Guest valueInv Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I'm quite pleased with the announcements. The only thing that I would've liked to see that wasn't there was touch ID for the iPad Finally we have a leak that got it wrong. There was no 13" iPad either. Not that I believed that one. That is supposed to be 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Notice that they raised the price on the iPad mini. #commoditization? ::) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 As usual, the canonical review of the new OSX was written by John Siracusa (basically a small book that he's been writing since the first beta came out, updating it all along until the GM came out recently): http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 "Free with purchase on any new Mac or iOS device." This includes iWork (pages, numbers & keynote) and iLife (iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band). The new Mac OS upgrades are now also free. Forever. Is this good for consumers, business and education? Of course it is. This was the big surprise for me today. Business models are becoming more clear: Apple makes money when the customer buys the hardware; the software is free and future upgrades are free. Microsoft makes money when the customer buys the hardware (i.e. Windows); the customer pays more for software (i.e. Office); the customer pays once again for future upgrades (to Windows or Office). Apple looks like it is putting some serious resources behind iWork and iLife. If these packages gain a significant number of users, Microsoft may find itself with more challenges to its core Windows & Office business. Should enterprise actually embrace what Apple is doing in the coming years, Microsoft will be in even more trouble. http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/22/apple-announces-new-versions-of-ilife-and-iwork-suite-available-free-with-the-purchase-of-a-new-mac-or-ios-device/ http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/suddenly-microsoft-not-google-apple-hates-204504667.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Free with purchase on any new Mac or iOS device." This includes iWork (pages, numbers & keynote) and iLife (iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band). The new Mac OS upgrades are now also free. Forever. Is this good for consumers, business and education? Of course it is. This was the big surprise for me today. Business models are becoming more clear: Apple makes money when the customer buys the hardware; the software is free and future upgrades are free. Microsoft makes money when the customer buys the hardware (i.e. Windows); the customer pays more for software (i.e. Office); the customer pays once again for future upgrades (to Windows or Office). Apple looks like it is putting some serious resources behind iWork and iLife. If these packages gain a significant number of users, Microsoft may find itself with more challenges to its core Windows & Office business. Should enterprise actually embrace what Apple is doing in the coming years, Microsoft will be in even more trouble. I would put it a bit differently. Apple makes money primarily off of its OS's by selling OS licenses embedded into optimized boxes. Microsoft has a mixed approach where it still sells OS licenses separate from hardware, but is increasingly taking the Apple approach of selling its OS via an optimized box approach (see Surface and NOK). Both companies see the value of closely integrating their OS (and other associated software) with hardware, but software is still paramount for each company and represents most of the value in the value chain. As Steve Jobs said, Apple is a software company, and it's because it is a software company that it greatly succeeded with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple now says that it will make its OS upgrades available for free, but that's really not as revolutionary as touted. The last couple of OS upgrades have been very inexpensive. Mountain Lion was priced at $30. iOS 7 was free. That's because Apple really makes money by getting people to upgrade their OS every couple of years via new hardware purchases. It's what Bezos calls the "upgrade treadmill." The next version of OSX could easily be optimized for both a traditional desktop UI and touch UI, in which case most people would upgrade their OS by getting new hardware. But we'll see about that. One of the reasons why the newest iOS and iPhone release was so underwhelming from an investing perspective was because it didn't pose much of a reason to continue the upgrade treadmill. As for iWork and iLife being free, this is simply good strategy in order to compete with MSFT and GOOG when it comes to the OS market. It could even drive more usage of Apple's iCloud services. I agree that Apple's foray into free iWork is not good for the Office cash cow. But MSFT has a lot of issues it's going to be dealing with, and iWork being free is probably a minor one. IMO, GOOG is the bigger threat when it comes to Office. And both GOOG and AAPL, among others, are threats to MSFT when it comes to Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Here's a theory on the iPad 2 and 1st gen Mini pricing. I