An iPad that won’t connect to wifi is just a pad.

My new iPad sucks. The legislator who sits across from me also has a new iPad. His sucks, too.

Why?

Because they will not connect to the House of Representatives' wifi.

My scratched and battered iPad Gen 1 connects to the House wifi like it was born to do it. (Which, I believe it was.) However the newer model appears to be pickier about who it associates with. It will connect to my home wifi without a quibble. But at work, my lovely aluminum piece of tech art is not an iPad, it's just a pad.

I have never pondered the uselessness of an iPad that won't go on the internet until recently. Before I got stuck with one, I never considered the possibility of an internetless iPad, not anymore than I spent time day-dreaming about the possibilities of tap-dancing ducks. It just didn't seem likely. Now that I have experienced it, I have to admit that I think a tap-dancing duck would be more useful than an internet free iPad.

I use these things to read bills, follow the agenda on the House floor, check my email and write short to longish memos and notes. My iPad is a life-saver at work. In fact, the reason I own an iPad is because they are so great for a legislator's job. I would rather have an iPad than a computer while on the House floor any day.

But, when it won't connect to the House wifi, all that usefulness goes bye-bye. An iPad without the internet is ok if you want to watch movies, listen to music and write things that you plan to print or email later. In other words, an iPad without the internet is great for ocean or continent-crossing flights. But while we're voting on bills in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, (which is why I own the thing) it's worthless.

I gather from reading about it on the internet, that Apple has been trying to fix this little problem for quite some time now. My advice to them is to crank up the effort. Without the internet, their shiny toy rapidly loses its sheen.

In the meantime, I'm going back to my elderly Gen 1 iPad. If they don't get this fixed soon, I'll see if I can find someone dumb enough to buy an iPad that won't go on the internet.

I miss you Steve Jobs.

Posted with Blogsy