My wife and an iPad mini

[DaveP]

After giving away an iPhone because it wouldn't shut off and the battery wouldn't last a day.  We had a break from tech problems in the DaveP household.

But my wife's friends kept on at her about the virtues of an iPad mini, so she eventually succumbed.  We started on it last night and she managed to get her thumbprint to turn the thing on, so no more passwords to remember......yeah right.

She knew it was not going to be easy so she asked me to leave the day free to help.

First thing, I sorted out an Apple ID and password so all we had to do was turn it on, yes all we had to do was turn it on

Nothing worked so we are on the phone to Apple and a nice lady goes through the motions and tells us how to get it restored via i Tunes.  Turns out we needed to access the summary box, nothing on the menus, device section is greyed out.  Put summary box into the search menu but it came up with some random tracks to download!!

By now I am considering it's secondary use as a Frisbee.  I go on line only to find that there is an entire community out there searching for the summary box!  I began to formulate an addendum to Sod's law "that the aggravation you experience is in direct proportion to the amount of money you spend".  Where chocolate bars are the least and houses are the most.

Back on the phone to Apple and a tech guy shares screens with my laptop and gets the thing to download an entire OS just to do a factory reset  It has been 3 hours downloading 1.81 GB, someone once said that computers save you time?

I will offer this advice to Apple, just put a sticker on the iPad mini that says,"Put in a numeric password first,THEN try the fingerprint password, because our technology is new and there are bugs in it and you will not be able to turn it on if it screws up.

There are guys out there losing their finger prints on the thing each week and having to do them over again.  I know I am old, but in my day, if a product fell at the first hurdle like that it would have been considered a disaster, but no, there are armies of support operators trying to fix the product like its work in progress, not the finished item.  Lets hope Apple never go into making airliners or cars.

This useless piece of junk has wasted an entire day of my life and I still have to deal with the factory restore.  Not a happy bunny tonight.

DaveP

 

[JohnRoberts]

That's why they call it bleeding edge technology.... 8)

JR

 

[PRR]

> "Put in a numeric password first,...

Well, duh. Keyboard passwords have real flaws, but the system is somewhat mature now and often works OK. Finger-wipe sounds slick but also sounds like "This WILL GO Wrong!"

Agree that if they *tell* you to swipe right out of the box, I'd do that.

> someone once said that computers save you time

This week I spent about 14 hours off-and-on to install Ubuntu on an old netbook; ended up with about 28MB (yes meg) of a perfectly functional unix command-line without any trace of GUI and AFAICT no networking to download it. Heck, it may as well be 1991 again when I loaded unix from 23 floppy disks (except I eventually did get graphical mode working on that).

So I blew that off and installed Puppy Linux about 7 times. My latest try does what it does but downloading and installing Chrome just fails silently. I tried the Pup-pack "FireFox", which does run, but I can't make it the default browser. The app-default system is scattered all over unix's arcane filesystem, I am finding crumbs of defaultbrowser, but why should I have to do binary-level trawling to find basic user options? Also the "FireFox" has two different non-FF names in the About box, but does link to the Moz site.

Win7's new improved limitations have been a time-sink. Kin have reported from 1 day (best) to 6 week time-waste getting the Win10 downgrade to load; plus long check-list of stuff to disable so Gates doesn't know every time they go potty.

That's not to mention the car computer. (Honda Accord) Last winter the car started surging at idle. This includes rolling to a stop, when it gets annoying and potentially dangerous. Since then it has spent as much time in two different shops as it has here. Paid for a IAC and then a new ECU (computer). The Dealer had it for 3.5 weeks, could not replicate, drove home fine, and when I went to shut it off it was surging. I'm about ready to rip-off the intake and jam on an old Plymouth 1bbl carburetor. The idiot ECU would flip out, but I *know* how to set a dumb B&B jug for good idle and acceptable power.

And then the endless whiny threads about time-waste computers..........

I am SO glad I got a DUMB phone.

> bleeding edge technology....

