Apple’s newest iPad is being released as of this Friday, with its new retinal display that makes for a marked improvement in reading but Apple’s latest is decidedly less than great. Already the new device has serious problems with power usage, heat and an incredibly LONG recharging time but the device summerizes a new Apple aesthetic that is very simple: the device is built around a credit transaction and the internet. To use the device, one loads software, to load software you must use Apple’s App Store, to use the App Store you must use a credit card, to use the credit card you must use an internet connection. Other than having more money to spend on this device, the user should like to type because the setup time for this device is the longest I have ever had for any Apple product and that includes my MacPro.
A real problem for the expatriate user is that they can only access software Apple allows you to purchase and only in the user’s localized market setting. This means that if an expatriate buys an iPad and starts it up here in Korea, they may want to use their local credit card to make a software purchase so that they can do something with their device, however, as soon as they use their local card, they can only access the local Korean Apple Store ONLY in Korean. If you mess around with the settings in another application (iTunes), you can view the iTunes Store in English but you can’t buy things from the American store because you have become Koreanized (you used a silly Korean credit card, didn’t you!), so I hope you have learned enough Korean to browse the approved App Store and can use Apple software in a foreign language. This means the user must have a credit card from America or the EU to access software that has been approved by Apple, for America or the EU AND a seperate Apple account that is linked to that credit card only (no cards from different countries under one account). If the user — frustrated by seeing only Korean and Korean content — tries to change their address to buy from the Apple Store in the US or where ever, they are still stuck with Korean unless they reset their iPad and create a new Apple ID.
Unfortunately Steve Jobs took more with him when he died — Apple is more about the Money now and has less to do with giving people a new way to work and live. Say you don’t like being forced to read Korean only and buying only localized, approved software: contact Apple and they will send you unrelated links on changing the language setting on your iGrab and nothing else; no comment on Apple’s failure to feed people content that might be in English, French or whatever, just localized content for localized products. Finally, let’s say you want to return this turd the next day to the Frisbee Store you bought it from — sorry, you can’t do that either. Maybe your Korean bank will do a stop payment? That works better than dealing with Apple, IMHO.
In short, Latin is applicable here: Caveat emptor. If you need to do work with a portable device, buy any laptop. If you want to read books, buy a book. If you want to watch a movie or listen to music, rent a DVD or use a laptop. If you want a gateway device to help you spend money the way Apple wants you to, buy and keep paying for an iPad.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
do you realize how ugly you look complainig about koreans using korean in korea? you live in korea and the language is korean. is that korea’s fault or yours?
Blah, blah, blah. The same hurdles to local usage existed before, and also characterize many other products.
And leave it to Pow Pow to misread what was posted through his kimchi-colored glasses.
Pawi, you’re such a troll it’s not even frustrating anymore. The flipside to the information above means that if a Korean person goes overseas to study or work and buys an ipad overseas, he/she will have the same problems. It’d be nice if someone could use a device in their native language, regardless of where they live. Don’t you think?
When I wanted to watch some Team Canada Olympic hockey on the CBC website, I was told that I could not because I was not in Canada. If I was in Canada, i’d be watching the damn game on TV. It’s just retarded.
I’m more concerned about whether I’ll be able to download the English version of Diablo 3 so that I can play with friends scattered across English-speaking countries. Blizzard has already automatically changed my Battle.net user ID to match my alien card – block capitals with no spaces and a long number afterwards.
Has they made any changes to this policy lately? I registered my iPhone with my credit card back home, and I can’t access Korean apps. I would like to watch Korean TV on my iPhone, but haven’t figured out a way to do it without making a new Korean account.
@Pawi
I think this post is less “Fucking Koreans and their Korean language. Why can’t they just speak English?” and more “Apple is fucking Skynet.”
Is the person who wrote this Korean? Separate clauses and a comma or two would help make this somewhat more readable.
