My life-long resistance to Apple has ended

[Dave McClung]

In 1977, there were two camps in the company I worked for. I was the leader of the "TRS-80 Group." The IT department headed up the "Apple Group." For more than 40 years, I have always supported the competition because I thought the competition was always a little ahead of Apple in technology. I viewed the contest as Apple being "user friendly" and the competition being "cutting edge." I still see it that way.

I finally decided that I am ready for "user friendly." I am aware that the Android is probably more "cutting edge", but I am now at the point in my life where I am not as concerned about that. I am ready for a little more simplicity.

I ordered Iphones for Linda and me and an Ipad for me. I will let you know if I made the right choice.

[Dennis M. Scott]

Linda made that switch, too. She's happy - which I find very worthwhile. She's ready now to upgrade, and I may adopt her Mac. I'm using it right now, in fact. Interested in your evaluation. Of Apple, not me.

[Susan Unger]

In 1977, there were two camps in the company I worked for. I was the leader of the "TRS-80 Group." The IT department headed up the "Apple Group." For more than 40 years, I have always supported the competition because I thought the competition was always a little ahead of Apple in technology. I viewed the contest as Apple being "user friendly" and the competition being "cutting edge." I still see it that way.

I finally decided that I am ready for "user friendly." I am aware that the Android is probably more "cutting edge", but I am now at the point in my life where I am not as concerned about that. I am ready for a little more simplicity.

I ordered Iphones for Linda and me and an Ipad for me. I will let you know if I made the right choice.

Oh my word - I haven't heard of TRS 80 since highschool [graduated 86]! I took a computer class as a senior. Ah...memories.

I guess I am too out of the loop to understand the Apple hysteria. My cousins consider their yearly trek to the Apple as their trip to Mecca. Don't see the excitement. But then, I just this week ordered my first MP3 player.

Enjoy your I stuff.

[Gina Stevenson]

Linda made that switch, too. She's happy - which I find very worthwhile. She's ready now to upgrade, and I may adopt her Mac. I'm using it right now, in fact. Interested in your evaluation. Of Apple, not me.

At least not on this public forum, huh, Dennis? :smilies0262:

[Dave McClung]

In 1977, there were two camps in the company I worked for. I was the leader of the "TRS-80 Group." The IT department headed up the "Apple Group." For more than 40 years, I have always supported the competition because I thought the competition was always a little ahead of Apple in technology. I viewed the contest as Apple being "user friendly" and the competition being "cutting edge." I still see it that way.

I finally decided that I am ready for "user friendly." I am aware that the Android is probably more "cutting edge", but I am now at the point in my life where I am not as concerned about that. I am ready for a little more simplicity.

I ordered Iphones for Linda and me and an Ipad for me. I will let you know if I made the right choice.

Well, I got the Ipad today. I have spent a while trying to get it set up. At this point, it seems more like a toy than a tool. I hope it grows on me, but cause at this point I am not a fan.

[David Morris]

Well, I got the Ipad today. I have spent a while trying to get it set up. At this point, it seems more like a toy than a tool. I hope it grows on me, but cause at this point I am not a fan.

I would be willing to take it off your hands for a generous offer of $35.00. :-)

[Dana Grant]

Well, I got the Ipad today. I have spent a while trying to get it set up. At this point, it seems more like a toy than a tool. I hope it grows on me, but cause at this point I am not a fan.

I understand. A few people have encouraged me to buy one, but for the life of me I can't really come up with a good reason to do so, other than to play on it. And, man, if I play on it more than I play on my computer already, I won't have time for WORKing!!! So at this point, I'm resisting temptation quite easily!!

Keep us posted on what you end up doing with it......

(Of course, I'm not a fan of iphones, either, soo.....)

[Dave McClung]

In 1977, there were two camps in the company I worked for. I was the leader of the "TRS-80 Group." The IT department headed up the "Apple Group." For more than 40 years, I have always supported the competition because I thought the competition was always a little ahead of Apple in technology. I viewed the contest as Apple being "user friendly" and the competition being "cutting edge." I still see it that way.

I finally decided that I am ready for "user friendly." I am aware that the Android is probably more "cutting edge", but I am now at the point in my life where I am not as concerned about that. I am ready for a little more simplicity.

I ordered Iphones for Linda and me and an Ipad for me. I will let you know if I made the right choice.

I now have two Iphones and an Ipad. (One Iphone is for Linda.) After spending several hours getting them synced, I am still of the opinion that they are toys not tools. I assume that I will like them better when I learn the ins and outs.

I have asked several people for a list of aps that I should get. So far, most of the aps people have suggested are games. Where are all those useful aps that I am missing?

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

I think you have some terrific gear and that you'll soon find your way through the games, etc. to feel good about the products.

For my part, at this time, I can't imagine anything I'd like better than my Android phone and I know the iProducts have an even better reputation. I'll be interested in hearing what you think of them in a month or two.

[Doug Kitchen]

I now have two Iphones and an Ipad. (One Iphone is for Linda.) After spending several hours getting them synced, I am still of the opinion that they are toys not tools. I assume that I will like them better when I learn the ins and outs.