think Tim Cook is trying to set pricing on iPads being sold into the secondary markets. According to Tim Cook, there are 170 million iPads out in the world that could be sold on the secondary market. If you take out iPad 1, that's probably around 100 million iPad 2+ devices out there. In a sense, the newest iPads are competing not just with the Samsung Notes, Galaxy Nexus', and Kindle Fires of the world, but also with older tablets that are being sold into the market (including older iPads, which are quite durable for tech hardware), especially in overseas markets like China. This threatens to make ASPs even lower in the tablet market. By starting the iPad 2 at $400 and the 1st gen mini at $300 -- which Apple may not even expect to sell that many of relative to the new devices -- and by discontinuing sale of iPad 3s and 4s, that could help keep new iPad (Air and Retina Mini) prices high by controlling the price of iPad 2s, 3s, 4s, and 1st gen Minis in the secondary market. In other words, the large number of Apple tablets that could be sold into the secondary market will have a smaller spread in price between the newer tablets, which will keep sales up and keep Apple pricing up in particular. And that will keep ASPs (and unit margins) up for iPad. This is similar to what Apple is doing with iPhone. Discontinue sale of the traditional iPhone 5 (which is good enough), mask it in a candy coated shell (5C), and price it higher. Once again, I think that these pricing decisions may make sense for Apple. I think Tim Cook and Co have probably thought a lot about this. The only question is what this will do to their market share and turnover as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Yesterday, the two price points that surprised me was the new mini retina at $399 and the ipad 2 at $399. If the new mini retina is supply constrained (as has been rumoured) then pricing it high makes sense. The fact that the internals were also upgraded supports the $399 price (i.e. A7 chip; motion sensor etc). Should sales be strong Apple should see a nice uptick on GM for the tablet category given the higher price point of the mini. Interesting that the ipad 2 is still available for sale given its age; must be the device of choice for education (and perhaps business). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compoundinglife Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Interesting that the ipad 2 is still available for sale given its age; must be the device of choice for education (and perhaps business). That could be part of it. In the enterprise market large companies often test and internally certify laptop and desktop SKUs and they can get a little put off if they have to do that too often. When I used to work at larger companies the IT department would get really frustrated when HP/Dell would do things like change the plug on the laptop power cables or the port on docking stations. Which is why those vendors would offer an enterprise focused line where they promise to keep those things the same on a given product line for a certain period of time. So if a company such as a financial institution has certified and secured the Ipad2 it might be a while before they get around to doing the same with the next model. On the education side it could be more related to changes in charing adapters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffmori7 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you think as new IPad mini won't be available too soon, and because iPad air is thinner and lighter, that some people who wanted a mini might now choose the larger iPad (aka Air) as there will be less difference? what would be the impact on margins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Interesting that the ipad 2 is still available for sale given its age; must be the device of choice for education (and perhaps business). Yeah, don't forget POS devices. Every small biz I keep going into seems to have an iPad with Square running on it these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Free with purchase on any new Mac or iOS device." This includes iWork (pages, numbers & keynote) and iLife (iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band). The new Mac OS upgrades are now also free. Forever. Is this good for consumers, business and education? Of course it is. This was the big surprise for me today. Business models are becoming more clear: Apple makes money when the customer buys the hardware; the software is free and future upgrades are free. Microsoft makes money when the customer buys the hardware (i.e. Windows); the customer pays more for software (i.e. Office); the customer pays once again for future upgrades (to Windows or Office). Apple looks like it is putting some serious resources behind iWork and iLife. If these packages gain a significant number of users, Microsoft may find itself with more challenges to its core Windows & Office business. Should enterprise actually embrace what Apple is doing in the coming years, Microsoft will be in even more trouble. I would put it a bit differently. Apple makes money primarily off of its OS's by selling OS licenses embedded into optimized boxes. Microsoft has a mixed approach where