Has anyone ever had an issue reading the iPad in any lighting conditions in a cockpit? I haven't..
and update via DISC?...really? Is that in case the hard drive crashes on my Windows 95 iPad? heck we can even get out a big briefcase computer bag and hook up the external CD drive, just as a little walk down memory lane!...standby as I call 1-800-wxbrief on my fancy RAZR phone...
For the life of me I don't know why anyone cares about GPS or XM weather on a damn chart viewer...but to think huge progress hasn't been made over a brick $5000 90min battery "EFBs" and cheap, fast iPads....thats a stretch!
I haven't used an EFB or or paper charts in years (thanks Honeywell and Collins). But 8 years ago I used Jeppview on a crappy old Fujitsu tablet and it worked just fine. 6+ year ago I used Jeppview on other tablets (Motion) and been able to see my GPS position and XM Weather. So I just chuckle a little when Apple Fanboys get all excited about the possibility of one day being able to do this.
I have seen the daylight readability of the Ipad, and it is underwhelming. Combine that with the glare from the screen and I do not think it is much of an improvement over some of the older EFB's.
As far as having a disc goes, A worldwide subscription take a very long time to download. In some of the places we travel, internet connectivity can be spotty. I don't know if Jeppesen has resolved their download issues from the early days, but back then, if you lost a connection in the middle of a download, you were SOL. I guess we could download them through the SBB (that would only cost a few thousand $$ in data charges). Would it kill Apple to put a micro USB port on the thing? Why yes it would, then they would lose their monopolistic grip on you.
My feeling is that the Ipad makes a good game system in the cockpit on long flights (hence the Angry Birds or Video Poker crack). Everytime someone comes up to me to show me their IPad, I ask them "What can you do with it?" Out comes Angry Birds.:laugh:
I'm not anti-technology (in fact, quite the contrary), I just think the IPad is overpriced, and don't like the monopoly Apple holds over it's users (Hundreds of dollars to upgrade a few MB's of memory, Everything controlled through I Tunes, Proprietary connectors etc..). I really hope that Jeppesen develops an Android App for Jeppview. There is competition in the Android market, and if the apps can reach a critical mass, the Ipad will be the next Palm Pilot.
Don't get me wrong. If someone wants to buy me one, I will gladly accept it. If you really want to change my mind, PM me and I'll send you my shipping address.
imp: Unfortunately I will have to sell them at Apple's mandatory price. They control that pretty strictly. If you want to upgrade any of them, well......sorry, you take what you get.
