They got started already with Android 4.0 UI bridging phones and tablets. There was some info about that in the 4.0 keynote if you're interested.
You buy an Amazon device if you want, primarily, to consume Amazon content. Or if basically any device will do, but Amazon's subsidization makes this device cheaper than anything else. The amount of people wanting to primarily consume Amazon content is much smaller than the amount of people wanting to do everything else that can be done on tablets. Amazon can't successfully stretch to every direction and challenge Asus' Transformer, Samsung's inevitable stylus tablet, super-high res tablets, etc. At the low end they may end up being challenged by equally cheap no-name tablets which cut costs by not doing any SW customization *and* get a selling point by staying religiously at the newest vanilla Android version. Being limited to Amazon's apps and shut out of the greater Android ecosystem seems like a terrible idea for a productivity user.
Huh? Those are hardware companies and many of them will just as gladly make their profits off Win8 tablets. In fact they already offer some Win7 tablets, Win8 tablets will be an incredible relief in comparison. Motorola Mobility was just bought by Google, so whatever they come up with, it seems more than likely it will run Android.
I'm not disputing any of this. Every one of these competitors has different sources of revenue to keep them in the fight should they choose to pursue it. Amazon can motor along and never have to move upmarket, but I think they will. The problem with their current offering is storage space will limit how much people will be able to buy and store on their device thereby limiting the very sales that are meant to support the low-to-no margin Kindle Fire.
But if Amazon gets it right they will be swiping consumer share from both Android and iOS. In the end Android will fall under the assault of Windows as Microsoft buys share back as it prepares to take on Apple in this space. The only breathing space Google has is that Microsoft may not quickly port everything over to ARM processors.
I just don't think OEMs will retain interest in Android if that happens except as a bludgeon to get lower license rates from Microsoft.
Okay. I'll start over. The school district is looking for a different way for all of the instructional coaches to communicate with each other. Presently they either use their district provided laptops or their personal phones.
We are talking about email, sharing documents, lesson plans, grant proposals, etc.
We aren't talking educating students.
We aren't talking about teaching teachers
We aren't talking about replacing the laptops.
We are talking about a lightweight, portable, uniform way for the small number of instructional coaches to share notes.
My wife pointed out that some of the other tablets had USB ports and my wife finds flash drives useful. My wife has learned to back up everything. Not every school district has the latest and greatest IT support and equipment.
Is an iPad really necessary for what I have listed above?
My wife embraces new technology. She loves her iPhone. Uses it all the time. But she also understands trying to find a good balance between educating children and making the districts money (the tax payers money) be used in the best way.
But don't worry. She got voted down and all the coaches will get iPads. But one wonders if the money for these iPads might have been of more benefit in the classrooms helping students learn.
If you are talking about driving a highly collaborative system then the iPad suits that very well indeed. Moreover it gives the instructional coaches the ability to expand how they use the device instead of just having what they need at the moment. Otherwise they all would still be using pagers, right?
As a former technical advisor to my children's school system, your wife's attitude is pretty much par for the course - but having to use flash drives which can be lost, lifted, or misplaced seems a little silly. Better tools don't necessarily make for better coaches, but better coaches know how to leverage better tools. And one wonders, as long as we are using third person in our ponderings (grin), if the money allocated for the devices came out of the funding for the schools or funding for technology, or a grant to support the instructional coaches - none of which would have been re-allocated for classroom benefit regardless, so the point is rather moot I think.
And to be sure I'm not being critical of your wife's thought process, just the logic you use in supporting it. If the school system cannot afford to support the instructional coaches to the point that any significant money spent on them is a diversion of classroom funding - that simply is wrong.
Now just because you currently do not "teach teachers" from the devices they have, doesn't mean the flexibility and power of the platform cannot be utilitized to convenience the coaches, or even expand their roles and capacity to deliver more, more conveniently than before. But that depends on the whether the coaches are oriented towards understanding and leveraging those resources, or no. Perhaps they need better coaches instead of better devices?
