[Rickster1]

So, not really a Blackberry post but there always seem to be so many posting from fans of other OS so here goes. Our family decided to purchase an ipad Air for my parents this Christmas as it seems to be accepted that it is the easiest and most accessible OS. First impressions of the ipad Air, as I was the one getting to set it up. One word - Cheap!!! Cheap feeling and looking. I didn't feel that the price was justified given the plastic feeling of the casing. Just not something I found of value given the $500 price tag for the 16 gig wifi model. I set it up but just about went crazy going in and out of apps all the time!! Really? This is efficient in terms of time? Not overly impressed.

Now on to the unveiling! Parents received it, they have limited computer skills having used only Windows products, an XP computer and a Windows 8 computer (Win 8 is one of the main reasons for the move to the ipad, not inuitive, a step backwards in usability, less efficient. What is Microsoft thinking??) Given the many opinions that Apple products are "intuitive" for most people, I was interested to see how they coped. Right out of the box, they struggled to figure out how to use it. They certainly didn't find it "intuitive". Yes, they are very limited in technology usage but still, they did get the use of the home button after a while but kept saying why do you have to get out of something to get into something else? As a non-Apple user, I wasn't much help. I couldn't figure it out as there seems to be now way to keep one application open if you want to go to something else. Example of me playing a game of solitaire and my Dad asking to find something on the web. I had to close up the solitaire game to open the browser. Only can do one thing at a time, couldn't let a search go and return to the game. Not very efficient!!

I took pictures and videos on my Z10 and my Dad asked if we could transfer to the ipad to show their friends over the holidays. I said no problem, even though there is no way to hook in any way to transfer the files via a cable or card, I could still transfer via bluetooth. So, I did that, set up bluetooth on both devices but was not able to connect. I had done this in the past with my daughter's iphone 5 but the two devices couldn't or wouldn't connect. I felt embarrassed as I quickly assumed it was my Z10 that had the issue. Subsequently tried to pair with my daughter's iphone - no go!! Tried with my daughters S-4, no problem. Did a google search and came up with many websites listing the many potential issues of iOS7, one being bluetooth connectivity.

iOS 7: Common Problems Users Have and How to Fix Them (Updated) | Digital Trends

Wow! What a laundry list of potential issues!! And this is a mature OS that one would expect to have most of the bugs worked out!!

So back to the transfer. As the ipad didn't have NFC to try and transfer files and the Air Drop feature didn't seem to incorporate anyway to communicate with anything other than other Apple products, the way forward seemed to lean towards transferring files from the Z10 to a computer and then on to the ipad. Not very smooth! So, I set up a BOX account for my parents, set up a shared folder on my BOX account and thought, away we go!! Picutres downloaded fine and I thought all was going fine. But, the one video they actually really wanted wouldn't download as it was an "incompatible" file!! What?? Can't even play an MP4 file on the ipad? Unbeleivable!! Now I had to download the video to my laptop, convert it via Handbrake, up load it to BOX and then download it to the ipad. As I had to go home to do this, I have not yet confirmed that the file will play on the ipad!! Frick!!! What a farce!!

So, the morale of this story is - even though, when one visits Crackberry, it seems there are endless problems with BB10, there are many issues with all the OS's out there!! Sometimes it seems as if all I see on Crackberry are problems. It was gratifying to see that the almighty Apple has so many issues!! "Intuititve"? Nope! Seems that pervasive is more likely. Most Apple newbies seem to be guided by others so by pure numbers, the Apple iOS is labelled "intuitive"!! No more so than any other OS. As well,the ipad Air, with iOS 7 its 64 bit architecture, Series 7 processor and "Retina" screen still can only run one app at a time!! In and out, in and out!! Wow!! From the cheapness of the ipad Air (5 megapixel camera to boot) to the less than easy to use features, I am not overly impressed! So, take this post as you will but lets ease off on Blackberry!! It certainly gave me some perspective on how far Blackberry has come with BB10 in such a short period of time. It also gave me a much more positive view of the potential for BB to have a comeback at some point in time. If this is Apple's latest and greatest, well, I am left totally underwhelmed!

[Richard Buckley]

If you enable multitasking gestures on the iPad you can swipe up, left or right with 4 or 5 fingers. Not intuitive, or even in the same league as bb10. You will, however, see that everything is still "running".

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[heymaggie]

If you think the iPad Air is plastic feeling then I'm not sure what to say. iPads have always been made of aluminum, of course. Are you sure you weren't just looking for problems?

[SangreNegra]

Maybe he got ****ed by just buying some cheap Chinese plastic iPad rip-off
But ranting about the lack of multitasking in iOS just proves he has no idea what he's talking about. And I'm in no way a defender of apple products.

Just let me tell you something, as a tech-savy person I love my PlayBook, but if you would have given then a PlayBook with their limited technology knowledge, your parents would've probably already committed suicide.


Can't beat a Q10 keyboard!

[jmimac351]

iOS7 is not a "mature" operating system, it was just launched. IMO, they screwed iOS up with iOS7. I actually was carrying an iPhone 5, downloaded iOS7 at launch, then went back to iOS6. What people liked about the iPhone was ruined with iOS7 in the name of doing something different, not better. Many iPhone users are emotionally committed to the platform and can be fed anythng.

I'm not emotionally committed to any phone. I was a very heavy BB user. I went to Android, then iPhone, and I recently transitioned to a Z10 once Android started really working and I couldn't be happier with the developments. If BB gets Android apps to smooth out on BB10, it will gain traction again.

[Davidro1]

I have seen the incompatibility problems of Apple devices. They only want to receive Apple input.


Years ago, I began buying Apple computers and other products. I stopped and waited for the z10. I never got an iPhone.

I'm now on the z30.

So, for the same reasons described by the OP, I too think BlackBerry can grow back and grow stronger.

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[Claidheamhmor]

If you enable multitasking gestures on the iPad you can swipe up, left or right with 4 or 5 fingers. Not intuitive, or even in the same league as bb10. You will, however, see that everything is still "running".

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They're not "running" if they're not running in the background, and I think only certain iOS apps (music, GPS, et al) actually run in the background rather than being suspended.

[Claidheamhmor]

I must agree with Rickster1; I have an iPad (work-issued), and so many things I take for granted on my BlackBerry either require convoluted workarounds on iOS, or are simply impossible. One thing I like the iPad for is being able to read PDFs on a big screen easily and quickly, and it's good for that. The rigmarole involved in getting PDFs from my computer to my iPad was completely ridiculous though; I had to Google for it to find the solution, because it's completely non-obvious.