Consider this also: how IP (intellectual property) law can be used to limit or block information from being spread. Apple has created a kind of environment that is similar to what SK Telecom did with Cyworld; a different Cyworld for different regions where users from different regions could not interact with each other through one medium. This allowed SK to control content, making Cyworld an social “intranet” for Koreans.
This same idea can maximize profits for Apple and content providers but also allows for the control of information, therefore companies like Apple will have little or no hindrance to implementing this sort of scheme from governments who would consider this sort of arrangement useful. It also allows for the tracking of a users online activities and whereabouts with far greater ease.
Lastly, consider the thoughts of Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google) about Apple’s commercial intranet and information control as a means of governmental control.
Own an iPad 1. Sure, the fact that I can’t buy content from other country stores with a Korean credit card sucks when I want to buy music, but aside from that, I’ve had very few problems with the Korean App Store and have found the iPad a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Wrote a lot of my last book on it, in fact.
Screw Apple. I have a Galaxy Tab 7 Plus and it works perfectly no matter what country I am in or what content I desire. Apple is just a big monopolist.
“Apple has created a kind of environment that is similar to what SK Telecom did with Cyworld; a different Cyworld for different regions where users from different regions could not interact with each other through one medium. This allowed SK to control content, making Cyworld an social “intranet” for Koreans.”
I sometimes wonder if this sort of stuff goes vastly unnoticed in the international media because South Korea is the good one of the pair.
I found this out with my iPhone recently, my first Apple product. I discovered you had to use a Korean credit card for the Korean account. Since I really wanted to buy Korean music, I went through the hassle of getting a Korean credit card. Since that process took over one week, in the meantime I cheated and set up a second USA-based account using American credit card. That works fine, but technically is breaking their terms of service – if I get caught, Apple will freeze my account and all my apps won’t work as long as I’m in Korea. It’s a risk I take, and some expat users have successfully gotten Apple to unfreeze such accounts.
My Korean credit card finally arrived, and to my dismay, there IS no Apple iTunes store! No way to buy Korean music. The Korean APP store does indeed work well, although unlike many other countries’ app stores, no other languages are offered (say, English would have been a nice choice).
I couldn’t find much online about the lack of a Korean iTunes store. But if I understand what I read, the issue isn’t one of piracy as I suspected. Instead, the issue is that the iTunes store terms give TOO much money to the artist compared to standard music industry practice in Korea. This seems opposite from the USA, where the industry felt Apple was cutting prices too low.
My biggest complaint besides these strange policy rules for expats, was how hard it was to find out these details. And I think any iPad/iPhone customer in Korea should be upset about the lack of the iTunes store, regardless of whether you’re an expat or native.
“Unfortunately Steve Jobs took more with him when he died — Apple is more about the Money now and has less to do with giving people a new way to work and live. ”
I disagree. Apple sans Steve Wozniak is to blamed for that. If you remember in the early years of Apple, when The Woz was just as much the face of the company as Steve Jobs, its customers were encourage to tinker with their machines. The Apple II, for example, had this inviting hood on top, beckoning you to pop it open and play with its guts.
Now look at the iPad. Sure, it’s sleek…But how would one go to open one up to mod it? It’s clear that Apple doesn’t want anyone to try.
#12 I’ve been using my Canadian credit card for years, no problem at all. Tell them you travel, end of story. They’re not going to cut people off and I doubt there has ever been a credible story about that that wasn’t related to some other problem. They want your money.
As far as K music goes, use other apps. Search for things like 음악 and you’ll probably find the local korean apps that let you buy music. I think Bugs is one of main sellers. Probably that one and Melon.
Agreed, Android can definitely use some improvement though
PS, Elgin — If you are satisfied with the apps that ship with the iPad, there’s no credit card required. Apple wants a payment method in order to verify identity and age on the App Store, in addition to getting paid. Your position is ill-informed.
Korea’s iTunes store should have music added to it soon. June?
