that Apple is making it tough for users to consume content, it's the people pirating and downloading non-compatible content to be run on Apple devices. If you download all content from iTunes, you would have a seamless experience consuming everything it has to offer. It's not that it holds the hardware back (unless you're using the Windows version), it's just that it optimizes the entire experience from start to finish from iTunes to your device. The main problem is your hardware and OS isn't designed to do the job it was supposed to do under iTunes if you're using Windows.

If you have existing content that you want in iTunes, you'll have to convert it to be optimal for iTunes because iTunes won't do that for you. It isn't a magical gold machine that keeps printing dollar bills, it's a piece of software designed to connect iDevices to your computer. Regarding video from a Canon DSLR, you can import directly to the iPad via the camera connector. If you wanted the movie on your computer, you just connect your camera to the computer. Not that hard.

So again, regarding video, audio, books, apps, and tv shows, if you're not savvy enough to convert the formats and understand the tech that works behind them, you should just purchase from the iTunes store because it just works. Don't put your foot in the blender and it will be all good. I'm on a roll with the kitchen references for some reason...

What are you talking about? ITunes is just as bad on my Mac under OSX.

Anyway, as I am clearly not savvy enough to understand, can you tell me what specifically Windows is missing that makes iTunes so bad on it? If you could list some OSX APIs or OS services that Windows would have needed, that would help. Also, since you suggested that part of the problem is my hardware, please let me know what's wrong there. For reference, the faulty hardware you imply is a 2010 Mac Pro... Running Windows.

As to the camera example, thanks for proving the point. Buy iPad. Try to copy videos. Notice it doesn't work even though the format should be supported. Spend 45 minutes trying to troubleshoot. Set up genius bar appointment. Drive 45 minutes to Apple store. Learn one hour later that it just doesn't work and no one knows why, but it does somehow work via the CCK, so buy that for the sole purpose of bypassing iTunes. Yup, easy.

It would be easier if they gave the iPad the functionality of a $5 USB key.

 

[Blue Sun]

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?

There are so many apps that correct this, a non-issue really. I don't even have to drag movies on to my iPad.

I have an external hard drive containing all of my movies (mainly .avi) connected to my AirPort Extreme. I use the app BUZZ Player HD to stream movies to my iPad (no conversion or syncing necessary). There is also an extra feature, when selecting a movie to watch you can either stream or copy to the device so you can watch it out and about.

On top of that, BUZZ Player HD has just been updated to support the new iPad retina display. Definitely my favourite app on the iPad.

 

[Fank]

Just buy the movie on iTunes. It just works. I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the easiest place to get content and get content from there. It just makes no sense why you wouldn't do what is easy and simple. It's like if you wanted to take a leak, you wouldn't go to the kitchen to do it in the sink would you?

would matter how drunk I was, but I haven't been drunk in a long time.

 

[avaloncourt]

Just buy the movie on iTunes. It just works. I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the easiest place to get content and get content from there. It just makes no sense why you wouldn't do what is easy and simple. It's like if you wanted to take a leak, you wouldn't go to the kitchen to do it in the sink would you?

Are you an Apple employee because that's exactly the plan with the iPad? They want you to buy everything from them. They don't want to make it easy to put your own media on the iPad. That would make it less profitable for them. They have to provide a way but they don't necessarily have to provide an easy way.

 

[balamw]

However, streaming libraries are very limited compared to DVD libraries. Trying to stream a movie that isn't available for streaming is not easier for most users.

Surprisingly, for most users, the easiest path to playing content available on disc, is to play it on a device that supports that format natively. If the content is on Blu-Ray a BR player is ideal, while a DVD player is sufficient for content on DVD.

Computers with the right optical drive and software work fine too.

Playing such content without transcoding (i.e. a 4 GB + DVD file or a 30+ GB BR file is quite impractical on a device with a maximum of 64 GB of storage.). Transcoding to a smaller, more efficient format is a lengthy process that MOST users don't want to subject themselves to. Those who really want to will rip to a compatible format.

B

 

[pat park]

Are you an Apple employee because that's exactly the plan with the iPad? They want you to buy everything from them. They don't want to make it easy to put your own media on the iPad. That would make it less profitable for them. They have to provide a way but they don't necessarily have to provide an easy way.

quoted for silliness!

This is so silly. Yes, Apple wants you to buy from iTunes. Yes they made the iPad, iPhone like this. Wow what a surprise!!

 

[balamw]

Are you an Apple employee because that's exactly the plan with the iPad? They want you to buy everything from them. They don't want to make it easy to put your own media on the iPad. That would make it less profitable for them. They have to provide a way but they don't necessarily have to provide an easy way.

Your own media = photos and movies you create, not those you rip from DVD or other media. (Especially not media that other users have ripped and you have simply downloaded). You can record movies and even edit them directly on the iPad and you can also import photos and movies from other third party cameras.

B