iPhone lock in

[Simon]

I think I'd find it very difficult to change from the iPhone now.  Fallen into their trap, perhaps?  I'm quite reliant on iTunes, and have spent quite a bit on accessories, such as speaker docks. 

[Steve]

Trouble is they do entrap you. I took my car to a garage in Sheffield today realised on the train on the way back that I'd left the phone in the car, found it via 'Find my iPhone' to confirm to the owner that the phone was somewhere at his address and then 'played' a sound so he could locate it in the car.Phone has been found and stored safely.

All sorted out on the iPad via iMessage as the garage owner has an iPhone. I'm sure that you could probably do something similar with Android or perhaps Apple products are just designed for forgetful individuals .

In essence once you start down one companies product line and add to it with devices and accessories it becomes increasingly difficult to swap to another without  a major cash investment.

[Simon]

A bit like switching from Windows to Mac, in that sense. 

[Steve]

Well it is, I started off with an iPhone which was a bargain compared to the rest of the investment in Apple products yes I've been entrapped or mugged but I'm not complaining.

Whilst we're on with gadgets MS has announced the US release of it's proper Surface Tablet , decent processor and full Windows 8 OS . It won't be cheap here but I expect it to be a very capable bit of kit.

http://reviews.cnet.com/microsoft-surface-pro/

The next to last paragraph is quite pertinent in my opinion.

I will not be buying one however I've been mugged.

[Simon]

Oh, I'm not really complaining.  If the products we've bought into weren't good, we wouldn't have bought into them.  Despite it's odd annoyances, I have no real desire to change from the iPhone, but that doesn't stop me being curious, and I do have to resist that 'new gadget' temptation. 

[Steve]

It's costs nothing to be curious thank goodness! Seen a nice Logitech keyboard/ cover/stand for the iPad not bought it though.

[Ray]

I must admit I gave in to temptation just before Christmas and treated myself to an Ipad and I've been very pleased with it in general. The only thing I did find rather annoying was having to pay out £25 for an adaptor to enable me to connect and transfer images from my digital SLR to it. I felt that this cost for a 4in length of cable with a lightning connector one end and a USB plug the other end was somewhat of a rip off. 

[Steve]

It is a rip off but not exclusive to Apple either, I think I can manage the same as the charging lead will take a USB to SD card adaptor unless I'm mistaken, obviously I've got to take the SD card out of the camera first though. I've not tried it yet though.

I assume the lightning connector is the expensive part, it's quite clever as the chip allows it to be connected either way and then routes the connections depending on it's orientation.

[Ray]

It is a rip off but not exclusive to Apple either, I think I can manage the same as the charging lead will take a USB to SD card adaptor unless I'm mistaken, obviously I've got to take the SD card out of the camera first though. I've not tried it yet though.

Doesn't work using the charging lead and a USB card reader, Steve, nothing detected on the Ipad, using the camera adaptor lead with an SD card reader doesn't work either you get an error message saying the USB device requires to much power. 

[Steve]

I had a sneaking suspicion Ray that might be the case, I think that's one of the reasons I'd not tried it yet, and now I know I don't have to sadly.

I have a 32 pin SD card reader so this may work but the reviews aren't great either.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/COLT®-Apple-iPhone-Lightning-Adaptor/dp/B00ABDRKO0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359037068&sr=8-2

[MisterW]

using the camera adaptor lead with an SD card reader doesn't work either you get an error message saying the USB device requires to much power.

Colleague at work got a similar message when using a USB stick. It still works though!. He wanted to transfer photos/videos etc. Only thing is the iPad will ONLY see files in the DCIM directory ( as though it was a camera ) and the files MUST have 8 character names.

[Technical Ben]

A bit like switching from Windows to Mac, in that sense. 

Or Mac to windows.