Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

After 24 hours of connecting successfully, my iPad has started to drop off the network and demand that I reenter the password. I have a MacBook Pro and other computers that connect to our home wireless network from anywhere in the house with no complaint. I did a little ad hoc research in the online support forums and discovered that I’m not alone. Considering, however, that Apple has already sold 500,000 of these tablets, I’m sure I’m in the minority, just as I’m equally sure that Apple will resolve the problem via an OS upgrade.

Strangely, I still like the iPad and enjoy using it despite the aggravation.

Using the supplied USB cable, I tried connecting my iPad to a PC that does not have iTunes installed. My hope was that Windows XP would discover the iPad as an external mass storage device and allow me to copy images into the appropriate folder.

Negative.

It’s possible to drag images OUT of the iPad, but not IN. I can understand the necessity to safeguard the iPad, otherwise users might drag in files that could interfere with proper operation, and then turn around and blame Apple. But I do hope that someone (Adobe?) writes an app that simulates a browser (Bridge?) that can be installed on both the iPad and host computer so that users are not limited to using iTunes to upload images.

According to the official specifications, the resolution of the iPad screen is 1024x768 at 132 ppi. It says so right here:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/ .

That would compute to a viewing area that’s roughly 7.75x5.8 inches, and that looks about right. So I resized an image precisely to that resolution, e-mailed it to myself, opened and saved it on my iPad, and then used it as the wallpaper on the Unlock screen. For some reason unknown to me, the iPad did not display the entire image and instead cropped it.

I can hardly wait until the Camera Connection Kit arrives.

—Jon Sienkiewicz