I have asked several people for a list of aps that I should get. So far, most of the aps people have suggested are games. Where are all those useful aps that I am missing?


Dave,
We only have an ipod/touch - an iphone without the phone (and a few other things) but the apps crossover a bit.

A couple of apps we use often: vipr is a weather + radar app which gives you street level access to current radar. We use it often to track thunderstorms or snow. There is also a weather app that gives multiday forecasts for multiple locations.
The facebook app can replace a lot of the facebook browsing that one might do from a computer. I'm pretty sure the iphone app would allow you to upload pictures from your phone immediately. We also found an app that provides lists of symptoms and possible diagnosis (much more portable than the family medical books that we have)

My neighbor likes the "stars" application (I'm not sure about its real name). With the gps system it can tell you the stars that you are looking at. We have also heard of a shopping list application that allows multiple people to share the shopping list.

I find the most useful apps are the ones that allow me to store personalized settings about some web-based information so that I get immediate access to a particular piece of information without logging into a computer or googling for the results. - a really high-content, bookmarking facility.

The ipad's size allows it to be a good bookreader (eg. the kindle app). The presentation and text editing software might allow a speaker to work directly from an ipad rather than from a laptop. Most apps can be used across the iphone, ipad and often the ipod/touch.

I am waiting until the second generation (maybe even third gen) before we get an ipad.
Doug

[Dave McClung]

Dave,
We only have an ipod/touch - an iphone without the phone (and a few other things) but the apps crossover a bit.

A couple of apps we use often: vipr is a weather + radar app which gives you street level access to current radar. We use it often to track thunderstorms or snow. There is also a weather app that gives multiday forecasts for multiple locations.
The facebook app can replace a lot of the facebook browsing that one might do from a computer. I'm pretty sure the iphone app would allow you to upload pictures from your phone immediately. We also found an app that provides lists of symptoms and possible diagnosis (much more portable than the family medical books that we have)

My neighbor likes the "stars" application (I'm not sure about its real name). With the gps system it can tell you the stars that you are looking at. We have also heard of a shopping list application that allows multiple people to share the shopping list.

I find the most useful apps are the ones that allow me to store personalized settings about some web-based information so that I get immediate access to a particular piece of information without logging into a computer or googling for the results. - a really high-content, bookmarking facility.

The ipad's size allows it to be a good bookreader (eg. the kindle app). The presentation and text editing software might allow a speaker to work directly from an ipad rather than from a laptop. Most apps can be used across the iphone, ipad and often the ipod/touch.

I am waiting until the second generation (maybe even third gen) before we get an ipad.
Doug

Thanks, Doug. That star gazing ap sounds like something I will enjoy. Just tonight I was looking at a group of stars and was trying to recall the name.

[Rich Schmidt]

I now have two Iphones and an Ipad. (One Iphone is for Linda.) After spending several hours getting them synced, I am still of the opinion that they are toys not tools. I assume that I will like them better when I learn the ins and outs.

I have asked several people for a list of aps that I should get. So far, most of the aps people have suggested are games. Where are all those useful aps that I am missing?

It depends on what you need to do with them.

My wife has an iPad for work. (She's the director of elementary education for our school district.) Besides using it for personal stuff, like facebook and games, she spends a lot of time in email and on the web. She uses QuickOffice + her dropbox.com account* to sync and edit work documents (Word docs, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations), and I think she recently used it to make a PowerPoint presentation with a projector. She also takes notes on it at meetings.

She gets a lot of "work use" out of it, in part because of its portability. She likes it a lot better than the netbook she used to carry around, in part because the screen is bigger and it lets her carry a smaller purse.

* If you're not already using dropbox, you can sign up with this free referral link (http://db.tt/Gajatpx) to get us both an extra 250 MB of storage space. :)

[Rich Schmidt]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the iPhone. Besides being a pretty useful mobile phone, I use it for email, web, the Bible, maps when traveling or looking for something, calendar, files (dropbox again), taking pictures and video, twitter/facebook (some for work, some for pleasure), and plenty of games. It also comes in handy for listening to music & podcasts (including some of my favorite preachers), watching movies, etc.

Oh, and I can remote-control our church's ProPresenter software if I need to. (That's what we use to project words, etc, onto the screen on Sunday mornings.)

So far, I haven't thought of anything I'd want to be able to do with my iPhone that I haven't been able to. I'm not sure what you're wanting to do with it that would qualify it as a "tool" and not a "toy"....?

[Rich Schmidt]

Oh, I forgot to mention the bluetooth keyboard. My wife and I both have them (the Apple ones), and we've both used them to take notes or type longer things on her iPad and my iPhone.

My wife also streams music from her iPad to the bluetooth speakers in our bathroom or to the AppleTV hooked up to our entertainment center.

[Daniel Hamlin]

Your iPhone wouldn't be complete without Angry Birds! :)

[Doug Kitchen]

Thanks, Doug. That star gazing ap sounds like something I will enjoy. Just tonight I was looking at a group of stars and was trying to recall the name.

