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an inconvenient truth

Is anyone bothered that this device has *no support* for network printing? It doesn't make a lot of sense to have to email a document to yourself in order to print it. As an educator and businessman (two groups Apple was supposedly courting with the iPad) I'm not getting this.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 3, 2010 1:27 PM

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67 replies

Apr 3, 2010 1:35 PM in response to hamiltonrrwatch

I'm not bothered. I send my documents to myself all the time so I can download them, edit them, then print them out at home--or wherever it is that I'm supposed to be printing this stuff out. In my case, though, I mostly do this as a bit of extra insurance, in case I forget to bring my own external hard drive with me, or in case something else goes wrong and I can't otherwise access the files I need. At least there'll be backup copies waiting for me in the cloud, in my email inbox.

Anyhoo...isn't this the kind of thing that a future software/OS update could fix? It doesn't sound like it's a hardware-related issue that's set in stone. So just relax and wait. The iPad hasn't even been out a day, so just cool your jets and wait and see what happens first.

Apr 3, 2010 1:54 PM in response to Graham Outterside

I think you may have meant the "many" printing Apps, Graham.

And yes, my job has a bearing on the situation. If you read my post in its entirety, Apple initially claimed that they were marketing this device to businessmen and educators. I am both.

I don't know of an educator that would buy a computing device that couldn't print to a network server. That's a basic functionality that should have been built in to the OS instead of having to download yet another App. And the Apps. that I've used to try to print from my iPod Touch 2G to a network printer work about half of the time, the other half locks up my iPod until I restart.

Message was edited by: hamiltonrrwatch

Message was edited by: hamiltonrrwatch

Apr 3, 2010 1:53 PM in response to Johnathan Burger

The last time I checked, networked printers didn't need an installed driver on the device. Grocery I.Q., an app from the Apps Store, prints coupons to my HP networked printer without a driver.

Also, I don't remember stating that I owned an iPad. So, yes, considering the lack of network printing, I guess that does make me a prudent businessman 😉

Message was edited by: hamiltonrrwatch

Apr 3, 2010 2:14 PM in response to hamiltonrrwatch

To quote another user from AI's forum; "And really, Bonjour discovery of printers with a simple "print" menu or gesture summoning up a list of available printers doesn't seem beyond Apple's UI. It doesn't seem to add much complexity, and doesn't run athwart of any of Apple's pet bugaboos, so I'm puzzled as to what the deal is."

And the emperor still has no clothes.

Apr 3, 2010 2:28 PM in response to hamiltonrrwatch

hamiltonrrwatch wrote:
The last time I checked, networked printers didn't need an installed driver on the device. Grocery I.Q., an app from the Apps Store, prints coupons to my HP networked printer without a driver.


There's a driver for any & every networked or local printer on any & every device on every OS, Hamilton. That you didn't necessarily install a driver doesn't mean it's needless.

Apr 3, 2010 2:36 PM in response to Bobby G

Correct Bobby. On my HP Network Printer, there's a driver installed. However, the Grocery I.Q. App uses Bonjour to find and print to my HP Network Printer. I'm reasonably certain Grocery I.Q. doesn't have every printer driver manufactured as part of its software.

If that were the case, it would be a **** of a lot larger than the 9.8 MB it currently occupies on my iPod Touch 2G.

Apr 3, 2010 2:42 PM in response to Graham Outterside

Graham and Bobby,

That the iPad has been positioned primarily as an input device is debatable. I'm not naive enough to expect it to replace my iMac, iPod, or Macbook Pro. But a basic Bonjour functionality with a networked printer doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

And yes, there is an App for everything. That being said, they don't necessarily work.

Apr 3, 2010 2:57 PM in response to Graham Outterside

It is a pretty basic business requirement to be able to print when connected to a network. It is also pretty basic requirement to be able to print from within a business-related application like Safari, Mail or Pages.

If these application do not come with a printing function then that is a major omission for the iPad. The problem I have with iPhone apps that print is that they are substitutes for the main app (that is, I need to close the business app, open and view the document in the printing app and then send it to print). There seems to be no way around this with the limitations on apps.

As pointed out by others, at least this is a software issue that can be fixed through a software update. In the meantime try sending Feedback to Apple requesting a printing function in iPad Safari, iWork, Mail etc.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

an inconvenient truth

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