The iPad is now set up, but not without some drama. First, I plugged it in and got the "Mac OS 10.5 or later needed" error message; I had resisted buying OS 10.5 (Leopard) when my OS 10.4 worked perfectly well. Surprise #2 came when I discovered that one can not download an OS, one has to get it on disc. So I went to the campus bookstore, bought the latest Operating System (10.6: Snow Leopard), and loaded into into my Mac. Surprise #3: the estimated install time was 40 minutes (!). So about an hour later I plugged in the iPad again and was greeted with bug #4: iTunes would not recognize it. After using different cables and different USB ports, I decided to re-download and re-install the latest version of iTunes. Finally, success!
My intial apps are Netflix, Instapaper, Weatherbug, Kayak Flights, Tweetdeck, iBooks, IMDb, Evernote, and Dictionary. All work great so far, though Tweetdeck is a bit annoying given that it currently only supports Twitter and not Facebook. That won't be a big deal once a Facebook app comes out, but for now it looks like I'll have to get Facebook status updates via Safari. Oh well.
Also, I'm happy to report that I'm not having any of the Wi-Fi connection and/or network memory issues some users report. Knock on wood that my luck will continue to be good with that.
My test of Netflix was brief: 2 minutes of The Host, but it was crisp and clear! Maybe I'll do a longer test next week if my flight to North Carolina is Wi-Fi enabled...
In the meantime, I'm glad that I took the plunge!
Posted by wrjacobs at April 10, 2010 8:41 PMBumm'r that you had to upgrade your OS, but 40 minutes isn't bad - it's on par with a "typical" Linux install. Windows would have taken longer.
Posted by: kim at April 12, 2010 9:35 AMRon: the IPad does come with its own OS (the same Operating System as the IPhone, more or less). My problem was my main computer OS, which did not support features in iTunes needed to synch the iPad. So the main OS was what I had to upgrade, for $29.
Posted by: Walt at April 11, 2010 7:34 PMso, does the OS to run the ipad not come with the ipad? it is an extra buy? not being a smart phone guy, I am mezmerized by the apps part of this device. I am thinking I can get all the app fun without the cost of the smart phone data package. Or am I off base.
Posted by: ron greene at April 11, 2010 1:01 PM