sdw2001

Let me be the first to say “too effing bad.”  Ad tracking is pervasive and a terrible invasion of privacy.  The advertisers are upset? Shocker.  

elijahg said:

Our school did exactly this, replacing a few hundred netbooks with iPads. But unfortunately all we had was complaints about usability; kids couldn't write essays with the iPad keyboard, maths work was tedious and without a system to submit and mark work there is no way other than email to get coursework to the teachers - obviously that's not an Apple problem, it's a governmental lets spend $370 million and think about the practicalities later problem. Eventually our iPads got ditched for cheap laptops. Also, I'm not sure Scotland should be spending this kind of money considering their financial deficit.

macplusplus said:

elijahg said:

Our school did exactly this, replacing a few hundred netbooks with iPads. But unfortunately all we had was complaints about usability; kids couldn't write essays with the iPad keyboard, maths work was tedious and without a system to submit and mark work there is no way other than email to get coursework to the teachers - obviously that's not an Apple problem, it's a governmental lets spend $370 million and think about the practicalities later problem. Eventually our iPads got ditched for cheap laptops. Also, I'm not sure Scotland should be spending this kind of money considering their financial deficit.

That new generation who exchange dozens of messages every day from their on-screen keyboards can not use iPad’s? Obviously this is a complaint of an adult from last century. I understand that texting and writing an essay are not the same thing, but computer keyboards won’t help either unless the kids are trained to manipulate long blocks of text and are given some basic notions about structuring and formatting. Math work is always tedious regardless of the device. What those last century adults expect from kids, learning and writing in MathML? Regarding coursework this the courseware as a whole which is crap, not only homework part.

I have been an educator for 21 years.  I tend to be someone who embraces technology in my personal and professional life.  At school, I am often known as one of people to come to for help with various tech at the user level.   I use two laptops, an iPad, a Smart Board, my phone and what is now legacy tech (CD, DVD, etc) for instruction.  Technology has made my teaching more efficient.  I have an extensive website that is used for flipped (home) and blended (home/school) instruction.   Our older elementary students all have school-provided iPads and have access to netbooks.  From my observation, it does allow them to complete certain tasks and interactive lessons more easily  

If you're waiting for the "however," look no further:  There is no evidence of which I'm aware that shows improved student learning because of the mass deployment of iPads.  In fact, my personal observations are that students aren't using the technology at all to develop useful skills.   I have seen zero increase or even a reduction in their executive functioning and organization abilities.  My students refuse to even use the Calendar and Reminders apps to develop homework/practice schedules.  This is after I take them through a mini lesson on exactly those apps and their uses.  Sure, they can record themselves, submit projects through Learning Management System apps, etc.  The teacher can push things to their iPads and they can be used for collaborative activities.  But real skills in research, analysis, prediction, problem-solving, resiliency, etc?  Not from my experience.  If anything, these skills are atrophying at an alarming rate in the general population.  

Of course, there is also the concern about the effect of "screen time" on our children's brains.  Recent brain research shows that children and adolescents are having their brains rewired.  90% of the adult population (whose brains are less susceptible) cannot perform 2 or more tasks simultaneously without a huge reduction in efficiency.  Children are far more prone to the negative effects of attempting to multitask.  Sleep issues, anxiety, lack of focus, and depression are all major concerns.   Anecdotally, we often hear from parents that they believe their children are getting too much screen time.  As it stands, children are spending most of their school day looking at some version of a glowing rectangle.  

The bottom line is I am not at all convinced that the mass deployment of devices for school children is a good thing.  Technology has the ability to make our lives easier, work more efficient, and even more interesting.  Right now, it seems that we are giving out massive quantities of a sort of digital drug (the iPad), figuring out what it does later, and hoping for the best.  We've gone from using tech from increased efficiency, novelty and organization to getting on the iPad Train because of the 21st century, maaaannnnn.  

That’s because Apple stores are a friggin free for all.  Employees and customers everywhere….doing everything at the same time.  There is no “Genius Bar” anymore.  You check in, then sit down like you’re waiting at the dentist.  Then, a random employee comes up, looks at your device, and whisks it away to the back to fix it. He or she comes back…usually with a fixed device, and you can’t imagine what they did back there.   Then the same person is taking returns, going to the back to retrieve your new device, and checking out people buying things like iPhone cases. It’s a mess and has been since it started.  I miss the actual check out and Genius Bar counter.  

Apple should tell them to go screw, preemptively.  These bureaucrats are unreal.  “We think this should be the way Apple runs things.  Make it so!”   I’d love to see Apple *really* use it’s dominant position. Issue a statement in response saying “If such requirements are implemented, Apple will strongly consider ending all business in the European Union.”   