No Brendon, I am not satisfied with the software that ships with the iPad. My “position” as you put it, is what I learned first-hand after dealing with a retailer and Apple. The App Store is filled with gamed comments on “free” software that is actually adware and is closely tied into the iTunes/App Store model. I am very much unimpressed.
To make the iPad ready for presentations, it requires purchases of both software and hardware and I am limited in what software I can run on it, for example, I can not run the original open-source VLC player on it but a dumbed down version that Apple insists on unless I resort to some trickery. Apple not only wants a steady flow of money from buying pre-approved applications directly from them but also to control what I would put on their device.
Perhaps you are too easy to satisfy instead.
Just jailbreak it.. after which you can install whatever software you want on your apple devices (such as the original open-source VLC player).
I always jailbreak all my apple devices and have no problems downloading and installing anything I want.
@14: You may be right. But there were dozens of horror stories I read, enough to give me pause. Many of the stories seemed to begin when the expat contacted Apple support for some other, unrelated inquiry. Yeah, I could indeed try some of those other sites. Point was, I was eager to try the seamless, Apple approach, which doesn’t quite for for Korean songs.
@17: That’s good to hear. I’ll keep an eye out. In the meantime, I continue doing as I have always done – if an album is available on CD, I buy and rip it. If an album is out of print, something that happens remarkably fast it seems, I download it illegally. (One old CD set I WAS able to buy a few months back was a collection by 김민기, and that set me back over $100!)
I wonder how pricing is going to be on the Korean iTunes store? Will they introduce other languages, too?
R Elgin wrote:
We have the new iPad (wi-fi version), and it works great. It gives the promised 10 hours of usage and has no overheating problems. Also, the recharge time does not seem “incredibly LONG” to me, but I am not really sure how long it takes to charge since it easily gets us through a day. We usually just plug it in at night with more than 50 percent of a charge left. Maybe you got a lemon, Elgin.
As for apps, a lot of them are free or very cheap. My son has not yet downloaded a game that costs more than 99 cents.
One of the apps I have downloaded is the free version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which works great. To look up a word, you just say it and it pops right up, and it is hardly ever wrong. Of course, you can type it if you want to. I also like being able to dictate my notes instead of typing them. The dictation function works great.
I love the convenience and the notepad feel of the iPad, my first Apple product. The only inconvenience so far is that I cannot really touch-type on the virtual keyboard, but I usually use the dictation function, anyway, so it is not that big of a problem. I could buy a wireless keyboard, but I do not really see the need since I do not use the iPad for big typing projects.
I have also downloaded a free Chinese character study dictionary called 한자공부Q, that supposedly covers 27,000 characters. It also works great. You can practice writing the characters by just using your finger if you want or you can use a stylus. I like using my finger.
My only problem so far is that I have become addicted to a free game app called “Trucks and Skulls.” I do not usually play games, but I love playing that one.
Gerry, the long recharge time reports come from the Apple users forum and from a variety of users. Thanks for sharing.
IPhone and now iPad.
Works great!
And, these are American products. Buy,buy,and buy.
I own Apple stocks too.
This is how you play capitalist game and win.
So buy two, one to use in the States and one to use in Korea.
Which device has crystal clear display as new iPad? None. It is well worthwhile to wait for longer charge time.
If this were made by the French or the Finns, everyone would be just shut up. But everyone has such high expectation about American products.
Buy American!
My cousin works at Apple.
I have noticed plugging my iPhone into the computer to recharge takes much longer than plugging it into the wall to recharge. But even with a wall connection it takes awhile?
Has anyone ever tried opening two separate accounts – one for Korean AppStore and the other for the country you would like to be associated. You just have to log out and into each store with the associated ID. Updating just takes inputting the correct password password for the associated ID that pops when updating. Seems to work, so far…….. May be a little bit of work, but you will be able to have access to apps from both the Korean store and your country of choosing.
“Qtfun1″ I have to open an account at an American bank and get an America version of the Mastercard that I have through a Korean bank to make your idea work.
This way of working with a hardware product is unreasoned and left-handed.
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