Microsoft's new Surface ad calls out iPad Air on 'hands free' gestures, multiple user accounts

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  • Reply 21 of 115
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bananaman View Post

     

    Other than the plain fact that you are not supposed to give your 1 year old child an iPad you're claim is pretty interesting.




    Why wouldn't you? Every parent I know with an iPad gives it to there children even if there only 1. Its an ideal device for them for things like drawing and learning numbers / letters.

     

    Children learn numbers and letters when there 2 and there's plenty of apps focused on doing that. Admittedly most of them arnt very good and you really need to check them first as some will set your child back rather than help them. There's also a lot of games like Peppa Pig that are great for children from the age of 1.5.

     

    Outside of apps there's also websites like BBC that offer educational games for kids this young. 

     

    Sadly a 1.5 year old doesn't know what disabling Javascript does but they can still access the button. The guided access thing looks interesting, I had never heard of it before. But its still not perfect as you don't really want to limit your child from changing apps. There clever enough to do that, but you do want to stop them emailing your boss a load of emoticons.

  • Reply 22 of 115

    Multiple User Profiles only works on paper.  Have any of you ever tried to tell your kids to "share" an iPad?  I did, and it didn't work.  Eventually we all need an iPad ourselves. 

     

    Also, who follows a recipe WHILE entertaining guests anyway?

     

    On the other hand, they are just software.

  • Reply 23 of 115
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,642member
    Multiple User Profiles only works on paper.  Have any of you ever tried to tell your kids to "share" an iPad?  I did, and it didn't work.  Eventually we all need an iPad ourselves. 

    My son and I have separate user profiles on a Nexus 7 and it works quite well. Android has offered it for a few OS verions now. I don't see his games, searches or especially his FACEBOOK posts which he greatly appreciates (!) and he doesn't get to mess with my apps, Amazon account or personal email. Neither of us even sees the others pages and apps. . . unless of course as the tablet owner I want to.

    EDIT: Looks like multi-user profiles were introduced with 4.2 (JellyBean) last November. 4.3 made it even more useful if there's small children in the household.
    http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/24/android-4-3-feature-focus-multi-user-with-restricted-profiles/
  • Reply 24 of 115
    xamaxxamax Posts: 135member
    One of the sacred cows of advertising or any smart business strategy is to NEVER MENTION THE COMPETITION IN ONE'S OWN ADS. That is advertising the competition! It's such a basic business notion that it's almost scary to imagine who's behind this - sounds like MS has been in the hands of whimsy children, really!

    If MS is to survive - yes, seriously - firing accross the board will be a must. A whole new clean head CEO, innovative and bold one, and then firing most heads right and left. Downsizing.

    I mean, it's obvious that a business that one day seems unbeatable can be dead in a couple of years. Take Nokia for instance. Oh no, MS merged with Nokia! Talk about taking poison, self sabotaging!

    RIP, MS!

    PS: Correct me if I'm wrong but Apple never mentioned MS in any "I'm a Mac" ad as far as I know, they said PC and that is a generic term that comprehends lots of hardware and software companies, not necessarily with Windows as Operating System. But everybody knew they were talking about MS and that's just the beauty of it all. They never said Microsoft or Windows or Linux or Dell!

    And that makes all the difference.

    Mentioning the iPad constantly only shows desperation while actually promoting the iPad. They're on their knees and just waiting for the firing squad to knock on their door (as in "you're fired" type thing).
  • Reply 25 of 115
    "And parents will appreciate the auto-generated reports....". Perhaps, but can they NOT get their heads out of the office for even a minute??? :rolleyes:
  • Reply 26 of 115
    So according to Microsoft, you should buy a Surface because it's a better recipe holder for people who don't clean their kitchen countertops? Seems like it's awfully expensive for that.

    Oh, and they also claim that although people get tablets for themselves so they can use it for their own purposes, the Surface is better because many people can get their hands on it and each screw it up in their own way?

    Microsoft: clueless to the end.
  • Reply 27 of 115
    vtwovtwo Posts: 14member
    Are people really leaving their 2 year olds unattended with their iPads?
  • Reply 28 of 115
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member

    First, iPad's only came out three and a half years ago, although I agree that Apple would be well suited to offer user profiles so I could quickly switch to one of my child's apps.  I don't have a problem with them accessing my email and never had an issue there, but it's mostly the problem of "child is screaming at a restaurant, hurry get them the iPad/iPhone... oh where are all his apps... argh!!!". So we use folders now...

     

    I think TouchID is the perfect use case for this.  You see, picking the child's apps quickly is the important part. If I need to sign in with a passcode, then switch a folder, then give the kid the iPad... well, that's a bit of a pain.  But if the child can just turn it on and play. Magic!

     

    I don't think it's a case of Apple wanting to sell millions of devices, because people will just buy a bigger iPad and use profiles and Apple makes more profit on higher spec'd iPads. The issue is simply "you can't share an iPad".  Do you have kids? OK, get them to share an iPad... I don't care what kind of quick profile switching you have... it's going to be a screaming fest.  The best case scenario are games they can play together.  Also, I like the ability as a parent to not allow the child to have immediate access to the iPad without asking permission.  I think these are things Apple are considering when coming up with their proper solution.

