My iPad Nightmare and How I Survived

I’ve owned computers for over 30 years but I never had the misfortune of seeing that blue screen of death. I’ve had the monitor go out and trouble with peripherals but I never had a hard drive crash on me. Last week, when I turned on my iPad, I could only see one half of my screen and I didn’t have control of the settings. Rather than panic, I got on the other computer to see if there were any fixes on YouTube or the Apple Forum. I started getting depressed when one of the suggestions was to give the unit a hard tap to the bottom, so I gave up for the night.

The next day I did a little more research and found a suggestion to my liking. I knew I had never backed up to iCloud (more on that later) so I thought I would restore the iPad to its default settings using iTunes but all that did was wipe out what I had in the unit and replaced it with a blank screen. I looked up the address for one of the Apple stores in Houston and found out I had to make an appointment using their Genius menu.

The next day I went to visit the Geek Squad at  the Victoria Best Buy but I found out that they can fix everything except the Ipad. I didn’t find out that out until I had to answer questions like “Did you buy it here and is it still under warranty?” I answered no to both irrelevant questions. I inquired about the availability of a new iPad but they didn’t have the model I wanted. The salesgirl told me that I could pay for it at the Victoria store and pick one up in Sugarland. Why would I want to do that?

Last Friday, we headed out to the Apple Store inside the First Colony Mall in Sugarland. I was immediately met by a representative who guided me to another person, so I could be checked off as the person who made the appointment. I was then taken to an iPad technician who told me that it would cost me $249 to try to retrieve my data, but he wasn’t sure if the unit was repairable. After consulting with my chief financial officer (wife) I decided to purchase a new one. It was then that I found out that I must’ve had a senior moment back in October of 2012 because I don’t remember backing up the iPad to iCloud. I was surprised when the representative asked me to type in my iCloud user name and password, and then I stood there amazed as my old data and apps were transferring to the new unit. I’m still leery;I think the old unit could have been repaired. I was really impressed with their service because we were in and out of the store in less than 15 minutes. In Victoria,it takes that long to get get a knowledgeable sales person and that's questionable.

There’s no getting around it, the iPad is an expensive toy and you have to adjust to using one if you are ever going to be satisfied. If my children had not bought me one three Fathers’ Days ago, I probably wouldn’t have one today. My wife asked me why I preferred iBooks to hardback books. I then listed all of what I thought were great advantages:
1. I can place my finger over a word and its definition pops up
2. I can highlight a word, sentence, or paragraph for future reference.
3. I can carry it with me.
4. I can instantly download whatever I want (saving myself a trip to Hastings) and save a ton of money..i.e. Average cost of a hardback is ~$18 and the average download cost is $9.
My wife wasn’t impressed because she said I already had several dictionaries, highlighters, and a book probably much lighter than an iPad and finally Amazon delivers, but she did gave me credit for download cost but not when you factor in the cost of the iPad. I had her beat on that point because my first iPad was a gift. If you want an honest critique;ask your wife because they don't hold back...;-)

I prefer my iPad to a desktop or a laptop and anyone who has a smart phone can relate. The iPad is like a Swiss Army knife with a 9” screen. I did have to buy a case with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard because I couldn’t get used to the built-in keyboard. I could write a blog on my iPad but I prefer using my desktop (larger screen, keyboard and mouse) for its usability. I use the iPad for quick responses to emails, (wherever I’m at) entertainment, quick research, and a place to store all the notes that I use in my daily life. I didn’t know how much I depended on it until I didn’t have it anymore.

I wish the iPad would have been around in my younger years because it’s like having a set of encyclopedias at your disposal for whatever question comes up. It probably has its tradeoffs like the hours I enjoyed playing sports or learning a subject using the old fashion methods of intensive studying. It probably would have interfered with the quality time I had with my family.

I love technology and but there are times when I have to question its feasibility because right now It seems like I have a personal programmer trying to make my life easier; for a nominal fee of course.

I see where there’s an app that allows you to show a police officer your insurance information but I’m not sure if they have to accept that. There’s also an app called Square Wallet for your smart phone that allows you to pay for your Starbucks coffee without taking out your wallet by scanning the price label. Wal-Mart has a pilot program where customers can use their smart phones to scan their purchases and pay by phone. Many stores already have the scanning booths, so this is just another way to pay. There is an app called Pageonce that I must have signed up for in my “mad downloader” days that literally scares me. The Pageonce company must keep up with my credit purchases and buying habits although I deleted the app a couple of years ago. I still get periodic messages advising me where I could have bought the item at a much cheaper price. That’s scary but then again Amazon sends me emails saying “you looked a this item,so you might be interested in this item.” Remember the days when you went through all the trouble of taking out your wallet,handing your cash to the clerk,hear the clang of the cash register and out the door you went and no one was the wiser?

What’s in your wallet?