No, bleeding-edge technology is the tractor hood and the hammer I used on the dog-stake. This week I've torn off two large chunks of fingers and am typing all bandaged-up. (Last week the saber saw got thirsty and bit me in the wrist, but the bleeding is stopped.)

 

[DaveP]

PRR,
If you had a wife like mine, you'd be so busy solving her tech problems you wouldn't have time to do other chores  :  Count your blessings or should I say count your fingers?  Go easy with that chainsaw mate
Best
DaveP

 

[JohnRoberts]

That's not to mention the car computer. (Honda Accord) Last winter the car started surging at idle. This includes rolling to a stop, when it gets annoying and potentially dangerous. Since then it has spent as much time in two different shops as it has here. Paid for a IAC and then a new ECU (computer). The Dealer had it for 3.5 weeks, could not replicate, drove home fine, and when I went to shut it off it was surging. I'm about ready to rip-off the intake and jam on an old Plymouth 1bbl carburetor. The idiot ECU would flip out, but I *know* how to set a dumb B&B jug for good idle and acceptable power.

I have some surging (when cold) in my mustang, and I haven't been motivated enough to spend money, but my suspicion is one of the two temperature sensors is flaky... My car has two sensors, one for the dashboard gauge and the second for the ecu... Since the dashboard temp meter reads correctly, I am suspicious the other one isn't. The car doesn't surge when warmed up. Bad temp data could explain bad behavior (only when cold)

> bleeding edge technology....

No, bleeding-edge technology is the tractor hood and the hammer I used on the dog-stake. This week I've torn off two large chunks of fingers and am typing all bandaged-up. (Last week the saber saw got thirsty and bit me in the wrist, but the bleeding is stopped.)

Don't do that,,, while small chunks will grow back, too much removed will stay gone. I also notice that as we get older we heal more slowly.  :'(

JR

 

[rainton]

I'm sorry for your wasted time Dave, but I never heard of anyone of my friends/family spending more than an hour to setup their (new first time) iPad.  ;D ;D

The last Apple product I bought was the iPad pro and I never owned an iPad before. Within a couple of hours it was so integrated into my workflow including mirroring the screen of my Mac to use apps like adobe illustrator right on my iPad with the pencil I felt like I had worked with it for a long time already...really simple and straight forward.

I have to admit though - I had an Apple-ID already

 

[DaveP]

It would have been OK if the fingerprint had been suggested as a secondary password,  after repeated attempts to get in it assumes you are a thief and disables itself.  Our trouble was caused because we had faith that their system was 100% proven.

The Apple ITunes website is one of the worst designed I have ever seen.  I think it is totally crazy to have put a restore/backup  system on the same site that sells product, the menus are mostly greyed out, which is always a bad sign.  No effort to show you how to access the restore function, would a separate support site have cost too much?  What are their profits? 

When I checked the forums for advice, there were loads of people in the same position.  Young people who have been using I phones for years have much lower expectations of what a system should work like.  I think that so many of the computer systems are badly designed in terms of information about how to proceed and progress of processes, they seem to assume that everyone was part of the design team.

Companies like Amazon and Ebay/Paypal have excellent systems and people like Microsoft and Apple could learn a lot from them.  I will say that the Apple support staff were very good though, they have a job for life because of the shortcomings of their product.  My wife spent another morning with them trying to get her wireless keyboard to work with the IPad, no luck so far!  The designers are extremely clever people who have absolutely no idea how to make it simple and intuitive.  The serial number can only be seen under a microscope, very cool but not very practical.  Our router has 26 digits, does that make it easy to enter for wi fi? No it makes it a total pain in the arse.  This technology reminds me of how cars were in the 1920's (so I've heard) you had to constantly fiddle with the timing and various adjustments to keep them on the road.

DaveP

 

[DaveP]

The Girl at Apple Support did not manage to connect the Amazon basics keyboard so I looked it up on youtube and there is a connect button you have to press, so that job is done.

So when wife starts to use the keyboard there is no way you can get the @ key to work !!!!!  This is essential for email addresses so why would they foul up there?

I think that all today's software designers started  on game boys so they have an inbuilt tendency to put stuff on secret levels and this is just typical of the time wasting crap technology that we have today.

