Dueling, Dulling Technology

This past weekend was the battle of the iPads.  And technology.  And the battle of wills--the humans vs. the tablets.

Setting up an iPad goes in cycles: you love it, you hate it, you love it, you hate Amazon, you love Apple's Genius Bar, you hate your WiFi.  And on and on.  Here are the highlights:

• an iTunes account with a deleted email is a nightmare.  But after a trip to the Genius Bar, and then 90 minutes on the phone the next morning with Apple, the problem was [finally] solved.
• two iTunes accounts in one family are fine, but now Apple puts a 90-day moratorium on switching between the two.  In practical language that means that I could log into Account A, download those purchased books, then log out, then log into Account B, download those purchased books.  But then you can't "read" on account A's books (see above, 90-days, etc.) unless you are willing to call Apple back and pull the card that says "my mom is 86 and my dad is 88 and you're telling me that I have to tell him that he can't read his books?"  Strings were pulled.  Problem was solved.
• there are certain apps that Apple insists you have to have on the iPad, period.  But they can be moved to a "back page."
• Amazon will download into the most recent iPad device.  Even if it is not the right iPad device.  Which means that you have to log into Amazon, delete the devices you don't need, then re-send the purchased book.  Which means that the human better know what the machine is up to.
• Dragon Dictation app is brilliant.  While I could suggest a few improvements, on the whole, I love the app.
• It's easier to read email through the Mail on the iPad rather than on Gmail, especially if there are attached photos. They are hard to enlarge in Gmail.  A cinch -- and an outward pinch -- on the iPad.

Generally speaking, and with only a few minor remaining tweaks, I think the humans won this round.