As one who works, at least for a few more months, in
networking and computing, I think we should upgrade our
operating system whenever possible to the current state of the
art for one's own security if nothing else. The hackers and
crackers out there have usually figured out how to break in to
older systems and the script monkeys happily spread the mischief
around. It used to be they did it for bragging rights or because
they were angry at someone else but now it's even more important
to stay current because organized crime is involved and some of
these exploits even have the backing of governments.
So, stupid me, I decided to go ahead and upgrade my iPad
to IOS8 today.
Big mistake!
This is a copy of the message I sent to
[email protected]. I suspect it will have no effect
whatsoever, but I sent it after much thought and some cooling
down. Message follows:
Subject: IOS8 is Almost Totally Inaccessible.
I am a systems engineer with Oklahoma State University
who specializes in unix system programming and who enjoys
solving technical issues as well as building electronic and
mechanical things.
I also happen to be a computer user who is blind and
have used accessibility features in Linux andApple's OSX and IOS
platforms.
When I bought my iPad a couple of years ago, it came
with IOS6.x installed and I was happy with the way voiceover
worked. I did also buy a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard which is
almost indispensable when entering large amounts of text or
passwords. The on-screen keyboard is not impossible for a person
who is blind to use, but it is awkward. Frankly, I much prefer
real keys to hunting and tapping any day.
When IOS7 came out, I upgraded to that and the BT
keyboard was a little more quirky than before, but I had no
trouble using it. One just got used to the way it behaved and
there were no real show stoppers.
If anybody knows that complex systems do not always work
has hoped, it is me so one expects the occasional glitch or bug
when something new comes out but the following is beyond
ridiculous.
On September 27 of 2014, I upgraded to IOS8.0.2 and that
was a huge mistake.
The bluetooth keyboard now is completely useless except
for two very specific conditions:
1. All the control functions such as Escape, F11 and F12
actually still work.
2. The letters and numbers will still work
when inside an application such as within a text-edit field but
they do nothing when trying to navigate the screen. The iPad
does emit a sound when the keyboard is switched on and off so it
is not loosing contact.
The Caps-Lock key always reports that "Caps lock is on"
each time it is pressed but the resulting characters sent to a
text application do reflect the correct case so all the scan
codes are obviously being received and translated correctly.
I would love to have my iPad back. It's loaded with
possibilities and I downloaded the upgrade in good faith that it
would cause the system to work better and be more secure.
I was wrong and I am not happy at this time.
Sincerely,
Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK
Systems Engineer
OSU Information Technology Department Telecommunications Services Group
End of quoted message.
At this time, I don't have any apps on the iPad that are
very important so I wasn't too worried and wasn't really
watching out for things like bluetooth keyboards not working any
longer as that support is part of the OS and should be something
that gets caught very early. It should be kind of like shipping
ten-thousand washing machines without their power cords or drive
motors.
I have had a Linux upgrade go really badly, once, but
that was totally my fault and hey, it's free anyway and I had
backups of all the important stuff. One kind of expects better
out of a multi-million-dollar corporation but I am not sure real
adults are in charge of much of anything any more.
Oh well, I am just blowing off steam now.
Martin
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