View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
paulj Guru


Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 393 Location: Wales, UK
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:49 pm Post subject: Unbelievable Apple iPad |
|
|
<Rant Mode>
My wife is the proud owner of a new iPad with Retina display (costing 2x my i5 laptop!!! ), and I have had the "pleasure" of setting it up. Anyway, I have now got to the bit where I tell it where my network printer lives so it can print documents. Except, it can't print documents to my network printer, as it isn't an "airPrint" compatible printer. So, whereas there are fully functional protocols for discovering and using printers over wifi networks, Apple have decided not to use them, but instead to invent their own. So no problem - "there's an app for that". No kidding! I have to pay for an app to enable printing from this device?!! Worse still, the ratings on most of the apps are not that good, and on the better ones I have downloaded, the printing capability doesn't seamlessly integrated with the system applications, but requires you to copy content to the clipboard, then switch to the printing app to print it out.
That, in my opinion, is unacceptable, and is why I have used Linux for the last 17 years and will continue to do so into the future.
</Rant Mode>
If anyone here has similar experiences, and can point me in the direction of seamlessly integrating a non-airPrint printer , I would be most grateful! |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
paulj Guru


Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 393 Location: Wales, UK
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Another observation - the understanding of this issue and the potential solutions by many users is interesting. For example: http://ipadhelp.com/ipad-help/airprint-using-any-printer-on-a-mac/
I can't believe that people are happy once they are given an application to run on their iMac which makes a printer attached to it to present as an airPrint printer. Roughly paraphrased: "Thanks for the amazing wonderful app that allows me to print on my printer while only needing an iMac powered up and running to manage printouts from my iPad - truly amazing..!"
I suppose at least the iPad part of the link is then working correctly  |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
notageek Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 05 Jun 2008 Posts: 131 Location: MA, USA
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 5:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Printing email kills trees.
I thought preserving the earth and its beings were number one priority for hipsters. _________________ "Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated, until defeat has been accepted as a reality." -- Bruce Lee |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
paulj Guru


Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 393 Location: Wales, UK
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 5:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
How very true! I am not sure that making everyone who does want to print throw away their printer and buy a new one is a positive move in preserving the earth though!! |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
notageek Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 05 Jun 2008 Posts: 131 Location: MA, USA
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
jonnevers Veteran


Joined: 02 Jan 2003 Posts: 1594 Location: Gentoo64 land
|
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
notageek wrote: | Printing email kills trees.
I thought preserving the earth and its beings were number one priority for hipsters. |
yeah lol. i stopped reading at the word "printers" and "ipad" lol |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
Clad in Sky l33t


Joined: 04 May 2007 Posts: 841 Location: Germany
|
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well, just do it the old-fashioned way and plug the USB printer cable into the iPad. Oh, wait...
So, then, tell your wife to send whatever she wants printed via email to you and you can print it for her from a real computer.
And now, just think for a moment, what kind of effort would be necessary for a simple task like printing if Apple products weren't so customer friendly... _________________ Kali Ma
Now it's autumn of the aeons
Dance with your sword
Now it's time for the harvest |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
_______0 Guru

Joined: 15 Oct 2012 Posts: 521
|
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
the solution is rather straigh forward, no third party apps needed, extra cords, etc:
Code: | http://makezineblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/blog_ipad_printing_big.jpg |
the second solution is to sell that POS, get a better device, linux/androshit compatible (several soon out, or a hackable), while recovering some of the dough.
or third dump that illogical gf for one that doesn't make irrational decisions. you know, a technelogical device is not nail polish or jewelry (she prolly confused the shiny idevice with that) |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
greyspoke Tux's lil' helper

Joined: 08 Jan 2010 Posts: 141
|
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well it looks like you can configure one of those little wireless print servers to work with Apples:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060404021600193
So it looks like you don't need a whole grown up computer attached to the non-airport printer to print to it.
I had one of those Linksys WPS54G print servers once, tiny thing but worked great (we didn't have any Apples in the house then). |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
paulj Guru


Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 393 Location: Wales, UK
|
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
I have now configured cups on my pc to share the printer, and expose the printer with Avahi. Details can be found here: http://www.productionmonkeys.net/guides/print-server/airprint. Brother also make a app available which works without the computer running, printing documents from the clipboard.
I am now toying with the idea of running a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBoard as a printer server, and also as a DHCP server and to provide a ipv6 DNS service. Unnecessary of course, but fun to experiment! |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|