Glad they went through this time. Surprising how many people think signing is a universal language. It's not - varies quite a bit from region to region, even in areas with a common spoken/written language.
I've been interested in sign language for a long time, and have thought for many years it should be taught in schools as a fundamental skill, along with normal language skills. Not everyone would become proficient in it, just like not everyone is good at any other subject, but at least to a level of basic communication. Besides the obvious advantage for the deaf community, of being able to communicate with 'the world' if most people knew it, there are many advantages in holding such a skill even for people who can hear normally - in noisy factories, crowded bars, through glass partitions, across busy streets, in mandatory quite places like libraries, concerts, study halls, and maintaining contact with people who lose their hearing. My father is getting hard of hearing, and is becoming more and more isolated, as more and more people simply refuse to shout at him, and instead talk with someone else. I tried getting him interested, but he says he's too old, can't remember anything new any more and doesn't care anyway - most people have nothing interesting to say. Well, he's 97, so I suppose he's entitled to some grumpiness, but I think it's a shame. In any case, I finally decided to pull my thumb out and start studying it myself. I've been at it for about a year and a half now, and can carry on a simple conversation, if the other person is patient, takes it slowly and the subject matter is not too complicated. It's fascinating - not just another 'normal' language, but a whole new way of communicating. But I digress...
The laptop and iPad now recognize each other, when I plug them together, but the laptop does not show the files on the iPad, but instead shows a bunch of videos I (unsuccessfully) tried copying to the iPad many weeks ago from a different computer, including some that did make it onto the iPad but I subsequently deleted, because the player they were loaded into was even worse than the Box player. No idea where they've been - I suppose some virtual iTunes storage. But I see nothing that is currently on the iPad, like the Box folders. Could it be the cable? It's an off-brand Lightning - the local Apple store wanted almost $30 for an official one, which seemed to me quite a lot for a piece of wire. But if it's the difference between working and not working, I probably don't have much choice. It works as a charging cable, and the two devices do seem to know about each other, but maybe that's not enough.
I'm really starting to wonder if this is worth all the hassle. Even a local friend who claims to know all about Mac stuff was unable to make any sense of it. He said he would call another friend who knows even more all about Mac stuff, but I never heard any more about it, and haven't seen him since. I understand every device has some sort of learning curve, but compared to the simplicity with which the Asus/Android setup worked, this seems excessive.