For any of you out there who want to know what the secret level is?  To get the @ symbol you have to press Shift 2, now if there is any logic in this, it sure escapes me.

DaveP

 

[JohnRoberts]

I think that all today's software designers started  on game boys so they have an inbuilt tendency to put stuff on secret levels and this is just typical of the time wasting crap technology that we have today.

DaveP

I call those "secret handshakes" and am always running into them when coding micros or whatever... You would expect a mass market consumer product to have ironed out flaws that generate service calls, since the volume of those calls should be significant and measured (or they should be).   

JR

 

[DaveP]

It's not until you transfer the problem to another familiar object that you realise how poor the tech is.

Let's say Ford introduced a car with thump print door entry,  you set it up in the showroom then next day you can't get into the car, what would that story do to sales?  Then with the keyboard "secret handshakes" issue, you can't use the screen wipers  with the screen wipe button, you have to turn them on with the aircon switch plus one electric window switch.

It would reduce Ford to a laughing stock overnight when that got on to social media.  But with computer tech, they seem to get away with half baked product all the time, the young people who buy the stuff seem to tolerate the level of incompetence, that's what I can't understand.

Look at the international fuss over the VW emission issue, it doesn't even affect anyone's driving experience.  But poorly performing computer devices which cause endless configuration problems don't generate any fuss,  except maybe if the battery runs down too quickly or you can't turn the wretched thing off completely.

DaveP

 

[PRR]

> To get the @ symbol you have to press Shift 2,

Am I missing something?

On my desktop PC keyboard (I'd bet all of them), @ is shift-2.

I think this goes back to typewriters... Ah, no, memory fades like ribbon-ink in well-washed jeans. Typewriters put various symbols as shift-number, but eventually most made shift-2 the double-quote mark ("). It was the Selectric which put @ as shift-2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter#Layout

My dumb-phone does have a keyboard, very-very-minimal, and it has a dedicated "@" key, so maybe you were expecting something like that?
_____________________________________

> the VW emission issue, it doesn't even affect anyone's driving experience.

It does. Without the cheats, these cars would be (and will be) slugs. Any Diesel theorist knows that so-much fuel is high efficiency with low unburned fuel, and more than that is dirty with More Power. Most pre-regulation Diesels were set up to run well into the dirty zone, though road engines stopped short of visible smoke. (Any Diesel mechanic knew how to find the last dozen horses by blowing big smoke.)

The really embarrassing part is: this seems to be Deliberate Cheating. As I understand it, the ECU senses a difference between Government Test Cycle and Everyday Driving (35.0MPH for 5.0 minutes- this must be the Test), and then applies a "clean" or a "peppy(dirty)" fuel map. If it is an accident, it is a unique freak of programming probability.

This is not a shock to mechanics from the 1970s/1980s. We all modded our cars' smog systems, then modded-back just before annual inspection. (Of course some cars didn't get better no matter what you did.) My car had an undocumented hidden restrictor which I believe fooled the federal test and was not detected in the lesser annual tests.

My guess is that VW can only halfway un-do the cheat mode before users get upset *again*, now for loss of paid-for pep. They will pay fines and plant trees to apologize for the residual smog.

 

[Andy Peters]

The Girl at Apple Support did not manage to connect the Amazon basics keyboard so I looked it up on youtube and there is a connect button you have to press, so that job is done.

So when wife starts to use the keyboard there is no way you can get the @ key to work !!!!!  This is essential for email addresses so why would they foul up there?

Well, the mistake there was assuming that an Amazon product would work with an iOS device.

 

[DaveP]

Andy,

My dear wife took her little Amazon keyboard into an Apple shop to check it worked before she bought the Ipad and they showed her it working.

The keyboard has a dedicated @ key which no longer works, you can only get the @ with shift 2 now.

From what you're saying PRR, the Ipad has converted the keyboard to a US keyboard??

I take your point about the VW issue.

DaveP

 

[JohnRoberts]

> the VW emission issue, it doesn't even affect anyone's driving experience.