I absolutely can't stand this man.  He's the only person mocked by South Park to be portrayed as better than he actually is.  He's been a disgrace for more than a decade, with notable assholish moves like stealing the spotlight from Taylor Swift and accusing George Bush of being a racist.   But worse, his "music" sucks.  Saw him on SNL the other night, and I truly believe it was one of the worst performances of all time on that show.  It was like some teenagers got high on shrooms and starting dicking around with auto tune while dancing around as if they were severely concussed.   I can't even stand the look on his face.  He's a smug, self-obsessed hack who is famous for being famous at this point.   Good riddance!  

hackintoisier said:

I hope Apple loses, as it is stifling competition. Why is it that apps that offer physical goods are treated differently than those that offer virtual goods? Also, how is Apple entitled to 30 percent revenue of billions of dollars of virtual good revenue, when it doesn’t cost nearly that much to run the App Store and offer the services that it does ? Also, why is it that some apps are restricted from being able to even a mention an alternative payment system? Seems draconian. 

I’m not advocating For an end result that leads to alternative app stores in iOS. But at minimum I think there should be competition in regards to in App payments. Apple shouldn’t be the sole supplier. I’m sure if competition opened up, costs would come down for consumers. 

Apple is entitled to whatever it gets companies to agree to. Do you want access to the worldwide iPhone market? You play by their rules.  They provide the ecosystem and they control what’s on their devices.  Who would you have decide what is reasonable? The government?

On one hand, I don't blame Apple for threading the needle with the CCP in order to get access to a market with 5 times the population of U.S.   But on the other, that's a lot of money and resources that are building Communist China instead of the United States.  China is a major competitor, biggest trade partner, and #1 threat to the U.S. all at the same time.  Their government's goal is to be the world superpower by 2050.  This was a long-term plan started in the 1970's.  We dismissed them for decades, thought we "free" trade could liberalize the CCP, and their military was subpar compared to ours.  All that has changed in the last 20 years.  While we still have a superior military, they have the capability to win a battle (for example, Taiwan) before we can respond with full force.  They also have sophisticated enough equipment (planes, missiles, anti-satellite etc.) to give us real problems.  

DAalseth said:

This is very good news. Sounds like they are doing it the right way too, with renewable energy sources, not by buying offsets. 

There's no evidence that either is better for the environment.  Renewables have their own massive problems.  From wind turbines to solar panels, they are arguably worse for the environment than burning fossil fuels.  

But those adherents to the modern religion of so-called "climate change" don't care about the environment.  They care about global wealth redistribution and political power.  That is, in fact, what the entire movement is about, whether or not average people know it.  

Some may ask if climate change is a hoax. The answer is yes.  The theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming is not a hoax (though it is unproven), but climate change as a term is absolutely a hoax.  The notion that burning fossil fuels and cattle farts will cause catastrophic warming is entirely unsupported.  Warming from human activities is a moderate problem at worst, and is not well-understood.  There are simply too many known (and unknown) variables at play.  The problem should be carefully studied before we settle on any course of action.  

Those screaming about the "climate crisis" are proof positive that the entire thing is a political slogan.  It's used by politicians to push "solutions" that magically involve more taxes and control.  Apple is smart in knowing where ball is going right now.  It is on-brand for them to do this.  They are going to make damn sure they are in the Most Favored Players club on this one.  

radarthekat said:

Ricky Gervais is showing his ignorance.  

In other news, let see a show of hands for the most ridiculous use of a word in the English language.   “Woke.”   What an unimaginative and poorly thought up way of expressing oneself.  

His ignorance? I'd say he was blisteringly accurate.  No one wants to hear from celebrities about their political stances and their "brave" performances.  The bit about Apple was a really pointed, tough joke.  Everyone knows that Apple products are made in what we would call "sweatshops" in China. How is it "ignorant" to point this out?  Not funny, perhaps.  But it's certainly not ignorant.  

F_Kent_D said:

I 100% agree with everyone’s concern and disapproval of this feature. However, I have nothing to hide as far as child pornography or anything of the sort. I have 3 daughters and would rather them not receive any pornographic texts or communication from anyone and this is to help keep that from happening. Todays kids are chatting and messaging no telling who on the online games and I’ve found that one of my daughters was suckered into doing things that shouldn’t have been done as a 10 year old. She’s been warned but I’m unable to warn the other party. I’m not 100% happy about all of this scanning but at the same time I have young girls that if there’s a way to protect them I will accept the protection against sex trafficking and other improper activities via messaging. 

I have three daughters, too.  This isn’t going to protect them.  No matter what Apple says, it’s scanning our data and potentially flagging it.   Totally unacceptable.