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the temple of Apple
Feb. 1st, 2013 10:24 pmSo having bought an iThingy, I now need to buy all the expensive doodads to make it vaguely useful. I went home via the Apple shop in the Arndale, where I asked a couple of nice young men a question they could not immediately answer, that question being, "Is it possible to connect a USB keyboard to an iPad, because I have very bad RSI and need a gullwing keyboard, which devices seem to be sadly unavailable in Bluetooth."
One young man said, "I don't *know*, but I think it's likely you can using the camera connection kit, and I will go and get an iPad and a Mac keyboard to try it." And while he was doing that, the other young man fired up a browser on the nearest Mac and searched for Bluetooth ergonomic keyboards. (And found one, which while not the same model as my usual one, did look as if it might be a proper gullwing shape.)
And lo, the camera connection kit was plugged into the iPad, and the keyboard was plugged into the connection kit, and words appeared on the screen. And we were all three of us very pleased. They did warn me that while it works for most cameras it doesn't for all, and the same might be true of keyboards. If the particular model of keyboard I use takes too much power, it might not work. But I am informed that I have two weeks to return unsuitable widgets, so it's worth getting one to try it out.
So my first encounter with the helpbobs in the Apple shop was rather good. I was particularly impressed by the way the lads seemed genuinely enthusiastic about being asked a question they couldn't immediately answer but could attempt to solve by a practical test.
I did not buy the connection kit, leaving that for another day. But I now have a Smart Cover for it, which is an eye-watering price but a rather nice piece of design, and probably a necessity if I'm going to take it to cons with me.
One young man said, "I don't *know*, but I think it's likely you can using the camera connection kit, and I will go and get an iPad and a Mac keyboard to try it." And while he was doing that, the other young man fired up a browser on the nearest Mac and searched for Bluetooth ergonomic keyboards. (And found one, which while not the same model as my usual one, did look as if it might be a proper gullwing shape.)
And lo, the camera connection kit was plugged into the iPad, and the keyboard was plugged into the connection kit, and words appeared on the screen. And we were all three of us very pleased. They did warn me that while it works for most cameras it doesn't for all, and the same might be true of keyboards. If the particular model of keyboard I use takes too much power, it might not work. But I am informed that I have two weeks to return unsuitable widgets, so it's worth getting one to try it out.
So my first encounter with the helpbobs in the Apple shop was rather good. I was particularly impressed by the way the lads seemed genuinely enthusiastic about being asked a question they couldn't immediately answer but could attempt to solve by a practical test.
I did not buy the connection kit, leaving that for another day. But I now have a Smart Cover for it, which is an eye-watering price but a rather nice piece of design, and probably a necessity if I'm going to take it to cons with me.