iPad's orientation lock to mute switch change will be permanent

What a ridiculous move Steve! That switch is CRITICAL to the use of this device in a mobile way, DUUHH! Apple, it WAS a mobile device.

Now the screen spins and spins every time you move.

One of the few incredibly stupid moves made by Apple.

Oh, that and no right-click to delete a file in ANY apple OS, LOL!

I am continually more and more upset with Apple as a customer. I feel like once they lure you in with the shiny and the pizzaz of the product, you end up short changed in terms of the experience. At this point, I'm glad I haven't updated my iPad yet and I don't think I'm going to unless they force me to for some BS reason.

I use the orientation lock continuously. I just upgraded to 4.2 and I HATE this change! They should make this user configurable, if they really feel compelled to offer the sortof-mute capability. I'd be surprised to find 1% of users who would leave it as mute. Please give us back the orientation-lock switch, or give us a new SIMPLE gesture for it (switch is better, but I'd settle).

I unfortunately only discovered the change after the update. I also use the orientation lock quite often. If I had known I would not have "upgraded." Now I'm looking at either having to jailbreak it to get back what should never have changed. Or figure out how to downgrade the OS. Neither prospect is appealing to me.

Double tap home button and swipe to the left and there is the lock button.

The volume rocker switch and the notification mute switch are not the same.

The rocker switch mutes everything, and you have to have the iPad unlocked for it to work (unless you are already playing music while it’s sleeping, of course). The new Notification mute switch only mutes system notifications and alerts. If you are watching a movie, just flip the switch and your movie sound won’t be interrupted with twitter updates, E-mail notifications, etc..

Just a simple double-tap and a swipe, and you’re at the rotation lock button. To use the new Mute Switch you don’t have to unlock the device to disable notifications alerts.

And there is also no reason to use the rotation lock when you are not using the device.

It will work the same way as the iPhone.

Dollars to donuts, if someone sues Apple and gets discovery on this, they will find that Apple decided that increasing the use of the "double press" of the home button was believed to increase the likelihood of the button switch wearing out and causing people to buy replacement iPads out of warranty.

In other words, they sought to maximize wear and tear on our iPads to generate more sales. As a shareholder this makes me happy. As an iPad owner it pisses me off.

It is hopelessly redundant to have both the toggle buttons and the switch to adjust volume. Just how stupid does Apple think people are that they need multiple ways to adjust the volume? Now sharing a slideshow by locking the orientation and handing it over is a pain in the ass and can't be done spontaneously.

This is weird. They made the brightness adjustment more accessible because it is used all the time...but made the screen lock switch less accessible, even though it too is used all the time. If anything, the brightness adjustment should have been made as accessible as the screen lock switch was.

The thing I'll be looking for in 4.2 is whether the poor quality control in the iPod, iTunes and Video apps has been rectified. There's nothing like watching a video podcast or TV show and being offered a "back" button that points to "Movies" when it's over. That's only one of several such faux pas' in these apps. Wouldn't have happened in the old years of Apple, when perfectionism was the order of the day.

I honestly don't like this idea and dont see the point of the silent switch on an ipad, its not as if you are getting calls. If I'm able Ill keep the current IOS with out updating, i'm happy enough with it as is.