it still sells OS licenses separate from hardware, but is increasingly taking the Apple approach of selling its OS via an optimized box approach (see Surface and NOK). Both companies see the value of closely integrating their OS (and other associated software) with hardware, but software is still paramount for each company and represents most of the value in the value chain. As Steve Jobs said, Apple is a software company, and it's because it is a software company that it greatly succeeded with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple now says that it will make its OS upgrades available for free, but that's really not as revolutionary as touted. The last couple of OS upgrades have been very inexpensive. Mountain Lion was priced at $30. iOS 7 was free. That's because Apple really makes money by getting people to upgrade their OS every couple of years via new hardware purchases. It's what Bezos calls the "upgrade treadmill." The next version of OSX could easily be optimized for both a traditional desktop UI and touch UI, in which case most people would upgrade their OS by getting new hardware. But we'll see about that. One of the reasons why the newest iOS and iPhone release was so underwhelming from an investing perspective was because it didn't pose much of a reason to continue the upgrade treadmill. As for iWork and iLife being free, this is simply good strategy in order to compete with MSFT and GOOG when it comes to the OS market. It could even drive more usage of Apple's iCloud services. I agree that Apple's foray into free iWork is not good for the Office cash cow. But MSFT has a lot of issues it's going to be dealing with, and iWork being free is probably a minor one. IMO, GOOG is the bigger threat when it comes to Office. And both GOOG and AAPL, among others, are threats to MSFT when it comes to Windows. I thought the value chain was getting modularized according to Clayton Christensen. Further, according to you, the OS layer was getting commoditized and the value was in software and services. Well, Apple just "commoditized" a whole bunch of software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you think as new IPad mini won't be available too soon, and because iPad air is thinner and lighter, that some people who wanted a mini might now choose the larger iPad (aka Air) as there will be less difference? what would be the impact on margins? Aren't they both being released at the same time? I think the iPad Mini Retina will be the best selling iPad. It's the best size for a tablet, IMO, and it is the tablet with the least comparables out there. Further, it will have better resolution than the iPad Air and just as many apps. I think iPad ASP stays stable or even goes up because of more turnover on iPad Mini Retina and the higher price point on that device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Free with purchase on any new Mac or iOS device." This includes iWork (pages, numbers & keynote) and iLife (iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band). The new Mac OS upgrades are now also free. Forever. Is this good for consumers, business and education? Of course it is. This was the big surprise for me today. Business models are becoming more clear: Apple makes money when the customer buys the hardware; the software is free and future upgrades are free. Microsoft makes money when the customer buys the hardware (i.e. Windows); the customer pays more for software (i.e. Office); the customer pays once again for future upgrades (to Windows or Office). Apple looks like it is putting some serious resources behind iWork and iLife. If these packages gain a significant number of users, Microsoft may find itself with more challenges to its core Windows & Office business. Should enterprise actually embrace what Apple is doing in the coming years, Microsoft will be in even more trouble. I would put it a bit differently. Apple makes money primarily off of its OS's by selling OS licenses embedded into optimized boxes. Microsoft has a mixed approach where it still sells OS licenses separate from hardware, but is increasingly taking the Apple approach of selling its OS via an optimized box approach (see Surface and NOK). Both companies see the value of closely integrating their OS (and other associated software) with hardware, but software is still paramount for each company and represents most of the value in the value chain. As Steve Jobs said, Apple is a software company, and it's because it is a software company that it greatly succeeded with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple now says that it will make its OS upgrades available for free, but that's really not as revolutionary as touted. The last couple of OS upgrades have been very inexpensive. Mountain Lion was priced at $30. iOS 7 was free. That's because Apple really makes money by getting people to upgrade their OS every couple of years via new hardware purchases. It's what Bezos calls the "upgrade treadmill." The next version of OSX could easily be optimized for both a traditional desktop UI and touch UI, in which case most people would upgrade their OS by getting new hardware. But we'll see about that. One of the reasons why the newest iOS