PowerShot ELPH 360 HS A Unable to connect wirelessly to computer

[jeclose]

I recently received this camera as a replacement for a damaged 360 HS but I cannot connect directly to my windows computer and the camera interface seems to have never heard of "computers".   Has Canon made it impossible to now wirelessly connect to my computer?  Why is "smartphone" or the "cloud" the only option now on the camera?   

[Waddizzle]

I don’t know if that model can connect wirelessly with a computer.  The entry level DSLRs and MILCs cannot.  They are small compact and can only connect to a smart phone or tablet. 

[jeclose]

The wireless connectivity option icons on the camera do not include "computer" - they are connect to another "camera" (why???), a "smartphone" and "wireless service".     If you think I'm annoyed, that's an understatement.    It appears you can no longer directly download to a computer like I used to do with the 360 HS, which somehow equates to "progress" at Canon.    I opted for the wireless service which puts the images on the image.canon website, using the "downloaderimage.cmon" program.    Canon has a slick video where a woman coos about how easy it is to use, but I don't see that.   Among other things, that webpage states, "All image files (still images, videos, and raw files) that have been uploaded directly from your camera can be automatically downloaded." 

"Can be"?   Where do I select that option?   And why not just let me automatically download to my computer instead of having to make a sidetrip to image.canon?   

There's mindlessness out there in Canon that I simply don't grasp, and I rue that I didn't simply send my 360 HS out for repair with an independent repair service instead of sending it to Canon for replacement (if you can call it that. 

 I want Easy.  Simple.   And they are going in the opposite direction as far as I can tell.  

[Waddizzle]

“ The wireless connectivity option icons on the camera do not include "computer" - they are connect to another "camera" (why???), a "smartphone" and "wireless service". “

Exactly. It is not able to connect wirelessly to a computer. It doesn’t know how.  Besides, wireless 🛜 communication in the cameras doesn’t mean that the camera is networkable.  

It’s slower than what you would expect. 

[kvbarkley]

It has always been this way. Computers connect to WiFi networks, not devices. 

[jeclose]

So my point is, "Why is 'connect to a computer' no longer an option?"    I suspect that the answer lies with a smartphone-centric bias that is endemic, because these people have never known anything else.   It's not necessarily progress to assume everyone - like themselves - wants to be surgically attached to the smartphony thing - and that would include me.   The previous version of this camera DID have the "connect to computer" icon, so it's not like it can't be done  - because it was done.

[jeclose]

Well, no:   The previous version of this model was treated as a device that Windows could connect to, as attested to by the "Bluetooth and devices" page in Windows settings where you selected "add a device".  That's how the 360 HS connected to the computer, wirelessly.

[Waddizzle]

This is a social media platform for users. It’s not Canon Support or Service.  We don’t know why computer communication was dropped from the menu.  The most likely reason is that the app used on a computer is no longer supported by current operating systems. 

[jeclose]

There's no "app" involved here - it's just a question of why Canon dropped the computer connectivity from this "improved" version of the 360 HS which is now the 360 HS A.   There was a decision point in the design process where they had the choice to continue including computer connectivity as an "add a device" option in Windows, or not.  They chose not to.   The cynical part of me says they dropped it because these people are all smartphone-centric, and can't conceive of someone sitting in front of a big, beautiful monitor with a full-sized keyboard instead of squinting at a tiny screen and thumbing on an equally tiny keyboard.   Tell me I'm wrong.  

[Waddizzle]

“ There's no "app" involved here - it's just a question of why Canon dropped the computer connectivity from this "improved" version of the 360 HS which is now the 360 HS A. “

The camera is NOT fully networkable.  Except fot the flagship 1D and R1 models, no Canon cameras are networkable.  None.

The cameras use serial communication, like USB ports and Bluetooth, to connect to other devices running specific Canon apps.  The cameras only use Wi-Fi technology to extend the limited range of wireless Bluetooth. Even the previous model would not be able to connect because the dedicated Canon app that it uses is obsolete.

My apologies if this is inconvenient for you.  But that’s the reality of it.  There will not be a firmware update to add it.