It does. Without the cheats, these cars would be (and will be) slugs. Any Diesel theorist knows that so-much fuel is high efficiency with low unburned fuel, and more than that is dirty with More Power. Most pre-regulation Diesels were set up to run well into the dirty zone, though road engines stopped short of visible smoke. (Any Diesel mechanic knew how to find the last dozen horses by blowing big smoke.)

Yup, without adding additional components a simple software fix can only force to run like it does in test mode all the time (so less horsepower, and worse gas mileage). 

Blue book resale value dropped some 20-30%.

The really embarrassing part is: this seems to be Deliberate Cheating. As I understand it, the ECU senses a difference between Government Test Cycle and Everyday Driving (35.0MPH for 5.0 minutes- this must be the Test), and then applies a "clean" or a "peppy(dirty)" fuel map. If it is an accident, it is a unique freak of programming probability.

Not likely to be an accident and seems pretty pervasive including cheating carbon emissions on gas motors and probably more.

This is not a shock to mechanics from the 1970s/1980s. We all modded our cars' smog systems, then modded-back just before annual inspection. (Of course some cars didn't get better no matter what you did.) My car had an undocumented hidden restrictor which I believe fooled the federal test and was not detected in the lesser annual tests.

I recall back in the early 60's stuffing steel wool into our tailpipes (held in place with some welding rod), just to pass inspection for muffler noise. After passing inspection, remove the welding rod and blow the steel wool out the tailpipe.

My guess is that VW can only halfway un-do the cheat mode before users get upset *again*, now for loss of paid-for pep. They will pay fines and plant trees to apologize for the residual smog.

It would actually be smart to allow VW to pay for some alternate NOX reduction to offset the expected car's illegal emissions, so they don't have to hobble all the cars and piss off their customers. But they will have to pay their pound of flesh to satisfy the bureaucrats they bamboozled. The board of VW includes labor and government so they must be more than a little embarrassed.

JR

PS: I was irritated by all the news reports calling the cheat a "device"... It was clearly a software work around. Computers are so clever they can do stuff like this. Too bad they didn't use that power for good. (other people's good). 

 

[DaveP]

My wife bought this iPad for her trips back to the UK, so 1 hour before she leaves for the airport today it disables itself!!!!!!  Frantic call to Apple Support, they advise a factory restore.  We've just about had it with this half-backed tech and it's heading back to the store.  People with the version without fingerprint recognition seem to be OK, it's the latest ones that are faulty.

DaveP

 

[PRR]

> Ipad has converted the keyboard to a US keyboard??

Ah, my small mind forgets there are keyboard layouts other than "US". (And you even say "France" and mention "UK".)

To _me_, comfy on a Selectric, "@" is shift-2.

This may be true in Cupertino also (tho they would not know what a Selectric was).

iPhone O/S being based on an internationalized unix, there really should be an option (tho perhaps root-level) for Keyboard Layout. Where you would find it, I have no idea. (Some desktop linuxes ask at first boot, some have a user pref app, and some I've never seen it.)

As it has now given her finger the finger *AGAIN*, agree you should forget the "@" and hurl it through the iStore window.

 

[PRR]

> without adding additional components a simple software fix can only force to run like it does in test mode all the time

No, they can re-program any limit between Test and Pep. (Assuming time to re-think the situation; also government OK for the new calibration, which in this case may want to be rushed-out before a formal test cycle.)

On my 1967, to increase power (and smoke), I would take the pump apart and remove some shims that set the maximum stroke of the metering piston. To increase total power I would put lighter springs on the governor weights to raise the limit speed from 2,150RPM to a blazing 2,500RPM. (It's the same bore/stroke as a 400CID V-8, it ought to live that fast, if not for 5,700 hours.)

Some other effects. The "best" (clear exhaust) fuel quantity is set hot. When cold, this much fuel smokes like a tire-fire. (Also because with this many hours, compression is down, it really hates to light-off when cold.) This engine has no idea if it is warm or not; a computer surely would, and would give less fuel when the chambers are cold. This is more of an issue on Diesel than on spark: the Diesel needs chamber heat to ignite without stressfully high compression, and an idling Diesel will go much colder than an idle spark engine because of fuel-control and large expansion ratio. (I can idle 20 minutes and lay my hand on the block.)

