apple enthusiast...

I don't know about the iPad, but we have three Macs -- two minis and a MacBook -- that back-up to a Time Capsule through a wireless connection. I'm suspecting it's possible to do the same with an iPad, though; by that same token, I'm thinking you're able to connect the iPad and the MacBook through wireless file sharing. Medievalist should be here in a few to answer your questions in more detail.

Right now, no, you can't back up your iPad to Time Capsule, but you can sync your iPad to a Mac, and back it up there, you can back up individual files via DropBox or SugarSync, and iOS 5 is right around the corner, with iCloud, which lets you back up content and email to Apple's iCloud.

We have not been able to find a solution where the Ipad will back up to our Time Machine. Nothing. Can't get it to work. See what Med said above.

You will need itunes on your macbook and Yes, from time to time you will have to hook it up via usb. File sharing depends on the app. I don't know any that will do it wirelessly with out an app like dropbox. Doesn't mean there isn't one, you'll have to look though the app store.

Wireless printing works fine though.

tiny said:

Can I use the Time Capsule as a storage device for the iPad as well as using the Time Machine on my machine to back-up daily? Can I do this through WiFi for the iPad or do I have to hook it directly through the USB? And is there a way to make the iPad and the MacBook talk without using a dropbox sort of program which stores the stuff on the web.

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No, the filesystem is hidden from the user on the iPad, so there is no way to access the Time Capsule's storage from your iPad natively. There are apps that you can use to access the Time Capsule's storage, such as FileBrowser, but it's not really the way to go about managing data on the iPad.

iOS devices like the iPad are backed up via iTunes. Whenever you connect the iPad to your MacBook and sync with iTunes, it should automatically create a backup for you. At the moment, you have to be connected via the USB cable, but in the fall when iOS 5 comes out, you will be able to back up and sync to iTunes wirelessly over WiFi, as well as backup to the cloud via iCloud, the latter of which will happen automatically.

What kind of data are you thinking about putting on the iPad? If it's media, likes music, photos, or videos, you manage those via iTunes on your MacBook. Again, you have to use the cable for now, but the iOS 5 software update in the fall will allow you to do that wirelessly over your home network.

On the iPad, apps mostly manage their own documents, because the filesystem is hidden from the user. Most apps will give you a few ways to get them onto the iPad. You can drag and drop them onto the app when connected to your MacBook via iTunes, or many of them will let you add files wirelessly, too. Again, when iOS 5 and iCloud debut in the fall, many documents will sync back and forth between the iPad and your MacBook via the cloud. Right now, unfortunately, you mostly have to rely on iTunes, email, or Dropbox.

Tirjasdyn said:

I don't know any that will do it wirelessly with out an app like dropbox. Doesn't mean there isn't one, you'll have to look though the app store.

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There are lots of them that do. The swiss-army knife of iOS file management, GoodReader, will let you start a server that you can connect to straight from Finder, and you can drag and drop any documents straight there.

tiny said:

Well crud. He was hoping and so was I. Does it matter his is the iPad2 and not the first gen?

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Not really. The differences beside the case design are the 1st gen has no cameras, a slower processor, and less RAM. It should be able to handle iOS 5 fine, though.

I guess though if we can backup through mine it still gets the job done. I don't want him to lose all his stuff again.

Thanks guys. I think I'm still leaning toward the Time Capsule.

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tiny said:

Well crud. He was hoping and so was I. Does it matter his is the iPad2 and not the first gen?

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When iOS 5 comes out, this Fall, you'll be able to do syncing over WiFi.

tiny said:

Yeah, I'm an Apple junkie. I have a MacBook and husband just purchased an iPad after losing every single picture, song, thought on his last PC *see image.

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Yowser, what the hell did he do to it? Apple products are good in many ways, but I'm not sure they'd be any better at handling that sort of damage...

Could you not just back up the iPad wholesale via iTunes sync and have Time Capsule backup the backup? (I don't know much about Macs I'm afraid.)

JimmyB27 said:

Yowser, what the hell did he do to it? Apple products are good in many ways, but I'm not sure they'd be any better at handling that sort of damage...

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The laptops? Probably order of magnitudes better at handling damage than your average consumer laptop. Not because of the innards at all, but the unibody design is pretty damn solid. I've heard of cars running over MacBook Airs and them still functioning fine. You can certainly find similarly-built PC's, but they'll cost you in the same ballpark, and they won't be the consumer crap you find on off the shelf at Best Buy.

Torgo said:

Could you not just back up the iPad wholesale via iTunes sync and have Time Capsule backup the backup? (I don't know much about Macs I'm afraid.)

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tiny said:

That is what we'll be doing. It seems round-about but it'll work I'm sure.

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That's pretty much what happens right now. When iOS 5 + iCloud hits, the backups will become wireless, and you'll get automatic backups to the cloud.

Knowing Apple, they probably don't want to have direct-to-Time Capsule backups right now because they're insisting on hiding the filesystem from the user. They don't want the average consumer having to actually navigate to a file to restore from a backup, they want it to be all through pretty software. Unfortunate, but consistent with iOS logic. With iOS 5 getting the ability to administrate Time Capsules and Airport Extremes/Expresses, and "PC-free" being one of its major features, I wouldn't be surprised if they could easily add the ability to backup straight to a Time Capsule or NAS without having to expose the filesystem at all. My guess is, though, that this will never happen, since backups to the cloud will probably make them consider such functionality redundant and unnecessary. "The truth is in the cloud."