and iPhone release was so underwhelming from an investing perspective was because it didn't pose much of a reason to continue the upgrade treadmill. As for iWork and iLife being free, this is simply good strategy in order to compete with MSFT and GOOG when it comes to the OS market. It could even drive more usage of Apple's iCloud services. I agree that Apple's foray into free iWork is not good for the Office cash cow. But MSFT has a lot of issues it's going to be dealing with, and iWork being free is probably a minor one. IMO, GOOG is the bigger threat when it comes to Office. And both GOOG and AAPL, among others, are threats to MSFT when it comes to Windows. I thought the value chain was getting modularized according to Clayton Christensen. Further, according to you, the OS layer was getting commoditized and the value was in software and services. Well, Apple just "commoditized" a whole bunch of software. Correct -- the OS is undergoing commoditization. That's not affected by Apple's pricing decisions for the short to medium term. We will likely see the results of this commoditization in decreased market share for Apple. The analogy is like so. Automobiles are commoditizing over time. That doesn't mean that the luxury automobile market goes away. The software that Apple just released is definitely part of the commoditization of that type of software (but I would give most of the credit to GOOG and web developers -- not Apple). That doesn't mean that all "software and services" become commoditized immediately. Commoditization/de-commoditization tends to happen for all of these markets at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffmori7 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you think as new IPad mini won't be available too soon, and because iPad air is thinner and lighter, that some people who wanted a mini might now choose the larger iPad (aka Air) as there will be less difference? what would be the impact on margins? Aren't they both being released at the same time? I think the iPad Mini Retina will be the best selling iPad. It's the best size for a tablet, IMO, and it is the tablet with the least comparables out there. Further, it will have better resolution than the iPad Air and just as many apps. I think iPad ASP stays stable or even goes up because of more turnover on iPad Mini Retina and the higher price point on that device. iPad Air available November 1st, iPad Mini retina late november if I remeber correctly. I think they are quite constrained but wanted to release it before Christmas so people are aware that this product is an option for them, even if not widely available, to mitigate the risk of people chosing another device instead. As for the most popular, I can't predict, you're guess is probably good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you think as new IPad mini won't be available too soon, and because iPad air is thinner and lighter, that some people who wanted a mini might now choose the larger iPad (aka Air) as there will be less difference? what would be the impact on margins? Aren't they both being released at the same time? I think the iPad Mini Retina will be the best selling iPad. It's the best size for a tablet, IMO, and it is the tablet with the least comparables out there. Further, it will have better resolution than the iPad Air and just as many apps. I think iPad ASP stays stable or even goes up because of more turnover on iPad Mini Retina and the higher price point on that device. iPad Air available November 1st, iPad Mini retina late november if I remeber correctly. I think they are quite constrained but wanted to release it before Christmas so people are aware that this product is an option for them, even if not widely available, to mitigate the risk of people chosing another device instead. As for the most popular, I can't predict, you're guess is probably good! Oh, I didn't realize that. I doubt the choice will be between the iPad Mini Retina and the iPad Air. Instead, as you have pointed out, it will likely be between that and competitors' devices. There's definitely going to be an advertising blitz by the competitors to get as many sales as possible prior to that release. For me, the key to competitors taking share will be to demonstrate tablet optimized apps. I bought a Nexus 7 and returned it because a couple of the apps I use were not tablet optimized (most notably, the Economist). When GOOG announces Kit Kat, they better show that they have been working with developers to create actual tablet apps rather than big phone apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 "Free with purchase on any new Mac or iOS device." This includes iWork (pages, numbers & keynote) and iLife (iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band). The new Mac OS upgrades are now also free. Forever. Is this good for consumers, business and education? Of course it is. This was the big surprise for me today. Business models are becoming more clear: Apple makes money when the customer buys the hardware; the software is free and future upgrades are free. Microsoft makes money when the customer buys the hardware (i.e. Windows); the customer pays more for software (i.e. Office); the customer