Comments
They got started already with Android 4.0 UI bridging phones and tablets. There was some info about that in the 4.0 keynote if you're interested.
You buy an Amazon device if you want, primarily, to consume Amazon content. Or if basically any device will do, but Amazon's subsidization makes this device cheaper than anything else. The amount of people wanting to primarily consume Amazon content is much smaller than the amount of people wanting to do everything else that can be done on tablets. Amazon can't successfully stretch to every direction and challenge Asus' Transformer, Samsung's inevitable stylus tablet, super-high res tablets, etc. At the low end they may end up being challenged by equally cheap no-name tablets which cut costs by not doing any SW customization *and* get a selling point by staying religiously at the newest vanilla Android version. Being limited to Amazon's apps and shut out of the greater Android ecosystem seems like a terrible idea for a productivity user.
Huh? Those are hardware companies and many of them will just as gladly make their profits off Win8 tablets. In fact they already offer some Win7 tablets, Win8 tablets will be an incredible relief in comparison. Motorola Mobility was just bought by Google, so whatever they come up with, it seems more than likely it will run Android.
I'm not disputing any of this. Every one of these competitors has different sources of revenue to keep them in the fight should they choose to pursue it. Amazon can motor along and never have to move upmarket, but I think they will. The problem with their current offering is storage space will limit how much people will be able to buy and store on their device thereby limiting the very sales that are meant to support the low-to-no margin Kindle Fire.
But if Amazon gets it right they will be swiping consumer share from both Android and iOS. In the end Android will fall under the assault of Windows as Microsoft buys share back as it prepares to take on Apple in this space. The only breathing space Google has is that Microsoft may not quickly port everything over to ARM processors.
I just don't think OEMs will retain interest in Android if that happens except as a bludgeon to get lower license rates from Microsoft.
Okay. I'll start over. The school district is looking for a different way for all of the instructional coaches to communicate with each other. Presently they either use their district provided laptops or their personal phones.
We are talking about email, sharing documents, lesson plans, grant proposals, etc.
We aren't talking educating students.
We aren't talking about teaching teachers
We aren't talking about replacing the laptops.
We are talking about a lightweight, portable, uniform way for the small number of instructional coaches to share notes.
My wife pointed out that some of the other tablets had USB ports and my wife finds flash drives useful. My wife has learned to back up everything. Not every school district has the latest and greatest IT support and equipment.
Is an iPad really necessary for what I have listed above?
My wife embraces new technology. She loves her iPhone. Uses it all the time. But she also understands trying to find a good balance between educating children and making the districts money (the tax payers money) be used in the best way.
But don't worry. She got voted down and all the coaches will get iPads. But one wonders if the money for these iPads might have been of more benefit in the classrooms helping students learn.
If you are talking about driving a highly collaborative system then the iPad suits that very well indeed. Moreover it gives the instructional coaches the ability to expand how they use the device instead of just having what they need at the moment. Otherwise they all would still be using pagers, right?
As a former technical advisor to my children's school system, your wife's attitude is pretty much par for the course - but having to use flash drives which can be lost, lifted, or misplaced seems a little silly. Better tools don't necessarily make for better coaches, but better coaches know how to leverage better tools. And one wonders, as long as we are using third person in our ponderings (grin), if the money allocated for the devices came out of the funding for the schools or funding for technology, or a grant to support the instructional coaches - none of which would have been re-allocated for classroom benefit regardless, so the point is rather moot I think.
And to be sure I'm not being critical of your wife's thought process, just the logic you use in supporting it. If the school system cannot afford to support the instructional coaches to the point that any significant money spent on them is a diversion of classroom funding - that simply is wrong.
Now just because you currently do not "teach teachers" from the devices they have, doesn't mean the flexibility and power of the platform cannot be utilitized to convenience the coaches, or even expand their roles and capacity to deliver more, more conveniently than before. But that depends on the whether the coaches are oriented towards understanding and leveraging those resources, or no. Perhaps they need better coaches instead of better devices?