Same thing happens to me when I see groups of people - wish there was an app for that. :)

Doug

[Dave McClung]

It depends on what you need to do with them.

My wife has an iPad for work. (She's the director of elementary education for our school district.) Besides using it for personal stuff, like facebook and games, she spends a lot of time in email and on the web. She uses QuickOffice + her dropbox.com account* to sync and edit work documents (Word docs, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations), and I think she recently used it to make a PowerPoint presentation with a projector. She also takes notes on it at meetings.

She gets a lot of "work use" out of it, in part because of its portability. She likes it a lot better than the netbook she used to carry around, in part because the screen is bigger and it lets her carry a smaller purse.

* If you're not already using dropbox, you can sign up with this free referral link (http://db.tt/Gajatpx) to get us both an extra 250 MB of storage space. :)

Too late on the dropbox referral. Linda and I both already have the dropbox accounts.

[Rich Schmidt]

Too late on the dropbox referral. Linda and I both already have the dropbox accounts.

Great! My wife and I have found that service to be very useful with our iDevices. :)

[Dan Ross]

One cool feature of Apple is that you can also use Windows on an Apple. I have a MacBook Pro. Apple includes "Boot Camp" but I spent a little extra and bought "Parallels". With "Parallels", "Windows" is installed, but is just another window on my desktop. I can toggle between Windows applicvations and Mac applications as if they were just Mac apps. I have Vista on my MacBook Pro, but will soon delete it and put Windows 7 on the Mac and install Vista on an old laptop someone gave me. It presently has a Chinese version of Windows on it.

[Billy Cox]

My wife and I both have iPhones. We are quite delighted with them for both entertainment and for having easy access to information in situations where I am unlikely to have a laptop. The GPS is quite handy too - like having a map in my pocket that can show me where I am and what is around me...no extra gadget required. It's also nice to have access to a dozen or more translations of the Bible in my hip pocket.

I have considered buying an iPad, but so far, my lifestyle is not mobile enough to make it worth the additional cost. My laptop is on AC power nearly 100% of the time.

The possible uses for iPad are at the tip of the iceberg point, so I expect to reach a tipping point in the near future. Maybe the iPad 2...

[Zach Wingo]

Most people don't realize that OS X is certified Unix. It is a superior operating system in almost every way to Microsoft Windows and far more powerful. Apple's hardware is also superior in quality to virtually every competitor. Having said that, I think Apple is overpriced and too expensive. I can get a Dell Latitude with the same specs for half the price. As for the competition being more cutting-edge, that may be true in the desktop market but it's not in the iPod/iPhone/iPad market. Every other competitor is busy trying to copy Apple. I know about 20 professional developers and everything they develop is for the iPhone first and then they port everything to other platforms like the Android.

I played around with the iPad in the Apple store for about an hour and wasn't impressed. However, I did love the Macbook Air. I also love the iPhone and it's far better than the Android in my opinion, especially with battery life. My iPhone gets 9-12 hours with heavy use and 20-30 hours with regular light use (ie. checking email/facebook 1-2 times per hour). My favorite non-game apps are:

PocketSword - An open source bible app based of Crosswire Bible Society's "The Sword Project." In short I have 12 versions of the bible, 11 commentaries, 4 dictionaries, and 3 lexicons. They are all free but primarily older non-copyright materials.

ESV Study Bible - Crossway has two versions of this app, one is free and it's just the ESV bible. The paid version is the study bible with all the notes, maps, etc.. This is by far my favorite bible app and well worth $14.99

Kindle - I read a lot of books and the Kindle app works great.

GraphCalc - it's a graphing calculator that provides almost all the functionality I need for work and school.

Pandora - if you like music, this app is a must have. It's free, CD quality music streamed live. You pick the artist, or song, or genre and it will automatically choose similar music and stream it commercial free.

Ebay - I buy lots of stuff on ebay so this app is awesome. The search has a barcode scanner so you can scan a barcode and it will automatically search ebay.

Starbucks - You can register your card and at some locations you can use your iPhone to pay. You just click the pay button and it brings up a barcode associated with your account and their scanners will scan your screen and deduct the money from your account.

Google Voice - It works almost exactly like Apple's native phone app. You can send text message free, make free calls, and very cheap international rates.

Skype - Skype video chat works great with the iPhone. I can do video chat anywhere anytime with very little lag and it even works better than my netbook.

Twitter - I use this all the time and was the best twitter app available but just this week they came out with an update that has made almost everyone angry so I haven't upgraded yet but everyone is giving the new one the lowest rating possible.

GPS - I haven't used them yet, but Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan all make GPS apps but their usually $50+ dollars which I think is too high since GPS and 3G use drain the batteries quickly. I would rather save my money and buy a dedicated GPS.

Pulse - It's a great news/rss reader. I love it and use it daily to keep up on news from my favorite sites.

[Steven Burton]

I am going to need more than a paragraph to get me to switch.