iPad Odyssey - Part 3

The next two hours at work were sheer torture as I couldn't wait to get home and get my new toy all set up and running. It was the perfect evening to do it since Wednesday is the one night a week that I get a short break while my mom takes Ryan to his Tae Kwon Do class and, usually, dinner afterwards.

No working late for me (since that's what I usually do with my night off to try to get some extra hours in). I'm out the door right at 5:00 and heading home as fast as the toll road can take me.

I get home, tear the packaging off the iPad and fire it up. The first thing I see is a picture of a USB cord and a musical note. I am lucky that TG1 told me that the iPad needs to get hooked up to iTunes or I would have no freakin' idea what this picture means. And also, don't you love the arrogance of Apple assuming that everyone already HAS iTunes?

And okay, so in my case, they are right, but still!

Now, hooking things up to my computer is not an easy task. It's difficult to get to, all the ports are in the back, and they are all full. So first thing I have to do is decide what's gonna get UNPLUGGED. Oh yeah, and I manage to accidentally dislodge the power cable in the process so now I have to wait for DD (dinosaur of a desktop) to boot back up again.

Finally, computer is on, iPad is plugged in, and iTunes is booted up.

And... I get a message telling me that my iTunes is out of date and must be updated. Greaaaaaaattttt.

45 MINUTES LATER...

Now iTunes is up to date, but I get a message saying that the iPad software now needs to be updated.

20 MINUTES LATER...

Everything is finally updated and I'm ready to set up my 3G service. I hit "settings" and "cellular data" and fill out the form that comes up with all my contact info and credit card info. I hit enter and get a message that says "no SIM card."

Okay, what is a SIM card and why do I need one? And more importantly, why don't I have one when TG1 assured me I didn't need any other equipment to get the iPad going?

Assuming it's my lack of technical knowledge that is to blame and that I must have screwed something up in entering my data, I re-enter everything only to get the same "no SIM card" message.

Now I don't know what to think AND I'm starting to watch the clock for when the kid is going to show up. Finally, I realize that I'm not going to solve this on my own so I call my mom to see how soon they'll be back and when she tells me I still have an hour left, I fling myself into the car and drive like a bat out of hell to Best Buy - where I'm thinkin' I'll be havin' some TG for dinner.

When I arrive, there's a new TG (TG3) at the customer service desk so I explain about the "no SIM card" message. His response is that I have to take the iPad to an AT&T store to 1. Buy a SIM card and 2. Get it activated.

Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaa????????

Although I know I'm on shaky ground (not knowing what the hell a SIM card is), I question his answer based on what TG1 told me earlier in the day. TG3 gets on his walkie talkie and asks some mysterious unknown person where I can get a SIM card. We get various responses from a repeat of what he told me about AT&T to a version that says my iPad HAS a SIM card, but I have to go to AT&T to get it activated.

This is still not sounding right to me so I tell him what TG1 told me again. He picks up the iPad, looks at ti from all angles, scratches his head, says "hmmmm" and hands the iPad back to me and says "hold tht for a minute."

I hold it while TG3 grabs a paper clip, unbends it and sticks one end of it into a teeny tiny hole on the side of the iPad. He applies pressure and POP!

A tiny little thing comes flying out and he says "oh look, you DO have a SIM card."

PROGRESS!

He is still of the opinion that I have to go to AT&T to get it turned on, but I'm not buying his BS any more. I call for a higher authority: TGS (Teen Geek Supervisor). He takes the iPad into the back and performs some kind of geek voodoo on it (he claims it was just compressed air, but I'm sure I heard chanting and possibly the sacrifice of a chicken).

But the important part is that when he brings it back, it says "3G service active."

Glory hallelujah!!

And I still have 20 minutes to spare to get home before the kid arrives.

Oh, but the Apple Gods are cruel and capricious and they were not yet done messing with me...or my SIM card.

KJ