pays once again for future upgrades (to Windows or Office). Apple looks like it is putting some serious resources behind iWork and iLife. If these packages gain a significant number of users, Microsoft may find itself with more challenges to its core Windows & Office business. Should enterprise actually embrace what Apple is doing in the coming years, Microsoft will be in even more trouble. I would put it a bit differently. Apple makes money primarily off of its OS's by selling OS licenses embedded into optimized boxes. Microsoft has a mixed approach where it still sells OS licenses separate from hardware, but is increasingly taking the Apple approach of selling its OS via an optimized box approach (see Surface and NOK). Both companies see the value of closely integrating their OS (and other associated software) with hardware, but software is still paramount for each company and represents most of the value in the value chain. As Steve Jobs said, Apple is a software company, and it's because it is a software company that it greatly succeeded with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple now says that it will make its OS upgrades available for free, but that's really not as revolutionary as touted. The last couple of OS upgrades have been very inexpensive. Mountain Lion was priced at $30. iOS 7 was free. That's because Apple really makes money by getting people to upgrade their OS every couple of years via new hardware purchases. It's what Bezos calls the "upgrade treadmill." The next version of OSX could easily be optimized for both a traditional desktop UI and touch UI, in which case most people would upgrade their OS by getting new hardware. But we'll see about that. One of the reasons why the newest iOS and iPhone release was so underwhelming from an investing perspective was because it didn't pose much of a reason to continue the upgrade treadmill. As for iWork and iLife being free, this is simply good strategy in order to compete with MSFT and GOOG when it comes to the OS market. It could even drive more usage of Apple's iCloud services. I agree that Apple's foray into free iWork is not good for the Office cash cow. But MSFT has a lot of issues it's going to be dealing with, and iWork being free is probably a minor one. IMO, GOOG is the bigger threat when it comes to Office. And both GOOG and AAPL, among others, are threats to MSFT when it comes to Windows. I thought the value chain was getting modularized according to Clayton Christensen. Further, according to you, the OS layer was getting commoditized and the value was in software and services. Well, Apple just "commoditized" a whole bunch of software. Correct -- the OS is undergoing commoditization. That's not affected by Apple's pricing decisions for the short to medium term. We will likely see the results of this commoditization in decreased market share for Apple. The analogy is like so. Automobiles are commoditizing over time. That doesn't mean that the luxury automobile market goes away. The software that Apple just released is definitely part of the commoditization of that type of software (but I would give most of the credit to GOOG and web developers -- not Apple). That doesn't mean that all "software and services" become commoditized immediately. Commoditization/de-commoditization tends to happen for all of these markets at some point. You mean, the market is segmenting into a commodity and luxury market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Do you think as new IPad mini won't be available too soon, and because iPad air is thinner and lighter, that some people who wanted a mini might now choose the larger iPad (aka Air) as there will be less difference? what would be the impact on margins? Aren't they both being released at the same time? I think the iPad Mini Retina will be the best selling iPad. It's the best size for a tablet, IMO, and it is the tablet with the least comparables out there. Further, it will have better resolution than the iPad Air and just as many apps. I think iPad ASP stays stable or even goes up because of more turnover on iPad Mini Retina and the higher price point on that device. But if markets are commoditizing, should the ASPs go down? Just a few months ago, you were pointing to ASP declines as a sign of commoditization. Now, commoditization has suddenly stopped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Maverick seems pretty much the same as the last OS to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Maverick seems pretty much the same as the last OS to me. Did you expect a radical departure? OS X, like most desktop OSes, has been pretty mature for a while. It's just getting more and more refined and incorporates a few features from iOS. https://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/ Here's a 24 page review of Mavericks. Guess there are a few new things to write about: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/ I think it's not bad how a free OS, rather than bloat up and slow down your computer, makes it more responsive, gets more out of your RAM (compressed memory), and gives you hours more battery life (about 3.5 extra hours on an already power-efficient 2013 Macbook Air)*, and integrates