In the words of Oscar Wilde "We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities." In my working days, I used to be known as the gadget man. My coworkers couldn’t  wait until I bought the newest gadget and then they would make an offer to buy the gadget that  I had replaced. That was before EBay, but I would have never needed their services anyway, because I always had willing buyers.

I guess that I started with a daily planner/calculator, moved up to the Tandy 100, then the personal computer, from there to the Palm Pilot and finally to the iPhone and iPad. I have this uncontrollable desire to have information at my fingertips at all times. I'm not that fond of the words “I have no idea." I don't carry my Medicare or Social Security cards in my wallet, but I do have a picture of those cards on my phone. My whole medical, personal, and financial information is on my iPhone. My skeptic brother-in-law asked me the obvious question" what if you lose your phone?" I then replied" I still have the originals at home, and I have an app on my wife's iPhone and on my iPad called” Find Me'" which will give the addresses of the current position of the lost device; if I believe someone has stolen it, I have an option to delete the phone's data. I don't have to worry about re inputting all that info into a new phone because it's all backed up on iTunes.

I'm not constantly on my iPhone or my iPad, even though one or, both are always with me. For example, I know my doctor has a lot of patients, so I make good use of my 15 minutes by accurately answering his questions from the information I've cataloged on my iPhone. It may be my monthly glucose readings averages, blood-pressure readings, and copies of my last blood tests  which are stored on my iPhone. I even let him know when it's time for my yearly eye checkup and flu shot. I guess I could've written all that down, but then it would be hard for me to justify having an iPhone...:-)

The smart phone has replaced the land line, phone books, standard books,  the stand alone camera, voice recorder,GPS,planners,address books, pen and paper, photo albums, and in some cases fax machines, computers, and television. The owner of Newsweek thinks that 70 million people will own tables by the end of next year, so they will no longer publish their printed magazine. I've been reading the magazine on my iPad for a long time because of the convenience. I've been told that newsstands are hard to find in the larger cities,  because they are going the way of the old phone booths.

I carry my 16" Targus case (my wife jokingly calls it my purse) just about everywhere I go because I never know when I'm going to going to need a utility knife, small flashlight, recorder pen and pad, or my iPad or iPhone. Although I was never in the Cub or Boys scouts, I've always liked their motto" Be prepared."

A year later and I'm still loving it

The ads for the new Apple iPad never caught my attention before last Father's Day. I convinced myself that I already had a Blackberry, desktop, and laptop for all the things the iPad could do, so why should I shell out the $600 or more for a gadget that duplicates what I already have. It seemed like every TV talk show host had an iPad but I wasn't convinced that I needed one. What was I thinking?

I know it sounds corny but the details of how I acquired my iPad are much more valuable to me than the unit itself. This story started as another Sunday afternoon that's called Father's Day of 2010. I can expect to get calls from my children and grandchildren and despite the fact I'm not my wife's father; she wishes me happy father's day and vice versa when it's her day. Everything was ready for the barbecue when my wife said that my children would be arriving a little late, so would I mind putting off diner until later in the evening. I started asking questions, receiving different excuses, so I immediately thought everyone was going to be busy that day. Little did I know the real reason dinner was being put off. They started the conspiracy about a week before Father's Day, after; I assume asking the usual questions "What do you think dad wants for Father's Day?" I remember us asking my mother that same question every year. I thought it was rhetorical. This time, after the children heard my wife say that I always told her about the interesting things that Joe Scarborough and his guest said about their iPad; I assume it became a done deal. A couple of my children drove to Sugar Land's Best Buy early Sunday morning because they were sure that big store would have one (that's the way they did their term paper that was due the next day). They asked the manager to inquire about the iPad availability in the surrounding area; only to find out, Corpus Christi had the only one, and they would only hold it for 3 hours. Being the great children they are, they headed to Corpus Christi and told their mom to tell me a whopper about moving dinner to 5:00. When they finally arrived, they all gathered in a circle, with that "cat that ate the canary-look,"(it brought back memories of when they were in trouble) and they were getting impatient as I read their lovely cards. Finally, my youngest daughter retrieved the package she was hiding behind her back and handed it to me. There it was, in big bold letters written on the box "Apple iPad." Clearly, everyone was starving but as I ate, I could hardly keep my eyes off that box.

The iPad has become an invaluable tool because it's where I keep my personal pertinent information such as contacts, helpful applications, blog material, needless information and the Internet is always at the ready by my recliner. Recently, I downloaded a free application that allows me to watch DISH TV on my iPad from anywhere I can get a 3G or a WIFI signal. Now that I'm more acquainted with my iPad; I'm wondering why do I need a Blackberry or the small portable HD television that only picks up local stations? I don't even need the portable satellite radio I own ,because I have a Sirrus app and Pandora for music. I'll have to think about that one but for now they will serve as a backup.I hope you don't ask about service because luckily I have needed them.

When you get to be my age it really is about the "thought "so, if your father is still living give him a great big bear hug because even if you not completely dependant on him anymore; he still likes to be appreciated.