While my 1967 Diesel is only stops and cams (no electricity needed to run), a modern Diesel is *totally* under control of its computer. Fuel quantity and timing have the most effect. The rate-of-change of these parameters with change of "throttle" pedal position affects perceived "pep".

Many of these Diesel sedans probably feature a turbo with a blow-off, again under computer control. While sane use of a blower will improve efficiency and probably reduce smog, any tractor-pull contest shows that over-blowing and over-injecting can smog-out a stadium.

There are secondary smog treatments, similar to spark-engine catalytic converters. But I bet these bits were installed so they would function in Test mode. I have not looked at (could not keep up with) recent "advances" in Diesel smog control, but I doubt they cause large loss of power. They may have heaters and squirters and such, which would be under computer control.

 

[Andy Peters]

> Ipad has converted the keyboard to a US keyboard??

Ah, my small mind forgets there are keyboard layouts other than "US". (And you even say "France" and mention "UK".)

To _me_, comfy on a Selectric, "@" is shift-2.

This may be true in Cupertino also (tho they would not know what a Selectric was).

Tim Cook is no spring chicken, so one imagines he wrote his college thesis papers using one.

iPhone O/S being based on an internationalized unix, there really should be an option (tho perhaps root-level) for Keyboard Layout. Where you would find it, I have no idea. (Some desktop linuxes ask at first boot, some have a user pref app, and some I've never seen it.)

I'm looking at my iPad now (iPad Air, the one before they came out with the fingerprint ID, but I have an iPhone 6 with that feature, and my wife has an iPad Air 2: Electric Boogaloo, and that has the fingerprint thing and it works as advertised), and you can go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards and the default language is shown. There you will also see an option Add New Keyboard ... and it presents a list of a hundred or so languages, from English (Australia) to Vietnamese, including four French keyboards. Select the ones you like, and all of those selected keyboards become "available" to you.

Now, anytime the virtual keyboard shows up on the screen, you will see a globe icon in the bottom row. Tap that, and the keyboard language will cycle through your chosen options.

Unlike a real keyboard, when you hit the "shift" key (an up arrow), the letter options change to upper case and then back to lower case. Double-tap the shift arrow and it's CAPS LOCK. To see the numbers and other symbols, tap the .?123 key and the keyboard display changes.

HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT .. it is entirely possible that the Amazon Keyboard mentioned in the first post knows absolutely fuck-all about different languages, and so if the iPad language was set to French, it might be confused about what key codes are coming from the keyboard. It may be that the iPad needs to be set to English and it will work. Alternatively, she may have to get a French keyboard and that will work.

-a

 

[PRR]

> Tim Cook is no spring chicken,

We'll differ on that; I see him as a kid.

Got his BS in 1982. 50/50 typewriter or computer. Surely used typewriters, I grant you that.

Shockingly, he worked in IBM's PC division in the period when IBM lost that business (about 1982-1984). Rising to director of fulfillment. So he sure as heck saw both Selectrics and the Selectric-based IBM PC keyboards.

And now he is running the anti-PC company??

Time to refurbish a Selectric.

> knows absolutely f**k-all about

So true. You would "think" if he got it from Amazon France (otherwise can be difficult) it would know French, but Amazon sells everything from fine to crap (I've gotten pots that wouldn't turn with a wrench) and we don't have a clue which way this went.

 

[DaveP]

HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT .. it is entirely possible that the Amazon Keyboard mentioned in the first post knows absolutely f**k-all about different languages, and so if the iPad language was set to French, it might be confused about what key codes are coming from the keyboard. It may be that the iPad needs to be set to English and it will work. Alternatively, she may have to get a French keyboard and that will work.

We live in France but the keyboard came from the UK.  As far as I'm concerned, a Bluetooth keyboard is a Bluetooth keyboard, and the industry needs to get it's act together.  When you call your product "Smart", we have a right to expect it to be.  If my car was advertised as 140HP, that's what I expect under the hood.

DaveP