better with your mobile devices. * http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/23/13-inch-2013-macbook-air-gets-up-to-15-hours-of-battery-life-with-mavericks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazeenyc Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I think T-Mobile giving away 200 MB of free Data monthly for the life of the tablet is very very interesting for all higher end tablets. (For low end tablet the extra $$ to get lte doesn't make as much sense). If you buy a t-Mobile ipad mini retina (for example) for $529 (as opposed to wifi only for $399) and intend to keep it 3-4 years -- there is very little reason not to pay the extra $130 for the LTE model. I expect T-mobile to sell a TON of iPAD airs and iPAD mini retina (with LTE). The lifetime free data comes with the device not the person (similar to how TIVO lifetime works). For Apple, I wonder how much better the margins are on the lte devices than the wifi only devices. If you are not a T-mobile customer, and you buy the t-mobile ipad you get 200 MB of free data. It automatically shuts off after 200 MB for the month. At which point you will be given the option of buying a daily pass or a weekly pass (I wonder if this will generate a ton of people buying daily and weekly passes on an occasional basis). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Maverick seems pretty much the same as the last OS to me. I don't think they should be putting a lot of resources into improving the desktop OS. That said, you should see some pretty good performance and battery life. I think they are working on redefining the laptop <-> tablet intersection. As they should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I think T-Mobile giving away 200 MB of free Data monthly for the life of the tablet is very very interesting for all higher end tablets. (For low end tablet the extra $$ to get lte doesn't make as much sense). If you buy a t-Mobile ipad mini retina (for example) for $529 (as opposed to wifi only for $399) and intend to keep it 3-4 years -- there is very little reason not to pay the extra $130 for the LTE model. I expect T-mobile to sell a TON of iPAD airs and iPAD mini retina (with LTE). The lifetime free data comes with the device not the person (similar to how TIVO lifetime works). For Apple, I wonder how much better the margins are on the lte devices than the wifi only devices. If you are not a T-mobile customer, and you buy the t-mobile ipad you get 200 MB of free data. It automatically shuts off after 200 MB for the month. At which point you will be given the option of buying a daily pass or a weekly pass (I wonder if this will generate a ton of people buying daily and weekly passes on an occasional basis). This could turn out to be a big deal if other operators follow T-Mobile's footstep This is essentially a subsidy model for iPads. It takes away some of the price advantages that competitors have and introduces dynamics similar to smartphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 And we're baaaaack: http://www.tuaw.com/2013/10/23/russian-carriers-that-ditched-the-iphone-last-year-want-it-back/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest valueInv Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 They are really targeting MSFT here: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/apple-exploits-microsoft-hesitation-on-office/?_r=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwoodman Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 FWIW I went along to an information session last night at my son's primary school regarding a 1-1 iPad program that they are looking to implement for Grade 3 and Grade 4 next year. Over the last two years they have been using iPad's at the school and found them to be a very useful teaching aid. There are two options BYO or lease from the school for two years and then you can buy it for $1 at the end of the period. I realise this is happening all over the world but I found the explanation of the selection process quite reassuring as an investor. 1. Netbooks - They had considered netbooks but they tended to have issues in terms of reliability -"After a year or so they get really slow" 2. Android devices - acknowledged that they would probably be just as good but it was about the apps and they wanted something that again would be reliable and uniform They are currently gauging parent's interest in the program and are being met with minimal resistance so it looks like it is a goer. There were the usual questions regarding handwriting skills, spelling etc. The short answer was that the teachers were looking at the iPad as an additional resource and would only use it in instances where it complimented the teaching program. If Grade 3/4 trial works then they are looking to extend the program to the other year levels. At the moment it appears that this type of decision is being made on a school by school basis. While not absolute it would appear that of the primary schools trialing this type of approach 90% were iPads 10% netbooks. While for high schools most were netbooks/laptops. cheers nwoodman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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