iPad: Not quite ready for printing or file sharing
April 6, 2010 by Steve HannafordPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, New Products
The hoopla for Apple’s new iPad tablet computer has at least some businesses thinking about using them for work. But recent reviews of the product say maybe they should wait.
The prospect of carrying around a 1.5 pound computer instead of lugging even a lightweight laptop could be tempting for many businesses and employees.
After all, the new tablet device can perform many applications road warriors need: email, downloading files, light word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and browsing the Internet (though with the first version only through a Wi-Fi link).
But the iPad, at least in its first version, has some serious issues with handling files. We expect that both Apple and third-party software providers will resolve these problems. But as of day one, there are some severe restraints that make doing such everyday things as printing and sharing and synchronizing files far more complicated than on a laptop.
The biggest issue: There are no printer drivers on the device. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity is built in, but there is no direct way to print files. That means you’ll have to send files (via email, for example), and have them printed out from another computer. Basically, the iPad doesn’t know about printers.
In addition, there is no common file system. That means that files “belong” to the application that creates them — or, in the case of email attachments, receives them. You can’t easily move a text attachment from the email application to the text editor application.
There are tools for file sharing, but initial reports are that they are complicated and involve multiple steps. For example, iTunes has a feature that enables file sharing but it’s not easily accessible and cannot be automated.
Even synchronizing contact lists between your iPad and your desktop Mac or PC is a feature that requires a multistep operation. The current wisdom is that you are better off using a file-sharing program like Google docs to share files.
But help is on the way. For example, there exists a $10 iPad app called PrintCentral, which was developed for the iPhone. This allows you to find printers on a Wi-Fi network and print directly to them from the tablet. It doesn’t sound like you can print more complex pages, but it is a start. PrintCentral also adds more sophisticated features for file sharing.
Given Apple’s track record and the legions of clever application developers jumping on board, we expect solutions will be coming in bunches. But for now, there are some severe limits in getting data from your iPad to the printed page.
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April 6th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
There certainly is an easy way to print from the iPad!
Simply use a Ricoh HotSpot Printer – no software is required and it’s as easy as 1-2-3 !!! Same with any internet-ready computer, smartphone or appliance ever since Ricoh launced the HotSpot Printer product line well over 2-years ago and they just keep getting better and better.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:37 am
I would like to help others who might come across this review that this is not fully true. Here is a link to the built-in way to share files within iTunes. Also, there are now free printing tools in the App Store.
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/appleiphone/ipad/ipaduserguides/457971/how_to_share_files_between_an_ipad_and_a_computer.html
April 7th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
I’ve had my iPad for 3 days now. This article makes the “problem” seem larger than it is. I’ve already downloaded a free App which allows me to print to my wireless printer (ActivePrint), and have uploaded Excel spreadsheets and WORD documents just fine into Numbers and Pages.. the iPad apps for that. Once those are installed it’s drag-and-drop to iTunes which recognizes the Apps and has “folders” for documents. Yes, the documents are then “owned” by the Apps they are uploaded to. I’m okay with that. Sure a filesystem with folders and etc would be nice. I’m sure that in future iPads we’ll get that. THIS iPad is perfectly fine for my needs now though, and at the price — when I’m ready to upgrade I will.
By the way there IS an App (Air Sharing) which may have capabilities more like what you are saying is missing. I bought and downloaded it for checkout.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
The biggest problem with iPad / iPhone / iPod is that they are a closed platform. The underlying operating system, Linux, is more than capable of handling printing to LAN or WiFi or 3G or VPN or whatever.
On an open platform, all features of the OS and application stack are made available to the users.
In general, wireless / telecom providers tend to “close” phones and other devices that they resell, by limiting access and functionality for the ostensible purpose of streamlining support. This is also the biggest problem with the Windows Mobile platform: You get a hobbled version from the provider.
Having a platform that was designed from the ground up to be closed further limits the flexibility. You have to wait for Apple or a 3rd-party to solve a “user-level” problem.
Further, I think that, once again, Apple has opted for form over function. This approach invariably punishes the 1st-gen adopters, because they have to either re-purchase a 2nd-gen device or “purchase” a software solution rather than creating their own solutions amongst the user community.
Similarly, RIM’s Blackberry follows the “Form first, function later” approach to development, feature set, and roadmap, and I think Blackberry customers, like Apple customers, are perpetual martyrs from a true productivity standpoint because these solutions are relatively canned. If your work process includes something outside the box, forget it. Example: I currently carry a circa-2008 Blackberry 8820, which is an EDGE (2G) device. WHY in the world would you release a 2G device in 2008? Especially after Apple took a beating for the 1st-gen iPhone being 2G? The answer is: “So they can fit the radio in a sexy-looking case”. When the technology progresses, resulting in a smaller radio, 2nd-gen users end up with a superior 3G radio.
Form-leads-function is a byproduct of the consumerization process, where troglodytes adopt technology that they are incapable of understanding. This is a normal process, but the part about which I object is presenting a 1st-gen product as a “consumer-ready” product when it really should have been geared toward those of us who DO understand technology and could have assisted with the consumerization process.
April 7th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I would just wait for the HP Slate to come out
April 8th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Please share with us what you are actually able to print with the app and if it is the product mentioned in this review. My findings and those of many reviewers show that documents (e.g. iWorks files, MS Office files attached via email, etc.) cannot be reliably printed using any of these apps, leaving the Ricoh HotSpot Printers to be the only output devices currently 100% compatible for printing from iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:01 am
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