tim richardson

SpamSandwich said:

Latko said:

The school market is a lost chance for Apple - as long as it doesn’t deliver on the need for deployment tools (device management, app/version management, content mgt., rights/access mgt.) and keeps denying the need for multiple iOS accounts. Cook & co don’t even understand the concept of double instance multi-tasking (2 Word/Excel docs at the same time), making their post-PC claims near ridiculous. So an iPad with a pencil (if it comes at a Chromebook ‘s pricepoint to start with...) basically remains an overpriced sketchbook - that will never see structural implementation by the lack of a supporting infrastructure (what did Apple’s coopration with IBM bring in ?) A cheap repackaging effort that only underlines the lack of a broader understanding of the sectors’ device/content mgt. needs. Better stay out of this market - edu won’t match Cook’s premium financial prerequisites anyway and it would make Apple’s “thinking in the best interest of the customer” just a fluffy claim - as they only want to sell boxes

The educational market is, and has always been, extremely price sensitive. Price sensitive markets aren't necessarily markets in which Apple should be attempting to compete. Apple makes aspirational devices and services. People who are used to using inferior alternatives should be desperate to buy and replace the old products with Apple products.

I don't think the education market has always been price sensitive: there would never be a mac at school if this was the case. The comparison of Chromebooks to other devices misses two big points: Chromebooks are a network client for Google's education platform, which is superior to competitor offerings. Windows and Apple devices still sell apps on things, Chromebooks are access to GSuite for Education/Google Classroom. The other point is that Chromebooks don't require much expertise to look after. They are secure, they deploy and upgrade with no effort, they are interchangeable. To a school, it's the first computing platform that is as easy to use as a textbook. You just hand them out. But it's the first point. I live in Australia, have a child at elementary school and my son is at secondary school. The elementary school is on Windows, the secondary school is Apple: Macbooks Pros at school, personal iPads. But in 2017, both schools introduced Google Classroom and GSuite.  This is the beginning of the end for Windows in the elementary school. The secondary school is a performing arts school, and I think the Macs will survive there due to some special apps. But the requirement for iPads ... I'm not so sure that will survive.  Meanwhile my nephew and niece are at regional schools that have converted to Chromebooks, and two of my friends kids too. These are my anecdotes, but the latest ChromeOS market share figures show a massive increase in ChromeOS market share in Australian education, despite the five-year warning the incumbents had. This massive growth is from a low base, but it's exactly what happened in the US.

As for tablets, I don't use my Android tablet anymore. I have a AUD $600 Asus Flip which is fast, runs Android and Chrome apps. This is why Android tablets are dead. Chromebooks are a much better value proposition. At my son's school, every child has a keyboard case for their iPad. It's not mandated, but they all come to the same conclusion about the advantage of a keyboard. This indicates a big problem for iPads in the secondary school classroom, in my opinion. When you see this, the attraction of Chromebooks becomes perhaps clearer.