Why are Android tablets and ipad's becoming popular?

[bansuri]

I agree, but "bloat" is a bit more objective; some people in this thread have proclaimed to love it. I do have to wonder if that's because it's the only application of its kind they've ever used - unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence given the market position of the iTunes music store.

I've never really understood the love of "sync" when it comes to music, and I have trouble imagining anything much simpler than drag-n-drop to copy music to a portable device.

I agree nothing beats drag and drop, but we're not talking about simple music players.
I've used PIMs for 12 years now, along the way the list has included Palm Desktop, (my personal favorite, still use it at work), Windows ActiveSync, Apple's iSync, iTunes, and other methods only slightly more sophisticated than File>Export>Export As .csv.
Syncing a device that's used for more than simple music playback presents some issues as there are conflicts to deal with and it pulls information from many different applications.
The Palm sync was effortless because all of your core information lived within the Palm Desktop. It was essentially a desktop version of the Mobile OS with controls for how information was updated. (it also allowed data sync from different sources, but I stuck to the core apps).
I believe the term "bloat" when applied to iTunes came when, after already bundling the Quicktime app with it, they decided to throw in Safari web browser. A foolish move that was quickly denounced by Windows users.
Additionally, iTunes put a bunch of update and "helper" startups into Windows adding to the already humungous amount of startup and systray garbage that gets thrown into your install any time you install a program.
These things are easily disabled, but are reinstalled whenever there's an upgrade.
Sadly, bloat describes too many modern software installs.
I haven't tried out any of the Windows or Android tablets, but I'm sure they also sync a wide variety of information from different sources. This will require more than just drag and drop.
iTunes syncs a staggering amount of information to my family's mobile devices, each with it's own distinct sync info, but it's running on a Mac so perhaps I don't have the problems Windows users do. It's surely not a clunky mess.

Can anyone chime in on their methods of syncing their Android or Windows tablet?

 

[mvyrmnd]

iTunes for me only syncs music and apps. All of my email, contacts and calendar are synced in realtime with Google Apps. Google Apps uses the Exchange Active Sync protocols, which rules out android devices for me instantly, due to their incredibly poor support of Active Sync.

As for the simplicity of Drag-and-Drop: I use smart playlists in iTunes to control which music goes to my iDevices. All I have to do is rate a song or album at 3 stars or better, and the next time I sync, it transfers them across with no further interaction. Once WiFi sync is available with iOS 5, all I'll have to do it plug my iDevice in to charge, and it will automatically pull down any songs I've rated appropriately. Dead simple. No Effort. One click to add a song to my iDevice.

Apps are easy, as every App I own is synced to both devices. Again - dead simple.

 

[kaichu dento]

I've never really understood the love of "sync" when it comes to music, and I have trouble imagining anything much simpler than drag-n-drop to copy music to a portable device.

My first MP3 player was a drag-and-drop type and it was perfect in that regard. I could reorganize playlists just by opening a folder and putting them in the order I wanted and never had the computer go into lock down while a program made me watch its analysis of what was on my player. For every automated program, there should be a command to make it do so, and until the operator has chosen, it should remain manual.

 

[Biker Bear]

As for the simplicity of Drag-and-Drop: I use smart playlists in iTunes to control which music goes to my iDevices. All I have to do is rate a song or album at 3 stars or better, and the next time I sync, it transfers them across with no further interaction. Once WiFi sync is available with iOS 5, all I'll have to do it plug my iDevice in to charge, and it will automatically pull down any songs I've rated appropriately. Dead simple. No Effort. One click to add a song to my iDevice.

From my perspective, that's mis-using a feature because there's no direct way to do what you really WANT to do. In your described use-case, it really should be a "SyncThis" tick-box, leaving the ratings feature alone for its intended purpose.

My process (obviously) works differently, as all my CDs are ripped in FLAC lossless (this repository is a backup of my physical CD collection as well as something I listen to directly), which I generally don't want to have copied directly to my portable devices - so I maintain a separate "portable" repository that I can use any reliable file-copying method with - though at this point I'm using MS' SyncToy (eek! there's the word "sync"!) because it's easy to set up to only copy files that are new or updated. Of course, my portable music repository doesn't change very often. It's the netcasts (radio shows and technical/news shows from Leo Laporte's "This Week in Tech" network, mainly) that change most often and those are done with a simple drag and drop; if I really wanted to, I could set up a double-click to transfer them over, but it's so simple as it is I just haven't bothered.

 

[Norm]

This thread isn't about Itunes, Operating systems or any other software.
Please reread the thread title and get back On Topic. - Norm

 

[elgarak]

I guess as a fresh iPad owner I can chip in. I won't go into any iPad-vs, sync techniques or any such things, though, unless someone really wants to. To each his/her own.

That said, I think the biggest appeal of the tablet form factor is this: One does not need a work surface. If you have a folding form factor, be it netbook or laptop, you need a work surface. At the very least, you need to sit down upright, to use your lap as work surface. If you're slouching on the couch, they're already awkward to use. Or try it in bed.

 

[fyrstormer]

ASUS, one of my favorite computer-hardware companies, sells a tablet with a removable keyboard. When the keyboard is attached, it folds together like a normal laptop; when the keyboard is detached, a virtual keyboard appears onscreen when needed. It runs Android. I wish it ran Windows, but Android is getting to be supported well enough that I'm starting to think the lack of Windows doesn't matter.

Either way, I won't be buying Apple. Yes they're gorgeous, and yes I've recommended them for relatives who want email/web devices that don't require maintenance, but I have the technical expertise to use any OS on the market and I don't want to be fenced-in by Applie's policy of only supporting connectivity with their own products. WinAmp is available on Android, and that's the software I've been using to manage my mp3 collection since about 1997. It's not available on the iPad. The decision is easy for me.

 

[elgarak]

ASUS, one of my favorite computer-hardware companies, sells a tablet with a removable keyboard. When the keyboard is attached, it folds together like a normal laptop; when the keyboard is detached, a virtual keyboard appears onscreen when needed. It runs Android. I wish it ran Windows, but Android is getting to be supported well enough that I'm starting to think the lack of Windows doesn't matter.

Either way, I won't be buying Apple. Yes they're gorgeous, and yes I've recommended them for relatives who want email/web devices that don't require maintenance, but I have the technical expertise to use any OS on the market and I don't want to be fenced-in by Applie's policy of only supporting connectivity with their own products. WinAmp is available on Android, and that's the software I've been using to manage my mp3 collection since about 1997. It's not available on the iPad. The decision is easy for me.

Suit yourself. For me, there is nothing BUT Apple.

I'm getting lazy in my olden days, and just want things to WORK. Don't want to spent hours hunting down and tinkering with settings, only to find out that my specific device does not run the software I would need.

I don't want to run software, or even use it. I just want to listen to my music, get my emails, write my papers, read my books, watch my videos etc. Which specific software title this does is irrelevant.

As long as it does what I want easily. Currently, this way of doing things is only supported by Apple.

 

[Empath]

This thread isn't about Itunes, Operating systems or any other software.
Please reread the thread title and get back On Topic. - Norm

It doesn't appear that we're going to listen. Anytime you get into the Apple (closed architecture) vs everyone else (open architecture) you're going to get into an unending flame war completely irrelevant to the original topic of discussion. It's something that can be noted anywhere on the net. It's a topic well suited for the Underground, but too redundant, uncomfortable, controversial and baiting for here.

The original questions have been answered, and all we have left now is the conflict. Thread closed.