  • Reply 29 of 115
    vtwovtwo Posts: 14member
    vtwo wrote: »
    Are people really leaving their 2 year olds unattended with their iPads?

    timgriff84 wrote: »
    Erm what about the Mac vs PC ad's? Apple kinda started all of this.

    5 years is pushing the boundaries of being patient, at this point it's more like Apple care more about making huge sums of money rather than giving millions of parents using there product a simple but really useful feature.

    Touch ID while sounding cool, would also be useless for this scenario. A 1 year old doesn't have proper finger prints. If it brings user profiles with it then great, but to me it's less about adding whizzy features and more about fixing an issue with an otherwise excellent toy for a child.

    Fingerprints are established at 22 weeks in the womb and only expand from there. So 1 year olds do have proper finger prints.
  • Reply 30 of 115
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member

    Yes. My child began using an iPad when he was 1 year old and "reading" the Charlie Brown's Christmas book at two.  At three he signs in, finds his apps and plays his games.

  • Reply 31 of 115
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member

    As for your fatter and fatter comment... my child does use an iPad... just like a book.  Would you argue that books are making kids fatter then?  My child is three and is very athletic and eats a great diet.  He watches some TV and plays his games on the iPad.  I've found the iPad has increased his level of learning in reading and coordination.  He even plays piano on it!

  • Reply 32 of 115
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,642member
    sog35 wrote: »
    Buy your kid their own tablet.  And why is a 1 year old given a tablet in the first place!  And they wonder why kids are getting fatter and fatter.

    Having multi-users causes more problems than benefits at this point. 

    Can you offer an example of the problems it causes? I can think of a couple of advantages with potentially major cost-savings, even on-going ones (think new and in-app purchases), being one huge plus for restricted multi-user profiles.
  • Reply 33 of 115
    I would sort of like to have a Surface, but only if I could install whatever touch OS Linux comes up with.
  • Reply 34 of 115
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    gatorguy wrote: »
    sog35 wrote: »
    Buy your kid their own tablet.  And why is a 1 year old given a tablet in the first place!  And they wonder why kids are getting fatter and fatter.

    Having multi-users causes more problems than benefits at this point. 

    Can you offer an example of the problems it causes? I can think of a couple of advantages with potentially major cost-savings, even on-going ones (think new and in-app purchases), being one huge plus for restricted multi-user profiles.

    I'm not sure about the obesity issue, but I can't imagine an iPad surviving intact for long in the hands of any unsupervised 1 - 2 year old that I have ever known.
  • Reply 35 of 115
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post



    Microsoft tends to churn out lousy marketing about products people don't really care about.



    The company lost its mojo years ago, and the entire operation needs a complete reset, right down to basic philosophy, i.e., "Why are we here? What is our purpose? What do we believe?" - and then wrap the (hopefully) bold and people-centric answers in a blanket of uncompromising commitment.

    Yep, and add to that....if they do something, whether hardware or software, it needs to be "best in class!" 

  • Reply 36 of 115
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Cletus View Post



    Stop it, all of you! "There" means somewhere else but here. "Their" is the plural possessive you want.

    Get some sleep, bro! :)

  • Reply 37 of 115
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post





    Can you offer an example of the problems it causes? I can think of a couple of advantages with potentially major cost-savings, even on-going ones (think new and in-app purchases), being one huge plus for restricted multi-user profiles.

     

    For some people one extra click is too complex.

  • Reply 38 of 115
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by winstein2010 View Post

     

    Multiple User Profiles only works on paper.  Have any of you ever tried to tell your kids to "share" an iPad?  I did, and it didn't work.  Eventually we all need an iPad ourselves. 

     

    Also, who follows a recipe WHILE entertaining guests anyway?

     

    On the other hand, they are just software.


    Exactly! I set up a different user on my iMac for my GF. And it is a pain. Every time I sit down at my iMac, I have to log her out and login. Hate it. We stopped doing it. It's awful.

  • Reply 39 of 115

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by XamaX View Post



    PS: Correct me if I'm wrong but Apple never mentioned MS in any "I'm a Mac" ad as far as I know, they said PC and that is a generic term that comprehends lots of hardware and software companies, not necessarily with Windows as Operating System. But everybody knew they were talking about MS and that's just the beauty of it all. They never said Microsoft or Windows or Linux or Dell!


     

    Actually, Mac vs PC was against Windows, not any OS.

     

    Check for yourself:

    image

    image 

  • Reply 40 of 115
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by XamaX View Post



    RIP, MS!



    PS: Correct me if I'm wrong but Apple never mentioned MS in any "I'm a Mac" ad as far as I know, they said PC and that is a generic term that comprehends lots of hardware and software companies, not necessarily with Windows as Operating System. But everybody knew they were talking about MS and that's just the beauty of it all. They never said Microsoft or Windows or Linux or Dell!

    I thought the best ad was the one where PC has the security guy standing so close behind in dark glasses interrupting him at every other word. The look of exasperation on PC's face was hilarious! It was my favorite. The other one was the cheerleader, "We're number two, we're number two!" Just brilliant! :)

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